It's been a few weeks, so I'll bring you up to speed. Life's been pretty hectic lately, what with the new job, moving out of my apartment and into my parents' house (to save up for a condo/house of my own in the near future), changing to working out in the mornings, and a severe lack of free time in general. In my last post I noted that I was doing pretty good with eating right. Well, the last few weeks have made that statement incorrect. I've kinda been in "don't give a crap" mode in the weeks leading up to my move (which occurred this past weekend) and I hate it. My workouts have been minimal, although I've maintained/gained on my strength numbers. Right now I'm focusing on my powerlifting meet on the 28th, so just trying to get at least 3 workouts a week (mostly strength) and eat as well as I can.
What I am getting geared up for, though, is to very seriously start making a push for some serious fat loss. I've gone between 235 and 196 over the years, never really being happy with my body composition, even though I'm so much stronger, capable, and athletic than I was 4 years ago. I've been pretty waffly about my goals, switching between fat loss and strength/fitness gains without a whole lot of rhyme or reason, and that's (I feel) the biggest reason I haven't achieved my body comp goals. The best gains I ever made were in the early days when I was totally focused on fat loss and nothing else. Now, today I'm much better informed about how food and exercise affect me, and I have much better tools at my disposal, but I'm still lacking that one, singular focus to really drive me.
May 1st that changes.
I'm making a 3-month commitment to lose 20 pounds of fat.
I'm not doing any challenges, not going to worry about being strict anything; just going to watch my calories, choose quality foods, get lots of protein, and hit my workouts hard. I'll focus on Paleo foods, but I'm not going to flip out if I have to eat something outside of that or have a beer on a cheat day. The goal will be 6 days a week of solid eating and one cheat day, most likely from Friday dinner to Saturday lunch (sun-down to sun-down, like Passover). I'll probably throw in some intermittent fasting as a tool to reduce calorie intake, but not going to worry too much about it. Going to stay low-ish carb but not to the point where my workouts or mood are suffering. I'm finally going to use all these tools that I have and put them all together in a way that will (hopefully) allow me to really get to a place where I'm happy with my body, and improve my health at the same time.
I'm not going to focus on any specific athletic or strength goals during this time, although I do hope to see some improved numbers on my bodyweight and gymnastics movements. One goal at a time; if my strength numbers drop a little bit, so be it. I'll still be hitting the weights hard, and I'll be improving my relative strength regardless.
Another tool I'll be employing is simply increasing daily physical activity. I now have access to a Concept 2 rower in my home, and I have both a road bike and mountain bike. I plan on using these to increase my physical activity (and thus calories burned) while still keeping exercise fun. It's spring in southern California; I should definitely make the most of it!
I'll do my first weigh-in on May 1st and we'll go from there.
P.S. in case you're interested in the results from the Paleo challenge I mentioned in the last few posts: I lost 7 pounds and dropped 3% body fat. Right now I'm sitting around 215-217 at roughly 20% bodyfat.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Half-way
Today's Weigh-In: 208.8
So, my Paleo challenge is just about half-way done. I got pretty sick last week with the flu, but I ended up losing a big chunk of weight. Still nursing a cough, but I'm easing back into working out this week and hope to be back (or close) to full speed next week. I haven't been 100% strict during the challenge, but pretty dang close, and I think that's helping with my weight loss.
I started a new job this week. In the past this would be something that would probably cause me to change my eating habits for the worse, but I've been pretty solid. We have a big file cabinet full of treats (candy bars, chips, cookies, nuts, etc.) but I've been sticking to only helping myself to some of the cashews and beef jerky. The other stuff just doesn't even tempt me any more (except for snickers, those are a weakness). I'm still rocking homemade lunches on most days, and just eating healthy if I do go out. It just took a change in mindset that going out doesn't necessarily mean you get to eat crap. So I eschew frech fries and soda, and get my burgers wrapped in lettuce, or my Chipotle done as a burrito bowl, or just stick with meat and veggies as much as possible. It's not hard, and I'm liking the results.
So, my Paleo challenge is just about half-way done. I got pretty sick last week with the flu, but I ended up losing a big chunk of weight. Still nursing a cough, but I'm easing back into working out this week and hope to be back (or close) to full speed next week. I haven't been 100% strict during the challenge, but pretty dang close, and I think that's helping with my weight loss.
I started a new job this week. In the past this would be something that would probably cause me to change my eating habits for the worse, but I've been pretty solid. We have a big file cabinet full of treats (candy bars, chips, cookies, nuts, etc.) but I've been sticking to only helping myself to some of the cashews and beef jerky. The other stuff just doesn't even tempt me any more (except for snickers, those are a weakness). I'm still rocking homemade lunches on most days, and just eating healthy if I do go out. It just took a change in mindset that going out doesn't necessarily mean you get to eat crap. So I eschew frech fries and soda, and get my burgers wrapped in lettuce, or my Chipotle done as a burrito bowl, or just stick with meat and veggies as much as possible. It's not hard, and I'm liking the results.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Another Paleo challenge
Today's Weigh-In: 218
Sorry about the longish absence. I'm participating in my gym's 30-day Paleo challenge so I've been focused on posting on their message boards instead of on the blog here. You can check out my log at the forums if you're interested. I've committed to a strict 30-day no-cheat Paleo diet. I measured 22.1% body fat at 222 pounds on Monday, and I'm hoping to get under 210 and 18% body fat by the end of the challenge. So I'm not dead, I'm still training hard, and I'm still focused. Just not so much on here.
Sorry about the longish absence. I'm participating in my gym's 30-day Paleo challenge so I've been focused on posting on their message boards instead of on the blog here. You can check out my log at the forums if you're interested. I've committed to a strict 30-day no-cheat Paleo diet. I measured 22.1% body fat at 222 pounds on Monday, and I'm hoping to get under 210 and 18% body fat by the end of the challenge. So I'm not dead, I'm still training hard, and I'm still focused. Just not so much on here.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Powerlifting meet
Today's Weigh-In: 218.4
My first day back in the Crossfit group class went well. I back squatted 295 for 8 reps, then did a hard metcon in under 12 minutes. My cardio capacity and strength endurance aren't where I'd like them to be yet, so I need to focus on pushing the intensity in my workouts and not sandbagging when it gets hard. Today we're doing a longer workout, probably upwards of an hour, so I'll get a nice calorie burn from that.
Diet yesterday was mostly good, but I did have a couple of beers that were left over from the weekend. Didn't really track calories but just focused on high protein, with carbs post-workout only. I've committed to competing in a powerlifting competition in April, about 9 weeks away. That gives me time to complete 2 more cycles of Wendler 5-3-1 and then take a deload week before the meet. My goal is to compete in the Open division in the 210 lb. weight class. My goals are to hit a 400 squat, 450 deadlift, and 300 bench, for a 1150 lb. total. Are those goals realistic? Maybe. I've squatted 365 in the gym for an easy single, barely failed at 385, so my one-rep max right now is probably around 375. I've pulled 445 on the deadlift so 450 isn't a stretch. The bench goal is probably the most ambitious one since I haven't maxed my bench out in a long time, but I'd rather aim high and miss than aim too low and not push myself. I figure the adrenaline of the event will help me put up bigger numbers than I could do in the gym as well, which is a well known phenomenon in the powerlifting and weightlifting worlds. We'll see how the weight loss affects this as well.
This doesn't mean I'm going to focus on being a powerlifter. I'm still going to be doing just the standard Wendler 5-3-1 template for my strength program and hitting the Crossfit WODs for my GPP/conditioning. My goal is always to be as strong AND as fit as possible, without sacrificing one for the other. Right now I'll focus on shoring up any weaknesses for this powerlifting meet, but later I'll probably focus on a Crossfit competition or maybe even an endurance event. I like mixing it up; it keeps things fresh.
My first day back in the Crossfit group class went well. I back squatted 295 for 8 reps, then did a hard metcon in under 12 minutes. My cardio capacity and strength endurance aren't where I'd like them to be yet, so I need to focus on pushing the intensity in my workouts and not sandbagging when it gets hard. Today we're doing a longer workout, probably upwards of an hour, so I'll get a nice calorie burn from that.
Diet yesterday was mostly good, but I did have a couple of beers that were left over from the weekend. Didn't really track calories but just focused on high protein, with carbs post-workout only. I've committed to competing in a powerlifting competition in April, about 9 weeks away. That gives me time to complete 2 more cycles of Wendler 5-3-1 and then take a deload week before the meet. My goal is to compete in the Open division in the 210 lb. weight class. My goals are to hit a 400 squat, 450 deadlift, and 300 bench, for a 1150 lb. total. Are those goals realistic? Maybe. I've squatted 365 in the gym for an easy single, barely failed at 385, so my one-rep max right now is probably around 375. I've pulled 445 on the deadlift so 450 isn't a stretch. The bench goal is probably the most ambitious one since I haven't maxed my bench out in a long time, but I'd rather aim high and miss than aim too low and not push myself. I figure the adrenaline of the event will help me put up bigger numbers than I could do in the gym as well, which is a well known phenomenon in the powerlifting and weightlifting worlds. We'll see how the weight loss affects this as well.
This doesn't mean I'm going to focus on being a powerlifter. I'm still going to be doing just the standard Wendler 5-3-1 template for my strength program and hitting the Crossfit WODs for my GPP/conditioning. My goal is always to be as strong AND as fit as possible, without sacrificing one for the other. Right now I'll focus on shoring up any weaknesses for this powerlifting meet, but later I'll probably focus on a Crossfit competition or maybe even an endurance event. I like mixing it up; it keeps things fresh.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Good start
Today's Weigh-In: 216
Doing alright so far. I didn't get to work out yesterday because we had a Paleo potluck at the gym, which I attended. We ate healthy food and had a good time. Today I've had a small bit of sushi (6 pieces), a big salad with egg, bacon, and mozarella, a protein shake, and some strawberries. I'm sitting at about 1500 calories so far. My goal is to hit between 2200 and 2500 calories a day (depending on whether I work out or not). Today's a workout day so I'll eat a bigger dinner, probably with some rice. This is the last week I'll be working out on my own, and I'm pretty excited to get back into the big group workouts. They're just so motivating and really push you to your limits. Now that I'm stronger I'm interested to see how it affects my performance in the lighter workouts as well. I'm hoping the increased strength will allow me to increase my strength endurance more quickly and I'll be able to endure for longer without burning out, but we'll see how it goes.
I know that was kind of a boring post, but I just wanted to write something to keep myself on track and focused on the goal ahead of me.
Doing alright so far. I didn't get to work out yesterday because we had a Paleo potluck at the gym, which I attended. We ate healthy food and had a good time. Today I've had a small bit of sushi (6 pieces), a big salad with egg, bacon, and mozarella, a protein shake, and some strawberries. I'm sitting at about 1500 calories so far. My goal is to hit between 2200 and 2500 calories a day (depending on whether I work out or not). Today's a workout day so I'll eat a bigger dinner, probably with some rice. This is the last week I'll be working out on my own, and I'm pretty excited to get back into the big group workouts. They're just so motivating and really push you to your limits. Now that I'm stronger I'm interested to see how it affects my performance in the lighter workouts as well. I'm hoping the increased strength will allow me to increase my strength endurance more quickly and I'll be able to endure for longer without burning out, but we'll see how it goes.
I know that was kind of a boring post, but I just wanted to write something to keep myself on track and focused on the goal ahead of me.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Guess Who's Back
Today's Weigh-In: 216.4
I think it's time I came back to the blogging world. As I mentioned in my last post these past few months have been focused on improving my strength and power, and I've done a pretty good job of that. I hit a few of my goals (310# front squat, 255# clean), got closer to a couple (375# back squat a few weeks ago, still making good progress using Wendler 5-3-1), and have a few I still need to test (haven't snatched in a while). My deadlift hasn't really gone anywhere, but to be honest I haven't been training it very much. I can still do multiple muscle-ups, I'm more muscular, and my general levels of conditioning are solid. All-in-all a good few months of progress.
There's only one problem: I'm fatter than I would like to be. I'm not fat fat, still wearing 36s and medium/large shirts, but I'm feeling the need to drop some significant bodyfat and really get jacked. I was 225 at the beginning of January so I've already made some progress, but I find that I really need to get my thoughts and issues out into the world (i.e. this blog) to continue making progress and staying motivated. I'm also finding that some of my old demons (sugar, fast food, and general BS cravings) have come back to haunt me.
I've got a couple of goals on the horizon:
Strengths
Weaknesses
I think it's time I came back to the blogging world. As I mentioned in my last post these past few months have been focused on improving my strength and power, and I've done a pretty good job of that. I hit a few of my goals (310# front squat, 255# clean), got closer to a couple (375# back squat a few weeks ago, still making good progress using Wendler 5-3-1), and have a few I still need to test (haven't snatched in a while). My deadlift hasn't really gone anywhere, but to be honest I haven't been training it very much. I can still do multiple muscle-ups, I'm more muscular, and my general levels of conditioning are solid. All-in-all a good few months of progress.
There's only one problem: I'm fatter than I would like to be. I'm not fat fat, still wearing 36s and medium/large shirts, but I'm feeling the need to drop some significant bodyfat and really get jacked. I was 225 at the beginning of January so I've already made some progress, but I find that I really need to get my thoughts and issues out into the world (i.e. this blog) to continue making progress and staying motivated. I'm also finding that some of my old demons (sugar, fast food, and general BS cravings) have come back to haunt me.
I've got a couple of goals on the horizon:
- I have a bet with a buddy that I would rock a 6-pack by May 1st.
- I have a 30-day Paleo challenge coming up at the gym where I'll have an opportunity to get my bodyfat percentage tested before and after, and if I'm going to spend the money to do that I really want to make some significant progress in that time.
- I want to get back into doing the Crossfit group classes instead of doing all my workouts on my own. We're implementing our own programming at the gym now (instead of going off crossfit.com WODs) and we're doing Wendler 5-3-1 for strength along with short, intense conditioning workouts, and this fits perfectly with what I need. Also I just can't push myself as hard alone as I can when I hit it with others. And it's so much more fun, too. My goal is 5 days a week in the gym, 4 days doing the group class and one day for Olympic lifting.
I've updated the sidebar with my weight goals and dates. I also want to take the time to enumerate where I am strong and where I need work, and focus specifically on improving on the weaknesses.
Strengths
- I already shop and cook for myself every week and most evenings
- I'm fairly consistent in terms of hitting the gym
- I'm the strongest I've ever been right now, so my work capacity is pretty high.
Weaknesses
- Sugar cravings
- Fast food cravings (something about salty, greasy, crispy things that drives me nuts)
- Not as consistent in the gym as I would like to be (e.g. when my schedule gets weird I usually just skip the gym instead of going at a different time)
- It's very easy for me to gain weight - looking at the time between October 2011 and now (4 months) I went from 201 to 225 and now back down to 216. And I wasn't trying to gain weight, that was just regular ad-libitum eating. I really will need to rein it in and focus on eating only my allotted calories. I had hoped I could get away from calorie counting but I guess I'm just not the kind of person for whom that works well.
I think once the Paleo challenge gets going that'll take care of the cravings for the most part (after the first week, of course) and doing the group classes will help me get more motivated to be fully consistent in the gym and give 100% effort. I just need to track what I put in my face hole better and it should be smooth sailing.
I think I'm gonna take some pics soon and put them up here for comparison and accountability. If I'm going to have any chance of hitting my goal of having at least some abs by May 1st I'm going to need to cut down to less than 200 pounds, 190-195 realistically. It's a stretch, for sure, but I'd rather do this thing quick rather than drag it out. First goal is sub-210 by March 1st. Let's do this!
Thursday, November 10, 2011
New goals and direction for the next few months
I know I haven't posted in a while. Sorry about that.
I've come to the realization that I'm pretty happy with my health and body fat levels, so I'm not really trying to lose weight right now. I've been doing my own program for a little over a month and I'm continuing to get stronger, which is really my focus right now. At the Powerlifting cert I mentioned in the last post I hit a personal record of 445 lbs. on the deadlift, and did a 355 lb. box squat (having box squatted a grand total of maybe 3 times in my life). Two days ago I power snatched 175 lbs. which matches my squat snatch PR. I recently power cleaned 235 lbs., which matches my squat clean from my weightlifting meet back in March (just in case you aren't aware, most people trained in the Olympic lifts can squat clean/snatch more than they can power clean/snatch, so it means I'm getting stronger). I've hit 11 dead-hang chin-ups (and did 6 with 25 lbs. added weight), front squatted 230 for 8 reps, and am increasing my bench press every week (just did 225 for 8 reps). I've got incredible momentum right now, so I'm going to take at least the rest of the year to work on continuing to get stronger and more explosive.
That's not to say I'm not watching what I eat. I've been doing daily fasts until about noon or 1:00, eating low carb until my workout, and then eating a higher carb dinner with tons of protein. My bodyweight has increased to about 210, but I'm still on my fourth belt loop while the legs of my pants are feeling tighter, which tells me I'm gaining size but not fat. I can still perform muscle-ups, and as long as I can continue to increase my chin-ups/pull-ups (and not my pants size) I'm not really going to worry about raw bodyweight.
I figure I'll keep going in this vein until I stall out, then maybe cycle into a 4-6 week cutting cycle before next summer. I definitely wouldn't mind being more muscular come summertime. I'm also considering trying a powerlifting meet or two next year just to get a feel for that sport. My goals right now?
I think these are all very doable, especially the front squat and clean & jerk. If I can hit those numbers for the back squat, bench, and deadlift in a powerlifting meet I would total a pretty respectable 1200, only 79 pounds short of a Class I ranking (third highest classification in raw powerlifting, check this chart for details) in the 220 lb. weight class, and 9 pounds shy in the 198 lb. weight class if I decided to cut weight (which is probably doable).
I'm also staying on top of my conditioning workouts, doing sprints (rowing and running) and shorter Crossfit-style circuits twice a week each. I don't want to be one of those dudes who is crazy strong but gets winded walking up a flight of stairs. My goals are always to be as strong as possible while maintaining a very high level of overall fitness.
It's been 4 years since I started this blog. When I started the only goal was to lose weight and get healthy. I had no idea how far my journey into physical fitness would take me. So here's to another year of continued improvement and health!
I've come to the realization that I'm pretty happy with my health and body fat levels, so I'm not really trying to lose weight right now. I've been doing my own program for a little over a month and I'm continuing to get stronger, which is really my focus right now. At the Powerlifting cert I mentioned in the last post I hit a personal record of 445 lbs. on the deadlift, and did a 355 lb. box squat (having box squatted a grand total of maybe 3 times in my life). Two days ago I power snatched 175 lbs. which matches my squat snatch PR. I recently power cleaned 235 lbs., which matches my squat clean from my weightlifting meet back in March (just in case you aren't aware, most people trained in the Olympic lifts can squat clean/snatch more than they can power clean/snatch, so it means I'm getting stronger). I've hit 11 dead-hang chin-ups (and did 6 with 25 lbs. added weight), front squatted 230 for 8 reps, and am increasing my bench press every week (just did 225 for 8 reps). I've got incredible momentum right now, so I'm going to take at least the rest of the year to work on continuing to get stronger and more explosive.
That's not to say I'm not watching what I eat. I've been doing daily fasts until about noon or 1:00, eating low carb until my workout, and then eating a higher carb dinner with tons of protein. My bodyweight has increased to about 210, but I'm still on my fourth belt loop while the legs of my pants are feeling tighter, which tells me I'm gaining size but not fat. I can still perform muscle-ups, and as long as I can continue to increase my chin-ups/pull-ups (and not my pants size) I'm not really going to worry about raw bodyweight.
I figure I'll keep going in this vein until I stall out, then maybe cycle into a 4-6 week cutting cycle before next summer. I definitely wouldn't mind being more muscular come summertime. I'm also considering trying a powerlifting meet or two next year just to get a feel for that sport. My goals right now?
- Front squat 300 lbs. by 12/1/11 (current PR 290)
- Back squat 400 lbs. by 3/1/12 (current PR 355)
- Deadlift 500 lbs. by 3/1/12 (current PR 445)
- Bench press 300 lbs. by 3/1/12 (current PR 265, almost a year ago)
- Clean & jerk 250 lbs. by 1/1/12 (current PR 245)
- Power snatch 185 by 1/1/12 (current PR 175)
I think these are all very doable, especially the front squat and clean & jerk. If I can hit those numbers for the back squat, bench, and deadlift in a powerlifting meet I would total a pretty respectable 1200, only 79 pounds short of a Class I ranking (third highest classification in raw powerlifting, check this chart for details) in the 220 lb. weight class, and 9 pounds shy in the 198 lb. weight class if I decided to cut weight (which is probably doable).
I'm also staying on top of my conditioning workouts, doing sprints (rowing and running) and shorter Crossfit-style circuits twice a week each. I don't want to be one of those dudes who is crazy strong but gets winded walking up a flight of stairs. My goals are always to be as strong as possible while maintaining a very high level of overall fitness.
It's been 4 years since I started this blog. When I started the only goal was to lose weight and get healthy. I had no idea how far my journey into physical fitness would take me. So here's to another year of continued improvement and health!
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