My Workout Journey

3/11/12

Calories consumed (2,200) - ate a little more yesterday as I felt a little weak and like I needed more food. I didn't eat fast food or anything but did eat a breakfast with 2 biscuits, 3 pieces of Turkey bacon, and two hard boiled eggs, lunch of a grilled chicken salad, and dinner of spicy hamburger spinach wrap with cottage cheese and pickles. I burned around 500 calories between weights and the yoga exercise. I'm missing the elliptical though as that is the exercise that really kicked my butt and got me to sweating and breathing and really pushed me to my limits. I've got an email into the manufacturer this morning so hopefully I can get it fixed sooner rather than later.

Still plugging along - hope to drop another several pounds this week. Since my original goal for April 1 was 365 and I'm close to that now I'm hoping to be around 355 by April 1 now.

 

I don't get the draw to turkey bacon. It's not really healthier, and I hate the taste.

This wasn't at you DnD but my rant on turkey bacon and how I think it tastes like shit.

 

This thread makes me want to exercise. Keep up the good work dnd

 

is it OK to ask for fewer pics?

 

Sure.......next update I'll just keep it to front shot.

 

Keep it up man.

 

3/12/12

Total calories (1750) - Calories burned (400) = 1350

Will have to say Smooth Fitness is trying to handle the torn up elliptical fast. They are going to have to send someone from Charlotte and they plan on being at the house Saturday for the repair job. I'm very much missing that part of the cardio but I'm doing the DDP Yoga 2x/day now in it's place. I'm gaining quite a bit of flexibility and it does give me a good workout - I'm used up by the time it's over. I can tell a big difference in the way I feel stretching after doing this for about a week now. I'm hoping my new DDP Yoga DVD's get here in the next week or so and I can start doing the newer stuff he incorporated into his program after the initial YRG set of 3 DVD's.

 

If my life depended on me bending at the waist to touch my toes I'd go ahead and say goodbye. I am horrible at anything yoga related.

 

3/13/12

Total calories (1675) - Calories burned (300) = 1375

Without the elliptical the weight loss has came to a complete standstill. Not frustrated as it also could be just hitting one of those walls since I've lost so much so quickly. And I will at least also believe that I'm gaining some muscle mass by lifting weights. The pants I had on yesterday which I was wearing comfortably about a month ago was almost falling completely off of my waist without the belt to hold them up so I can see that I'm indeed losing inches if nothing else right now. Ellptical technician is coming from Charlotte NC on Sunday to hopefully repair my machine. Still taking it a day at a time and I'm officially over 3 weeks without any fast food burgers or fries. Not had any sweet tea or full flavored soft drinks in that time either.

 

3/14/12

Total calories (2275) - Calories burned (300) = 1975

Had a cheat meal with the wife and daughter - went to one of the local Mexican restaurants and ate a Chicken Fajita Chimichanga with Sweet Tea. You appreciate eating not so good foods more when you only eat them once or twice a week - that's for certain. Still waiting on the 11 DVD's to come in from my DDP Yoga purchase. In the meantime I'm still doing the YRG Fatburner workout in the meantime which is a good start to the morning. I'm getting quite a bit more flexibility and have became more balanced on some of the moves you do in the DVD. For the first time this morning I was able to do both sides of "broken table" without having to take a breather - that movement really fires you up. I feel a big difference through my core and my legs and upper body are responding pretty well to the YRG Yoga.

Every morning I get out of bed saying man I don't want to do this exercise but remind myself that I "need" that exercise and by the time I'm done I'm glad I went through with it. Hopefully the elliptical can be fully repaired this Sunday and I'll be back in action full throttle on it come Monday. When I combine the yoga and weights WITH a hard cardio elliptical workout I can really feel the difference even more. I have always been a heavy sweater so sweating all of those toxins out in an elliptical workout really gets me going through the day. Have maintained the same weight all week long - within a couple of ounces - not really losing but not gaining either. I've hit one of those plateaus but I'm fairly sure as soon as the elliptical is fixed and I can get that hard cardio back in daily it will start coming back off again and I'll get over this hump. I'm still within 1 pound of my goal of 20 lost pounds by the end of the month and we are only halfway through the month so I'm still holding out hope I will blow by that goal weight of 365 and get down to the 355-360 range by April 1st now.

I got a 25 pound bag of cat food and loaded it up the other day and stopped and thought - my God how heavy 25 pounds really is. Not that I couldn't lift it but knowing I can be down 25 pounds this month and how much less weight I'm carrying by losing nearly 20 right now - that kind of hit home. No wonder I feel better and have more energy and my ankles aren't hurting so bad. I'm strengthening them and losing weight at the same time and taking pressure off of my body having to carry around all that extra weight. Still trying to get under 300 pounds by the end of summer is not a goal that is unattainable and I'm going to fight every day to get there. Even if I don't make it I know that I'm still improving my health regardless by changing my life which is important to me. It's a lofty goal to meet but if it were an easy goal to reach we'd all do it. I didn't get myself out of shape overnight so I can't snap my fingers and get back in shape that quickly. But I know in my heart if I keep plugging along every day and stick with it and work hard at it that I WILL be close to where I want to be within a year. Sounds like a long time when you are looking a year out but when you are taking it a day, week, and month at a time it's not really so bad.

 

This is some serious discipline. Good work going on in this thread.

 

Keep it up DnD. I enjoy reading about your progress

 

3/15/12

Total calories (1900) - Calories burned (300) = 1600

Really feeling the difference with the way clothes are fitting. Getting much smaller and more defined through my thighs and calf muscles. Weight still staying steady.....down a grand total of 4 ounces so far this week. But at least its no gain or anything. When I get the elliptical back up and running I know next week will get more back in line with the first two weeks. I haven't lifted weights as much this week either - mostly due to pain in elbows and the inner side of the arm where it bends. I really have been having to stretch out my left arm with my right arm and hold it to loosen it up of the mornings so I have taken the past two days off as far as weightlifting goes. Going to try to lift tonight and tomorrow and take Sunday off completely from everything. Then hit the ground running again Monday morning provided they can fix the elliptical Sunday. Even if they don't I'll continue with the Yoga and weights.

 

Keep up good work.

 

Yesterday, Saturday March 17, 2012 official weigh in: 365.3 (drop of 2.2 pounds from last week). The elliptical repairman is here right now and thinks he has it fixed and diagnosed it as only a bad drive belt. I should be back up and running on that again in the morning and combining the elliptical with the Yoga and weights I'm shooting to lose 5-7 pounds this week since I had a slower losing week this past week.

Been keeping total calories consumed to around 1,800. Did not work out yesterday but plan on lifting weights tonight and maybe hit the elliptical if they get it repaired.

Still plugging along and taking it a day at a time.

 

Good stuff man. Keep at it.

 

Have been hovering around 1,700-2,000 calories. I am eating a little more now because I did get a little too weak after that first couple of weeks. I hit the elliptical for 30 minutes last night and burned 520 calories. My new DDP Yoga DVD's came in finally and I tried the Energy workout that is recommended for beginners. It was actually much easier than the YRG Fatburner Plus that I had been doing so I popped in what appears to be the second hardest DVD, Diamond Cutter. It's close to an hour and I made it over 30 minutes before I had given out. I had already done the elliptical and the Energy DDP Yoga workout so 30 minutes of the second hardest workout he put together was acceptable IMO. I'll definitely try to conquer the Diamond Cutter workout over the next few weeks before I attempt anything else. He also has a couple of other workouts that are pretty intense that works on different areas - one is called Stand Up and its all isometric standing strength exercises to take the strain off of your legs/knees if you are having a bad day. There's one called Red Hot Core I plan on implementing as well - it's 15 minutes of ab types of workouts. Also, one of the 11 DVD's is called Wake Up and is supposed to be a good 10 minute stretch in the morning to get you going which I may try to start doing prior to my 30 minute elliptical morning workouts.

I'm going to try and structure my workouts like this now that I've got everything up and running:

Monday-Friday mornings - 10 minute Wake Up and 30 minute Elliptical.

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday nights - weights followed by 1 hour Diamond Cutter Yoga workout.

2-3 nights a week I'll try and incorporate Red Hot Core in there somewhere - the 15 minute yoga ab workout.

Saturday's will be my marathon elliptical session in the morning - 1 1/2 hours of elliptical in the morning.

Sunday I will do Diamond Cutter and Red Hot Core Yoga if I feel up to it - otherwise I may take some Sunday's off.

I got 30 minutes and 530 calories in on the elliptical again this morning already. Feel so much better with a ton more energy. Woke up raring to go at 5:45 this morning just ready to hit the elliptical and tear it up. Can't wait to pump some iron and do the Diamond Cutter tonight.

Since last week was a bit odd and I couldn't do all the cardio on the elliptical that I wanted I will save the updated photos until this coming Saturday. Hopefully there will be more progress being shown from what will be two week old pictures by this weekend.

 

I played 3 hours of tennis on Monday night, and I knew the only way for me to not feel absolutely obscenely sore on Tuesday was to get up in the morning and do a light workout. And it really helped. So I think you are doing a very smart thing in getting the elliptical out of the way first things first. Plus, it wakes you up.

Are you getting sore after your 1.5 hour elliptical session?

Random article I read on NY times website. Bodies in motion == good. Phys Ed: How Staying Active Keeps Us Healthy - NYTimes.com

 

I'm very naturally unflexible as well. You just gotta stretch every single day. Took me like a month to be able to touch my toes. And then if I don't stretch for a couple days it's like back to square one. I definitely have to stretch my hammy's, though, or I will feel it all day in my lower back. I got an x-ray on my low back and they said my spine looked perfect. Basically, I could have prevented a lot of Aleve popping if I would have earlier figured out that it was the lack of flexibility in my hammy's that was resulting in me waking up everyday with a sore low back.

 

3/20/12

Calories (1975) - Calories burned (650) = 1325

Only got in about 20 minutes of Diamond Cutter last night due to the fact that my mom surprised my wife and I by volunteering to keep our daughter so we could go to the movies. Went to the theater for the first time since the beach a couple of years ago when the Expendables first came out and watched 21 Jump Street. Didn't have high expectations but was blown away by how funny it was. Loved it and would recommend to anyone.

Anyway, did hit the elliptical again this morning and cranked out almost 550 calories in 30 minutes. Since we will most definitely be home tonight I'll attempt the entire hour of Diamond Cutter along with about 20-30 minutes of weights. It's not always easy to motivate myself to do the workouts but I'm really feeling and seeing results which makes a big difference. That core strength I'm gaining from the yoga is very impressive. And, crazily, I'm seeing much more muscle definition from the Yoga than I ever thought I would. Who would have believed that dynamic tension exercises could do that? I sure didn't. Hopefully I can get some good, hard workouts in the next 3 full days and my Saturday weigh in will be good as well as the new photos coming up.