My Workout Journey

3/4/2012

1 piece Ancient Oats bread with Natural Peanut Butter (250)

Glass 1% Milk (100)

Lean Pocket, Cottage Cheese, Spicy Pickles (400)

Grilled Chicken Salad (320)

Sauteed Boneless Chicken Breast with noodles (575)

Greek Yogurt (120)

Total Cal: 1765

30 Minute Elliptical - 472 calories burned

Total Calories - Calories Burned = 1293

This morning before work I pushed myself back onto the Elliptical and hammered out my goal that I failed to hit yesterday. I managed to get 506 calories in a 30 minute Elliptical workout which I think was a good accomplishment for me and I know I definitely had to dig deep to get there. I was basically on level 10 out of 16 resistance levels the entire time and I had to almost maintain 3.0-3.5 MPH to get there. My legs were on fire and they are done but it felt good to accomplish a goal I set out when I started the workout.

I have to walk up two flights of steps to get to my office in the morning and I was so out of shape I would be sucking a little wind when I got up here. This morning I wasn't even breathing heavy. The cardio is already paying off. Just have to keep focused and keep this up.

 

I'm glad you're already seeing progress. Keep up the hard work

 

Good work. Keep it up. I respect the heck out of what you're doing.

 

Glad to hear the cardio is working. You know the guy that wrote those "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" books died from a heart attack after walking up a few flights of stairs because his building's elevator was out? He was pretty young, too.

 

I'm going to start incorporating P90X in my program as well - bits at a time. I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to go about doing it yet but it will likely come in the evenings after weight lifting and I may not follow it religiously but I want to be able to attack different parts of my body with different exercises for muscle confusion and to make sure that I am getting everything worked out and not just isolated spots. I'm definitely at least going to start doing the Ab Ripper X about 3-4 times a week. I'm kind of going to play the P90X stuff by ear (or energy) to make sure I don't burn out. It's exciting to feel better and see progress and know that this IS working and will continue to work as long as I stay focused. By posting on here, it's keeping me honest too.

 

Good luck and congrats on the progress so far.

 

3/5/2012

2 Med. Apples (150)
1 piece Ancient Oats bread w/Nat. Peanut Butter (250)
1 Banana (100)
Sauteed Boneless Chicken Breast with noodles (575)
Roasted Peanuts (50)
Protein Shake w/1% milk (200)
Lean Pocket, Cottage Cheese, Spicy Pickles (400)

Total calories: 1725

30 minute Elliptical - 506 calories burned

Combo weights, resistance exercises, and stretching evening workout 1 hour (175 calories burned)

Calories (1725) - Burned calories (681) = 1044

So right at a 3,000 calorie deficit. I know it's skewed because I'm obese but I'm going by the calculators. They say a 5,000 calorie deficit per week will net you a 10 pound loss. I'm definitely getting that. On 2/26/12 I was right at 385 pounds. I'm weighing every day with the same thing on in the same place for consistency and at the same time and I'm down to 370 flat. So, 15 pounds in 9 days - translates to 1.6 pounds lost per day out of the gate. I think there's a serious chance I hit my 365 goal for April 1 by this weekend.

Still feeling good - pounded out 525 calories on the elliptical in 30 minutes this morning with a little less effort than it took me to barely get 500 yesterday. So, I can tell it's working by giving me more energy in the workout. Also, I spent an additional 10 minutes doing a new workout I'm incorporating from my elliptical. Typically, I just hold the stationary handles and just pedal hard with my legs for the duration of the workout because I can get a better burn that way. So, for the added 10 minutes I stepped completely off of the elliptical, spread legs pretty wide to avoid the pedals, and just pumped out 10 minutes with my arms only. That definitely was a workout because I was twisting so I know I got some abdominal strain and workout along with the upper body and arms which turned to Jello. I think I'll definitely incorporate that a couple of days per week at least in addition to the regular elliptical workout.

I think instead of incorporating P90X into the program right now I am going to try the YRG (Yoga for Regular Guys) deal that Dallas Page endorses. I'd like to strengthen my core and get a little more limber and think that would be more beneficial for the next couple of months. I've got both P90X and YRG so at least I'll have either when I do decide to try to incorporate more exercise into my daily routine.

 

3/6/2012

2 Med. Apples (150)
1 piece Ancient Oats bread w/Nat. Peanut Butter (250)
Smoked Turkey Salad w/reduced calorie Balsamic Dressing (550)
Top Chef Healthy Choice Steamer Meal (280)
Homemade Baked Fries (200)
Protein Shake w/1% milk (200)

Total Cal: 1630

30 minute Elliptical - 525 calories burned
Weights (100), YRG 20 min workout (125)

Calories (1630) - Calories Burned (525, 100, 125) = 880

I'm kind of guessing on the calories burned doing other exercises but I think I'm being fair about it. When I'm weight lifting I take short breaks between the sets to hammer out the workout. For reference purpose yesterday's weight training included:

Dumbbell Curls - 25 lb - 2 sets of 8
Wide DB Curls - 25 lb - 2 sets of 8
Reverse Curls - 25 lb - 2 sets of 8
Hammer Curls - 25 lb - 2 sets of 8
Twisters - 25 lb - 2 sets of 8
Concentration Seated Curls - 2 sets of 8
Seated Wrist Curls - 2 sets of 12

I'm using higher weights and lower reps to build muscle instead of lower weights that I can lift all day. I'm lifting chest/shoulders/back one day and then biceps/triceps the other then a day off then back to chest/shoulders/back etc. I've always been fairly well developed in my upper chest and shoulders and can already see that coming back to me. Plus, I have the pronounced veins that are already starting to pop back up and I can visibly see and feel the difference.

UNDER 370 today - 369.4 from 385 on Feb. 26th. That's definite motivation right there. I nailed out 30 minutes and 530 calories on the Elliptical this morning. No weights tonight but will attempt another round of the YRG DDP Yoga.

 

You're turning into a machine

 

I HONESTLY feel like a machine. I know I've got a long way to go but it's like someone lit the fuse and off I went. I'm getting up at 5:30-6:00 every morning and not dragging at all through the day. I've got more energy than I can remember having in years and I'm sleeping like a baby at night. I wasn't sleeping good and then waking up at 7:00 and still feeling horrible and sluggish all day long. I mean it's no wonder - my God at what I was poisoning my body with. Now I'm watching everything that comes into my system, taking vitamins, and working out two times per day and feel awesome. I got my first couple of compliments at work yesterday as two separate co-workers offhandedly said, "are you losing weight?" I replied, "a few pounds." It's cool to know other people can see it though. When you are as overweight as I am 15 pounds is alot but it's not like a 200 pound guy losing 15 pounds. But, apparently it was visible because I don't discuss it at work otherwise.

 

Awesome. Keep the momentum rolling.

 

3/7/2012

2 Med. Apples (150)
1 piece Ancient Oats bread w/Nat. Peanut Butter (250)
Healthy Choice Soup (250), Brown Rice (125)
2 Small Pieces of Little Caesars Pizza (550)
1/2 piece of birthday cake (300)

Total Cal: 1625

30 Min. Elliptical - 525 calories burned

Total Cal (1625) - Cal burned (525) = 1100 calories

Well I did eat a couple of small pieces of pizza and a half a piece of birthday cake for my mom's birthday last night. I know doing things like this is moderation won't kill me. And honestly I was pretty full after just eating two pieces of pizza. I actually savored them and ate them slowly because I knew it was a "treat" instead of just another meal I was shoveling into my mouth. Eating "cheat meals" instead of having "cheat days" is much more beneficial I can already see. I'm actually eating like I never had before and treating things like birthday pizza and cake as a treat. Before basically everything I put into my mouth would have been considered a cheat meal. Now, it's just in moderation and I'm being able to control myself pretty well so far.

I'm beating this food demon that's been sitting on my shoulder. I didn't get my DDP Yoga in last night like planned because I was at my mom's for too long but I did get the 30 minutes of elliptical in this morning and plan on a chest/shoulders/back dumbbell workout tonight as well as the 20 minutes of DDP Yoga. This structure is helping me - knowing what each meal will be as well as knowing exactly when I'm working out and what I'm doing for the most part.

I really, really dreaded posting shirtless photographs of myself last week. While I'm still not proud by any stretch of the imagination I am anxious to see how another week pays off when I have some new photos snapped Saturday and I can compare the two. I do know I've moved my belts several notches already as well as got back into some pants I couldn't wear before and others that were fitting snug are now loose.

I have to keep reminding myself it's just one day at a time and it's much easier to climb that mountain this way by looking a couple of steps in front of me than looking at the top of the mountain from the base.

 

First book of Larson's dragged a little, but the last two, "The Girl Who Played with Fire" and "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" were very strong. I am a Lisbeth Salander fan. World needs more solid anarchists.

 

some bad toenails up in this thread.

 

Instead of posting everything I eat each day which can get redundant I will only post specifics of when I may be cheating or changing something major. 3/8/12 was a normal day.

Total Calories 1,800 - Calories Burned (Elliptical 525) DDP Yoga (150) Weights (125) = 1,000 calories.

I can really tell the Yoga is going to be good. Like the low impact and with his stuff you can push as hard as you want to by using your own dynamic resistance to push yourself hard or just get by. But why just try to get by? I pushed as hard as I could and only rested when I was spent. And believe me in the YRG Fatburner 30 minute workout I definitely got spent up after my chest/shoulders/back weightlifting session. I was drenched by the Fatburner Plus. I can't wait until the 11 DVD set gets here that has the new stuff and I can utilize that instead but until it does get here the old YRG workouts are very challenging and good.

And today I missed a phone call from the man himself, Diamond Dallas Page. Got a call and it said private number and I didn't answer - thought it was just another political call or someone wanting me to buy a timeshare. Nope, on my machine I got the shock of the century when I heard. Hey Ricky it's me, D.....D.....P. Then he proceeded to leave me a nice 2 minute voice mail thanking me for the purchase and telling me that he's there to help out as I go on the journey with DDP Yoga. Maybe it was because I've always been a wrasslin fan and was in High School in the mid 90s when Nitro was on top of the world and DDP was "da man" but I was a little starstruck to get a personal phone call from the man himself. If that's not backing up your program I don't know what is. And my dumb butt let it go to voice mail. Maybe between his DDP Yoga, Ellipticals, weight training, and eating right I will get a chance to fly out and meet the man himself one of these days and I'll be one of his YRG ultimate success stories.

Anyway, rest of the lifestyle change is going along just peachy. Just have to watch what I eat when I'm out even if I think it may not be so bad. I was running all over creation today for work and at 1:30 P.M. my associate and I still hadn't ate so we went to the O'Charley's because that was one of the few places not slammed. I got Cajun Grilled Chicken Pasta thinking that would be safe. After it came I noticed how much cheese was holding the pasta together and it was very, very rich. I ate close to half of what they brought me and was full and was going to get the rest for a take home plate and eat it for supper. Then while we were waiting I went to the nutritional facts on O'Charley's webpage and what I thought was going to be a fairly reasonable choice was loaded with a little over 1,700 calories. Thank God I just ate about half so I didn't blow up my day completely. Now I will know though to go to the restaurants website and make sure the choice I'm making isn't one of the worst one's on the entire menu. I could have had the entire Nacho appetizer as well as the Salmon with rice and still been under 1,700 calories total!

Tomorrow is the official weigh in and new picture day.

 

That is wild that he calls customers. It definitely wasn't a recording?

 

No it was definitely him and not a recording. He's pretty accessible from the Team DDP Yoga website you get access to when you order the program.

 

3/9/12 Calories (1500) - 30 minute Elliptical morning (525) - 40 minute Elliptical night (605) = 370 calories

Did not mean to go that low it just kind of happened like that. After that bigger than planned lunch all I had the rest of the day was my normal nightly protein shake after cardio since I didn't feel like eating otherwise.

Last week official Saturday weight 373.9

This Saturday 3/10/12 Official Weight 367.5

Not as substantial of a drop this week despite not eating any worse and probably working out even more. However, I understand these things ebb and flow and as long as I'm getting healthier, losing inches, gaining muscle and feeling better it doesn't have to be significant drops each week. I will have my wife take some photos of me tonight to compare to last Saturday. She says she can tell a pretty big overall difference and that I look substantially less bloated all around than I did. Bad news about the elliptical though which could set my cardio back. Somehow the stupid belt that attaches to the flywheel on one of the pedals is grinding rubber chunks off. I heard a clicking sound last night while working out and then felt the pedal slip a few times. I thought maybe it was just me being worn out and then it done it some more and I got off and inspected. The band is fraying really bad and it's had it. It's not safe to use and I have no idea how it happened. The belt under the right leg of the elliptical is fine and showing no issues. I would imagine since that part of it came shipped and already assembled it was not assembled correctly and has just began to wear off early. I've emailed customer service to see what needs to be done. No way in Hades am I disassembling this thing and shipping a 300 + pound elliptical back to them for them to send me a new one. I imagine "hopefully" they can just send me a replacement belt and hopefully I can figure out how to put it together. But the elliptical is down for the count until further notice sadly. That's what was really kicking my butt good too. In the meantime I will adjust my cardio schedule and do the DDP Yoga 30 minute workout in the mornings and lift weights and do some other type of cardio in the evenings until the elliptical is back up and running.

Have started out today right in the eating department...........2 hard boiled eggs for breakfast with my Simply Orange juice, will eat a Lean Pocket and an apple for lunch, and wife is getting me a 700 calorie Jimmy John sub for dinner so I'll be well within my limits. I'm not going to pretend to myself that I'm only eating for sustenance now instead of pleasure. I enjoy eating good food but I have adjusted to the point that I'm not just thinking about food constantly. I don't plan on where to go from day to day and I'm saving quite a bit of money now by not eating out nearly as much. Still trying to just take it one day at a time and keep my focus. Was wearing 46-48 inch waist pants and jeans - more 48's than 46's anymore until I started working out and eating right. Today, I washed some clothes I had in a bag that I haven't been able to wear in 3+ years and just put on a pair of 44" waist blue jeans that was one of my favorite pair. And they fit - didn't have to worry about popping the button or anything. To me, seeing me shrink in areas is just as important as the actual weight being lost. I know the weight will continue to come off but losing these inches also feels very good.

 

I've put the two weeks together side by side in the first picture so you can see any progress....




I'm not trying to flatter myself thinking I'm Hogan or anything - just wanted to take these poses as well for further reference purposes so as the weeks go by I can see where the weight is coming off.

 

Nothing wrong with going Hogan.