Challenge 2 Week 7 Recap (IR)

Monday morning I took a drive to the gym to weigh in at a 239 lbs.  I had to see where I was at... 1/2 lb heavier, but the reductions in size continue in my belly and my thighs... so I am guessing that this would be some of the loss of fat and lean mass maybe increasing due to my rest.  Although I came close to going to the gym today... I didn't.  It's probably a good thing, because as the day progressed I had some aggravation on what I thought was my sciatica.  I'll continue on my nutrition and hope to get back in the gym soon, just don't want to rush it.  Here are my picture from week 2 to tonight.

I consider myself on IR this week lol... injured reserved.  Although I stated that I would begin active rest, the reality is that it's just rest.  There hasn't been exactly any physical activity at all since last Tuesday's workout where I injured myself.  Sitting, standing, walking... EVERYTHING has a pain in my lower back.  I have been constantly wearing my weight belt super tight, hoping that the extra support will fix me.  Well... it hasn't :(  I find myself trying to stretch and crack my back in a milliion different directions hoping that the miracle crack will make it all go away, but again it hasn't.  I find myself on my back legs up on the couch most of my free time.  It has been rough not making it to the gym, because I have been worried that I would just resort to old habits, which I haven't. The only good thing is that I have continued my nutrition.

I needed this weekend... mentally I was a downer, but I really try to be optimistic.  Saturday, the wife and I had a chance to have some adult time, thanks to my mother in law.  We had four events to attend in very little time.  We started at a 80's them birthday party, where I felt like I was home lol... this cake was awesome.

Our night then progressed to another friends birthday party on the other side of the world... my wife didn't tell them we were coming, which ended up being a nice surprise for them.  From the second I saw them, their facial expressions spoke volumes, and then the compliments started rolling.  It hadn't dawned on me that I haven't seen any of them since before I started BFL in November of last year.  Many compliments on how great I looked, people squeezing my biceps, and even a few, look at your face!  It's so weird to get so many compliments, it's initially embarassing and hard to take, but then you realize it's ok.  The more I think about it, the more I realized I needed this night.  I did loosen up and I decided that a drink was in order for the start of my cheat day... a dreamsicle martini!  Yes, that is my drink... and my wife with her Hacker-Pschorr... yes, I was ridiculed for my choice lol...

Mid morning meal

Scrambled eggs and turkey

45g protein
4g carbs
7g fat

I then added a serving of Quaker Oats :)

Still not better... it's time for active rest.

Although I am feeling slightly better, the pain is still there.  After talking to a few friends they have convinced me that even if I feel better, just take the rest of the week off and if I can take an additional week off and just rest up and heal.  I have kept to my nutrition of course and will stay on track.  My wife was teasing me today if I had fallen off the wagon, something I keep saying I  might, but of course I haven't.   My body is trained to eat every 3-4 hrs so there is no escaping that and to be honest I haven't thought about eating less healthy food as I did prior to my challenges.  Guess my taste buds are changing...

This obstacle is just another one thrown in to have to adjust to the "for life" part.

Injury update

Being as I have had trouble getting up from a laying position or standing up straight I don't think running HIIT would be such a good idea tonight. It's not a muscle issue, but something with a pinched nerve and shoots an excruciating pain with certain movements. I'm going to treat today as a rest day and hope that tomorrow I can continue on with my training. If not I will be starting active rest to get this lower back issue gone. I'm having a hard time with this mentally, it's a real downer

Setback I wasn't expecting... :(

Since I started my challenge, I had only missed one workout.  It was a cardio day and late at night, but I had worked many hours in the yard doing landscape clean up.  I was exhausted, my wife was exhausted, and we had a 3 month old baby who was keeping us busy.  That particular night, I had the baby when he had trouble sleeping and was trying to give my wife a break, but I dozed off on the couch.  When my wife did wake me up it was very late and I was half asleep and just ended up going to bed.  I didn't feel guilty because of the time in the yard.  Then about 8 weeks in on my vacation, I had to switch a workout day with my normal rest day at dinner.  Back home this would not have been an issue since my gym is open 24/7, but my temp gym was closed and it was too late.  Even through sick days and injuries, I have been able to plan around them or workout through them.  The hardest was a sciatica nerve issue, but spacing out the timing of workouts, stretching, etc., allowed me to continue on with my workouts and after a few days, I was back like normal.

Yesterday, I hit the gym early in the morning and was in the middle of my UBWO.  I got to back and was doing my hyperextensions and was thinking to myself how my lower back feels good, it's getting stronger, it's nice not to have to worry about any injuries.  I walked over to the cable row machine to complete my super set and was doing well.  1,2,3,4,5... 6, OUCH!  It was that shocking feeling in my lower back and it hurt.  I slowly put the weight down and laid back to stretch and cringe.  When I tried to get back up, I couldn't it hurt too much.  I ended up rolling off the bench and on to the floor.  I immediately stretched everywhich way I could hoping that it would just go away, but no luck. I tried walking around, nothing.  I still had triceps and biceps to go, so I went over picked up a bar for tricep extensions and just lifting to prepare stung my lower back.  I decided to try cable rope push downs, and that worked.  I super setted with another cable tricep exercise.  I rested, walked back to the weights and tried to pick up a bar to do standing curls, but felt the same pain in my lower back.  I headed back to the cable machines and did some seated cable curls and a super set.

Needless to say, it's late and I'm still in pain.  I went to work, left early from the pain, and pretty much have laid on the floor all night with my feel elevated.  Although it helps, this may be an injury that may not go away as easy as it did last time.  I definitely will skip cardio in the morning and rest up.  If I feel better tomorrow night, then I will do my HIIT late tomorrow night.  If not, it may be time to take that active rest for the remainder of the week and maybe do a 2nd week like I had originally planned, but didn't do.  Wish me luck and send me some good vibes, because although I know I am mentally and physically stronger, I need to get through this without just giving up.  I don't plan on going down without a fight ;)

Challenge 2 Week 6 Recap 18 weeks

Weigh in went well and the additional cardio had me going in the right direction this week.  The scale had me at 238 lbs and body fat was 26.3%.  Since the start of the second challenge, I have lost a little over 4lbs of fat and the lean mass has gone down about 2lbs.  At first I was a little nervous of why I was losing lean mass, but it finally dawned on me that some of the lean mass weight loss could be from water retention or fluids and at the same time being replaced with a little muscle, blood, etc.

My strength continues to increase and the inches continue to dwindle down.  I do see more and more definition in my arms, shoulders, and legs, and will continue to chisel away at the belly.  I've lost an inch on my chest and waist, lost a little on my calves and shoulders, and gained a little on thighs and forearms.
 

Challenge	Week	Date	Weight	Chest	Arms	Waist	Calves	Hips
2	START	02/06/12	244	47	15.50	46.00	17.25	43.00
2	6	03/19/12	238	46	15.50	45.00	17.00	43.00

Week	Shoulders	Neck	Thighs	Forearms	BF% Omron Monitor	Lean Mass	Fat
START	51.00	17.50	24.50	12.13	27.30%	177.388	66.612
6	50.50	17.50	25.00	12.25	26.30%	175.406	62.594

I've changed a slight approach on my nutrition to help the muscle building and fat burning concept.  On cardio days I am following the BFL program 100%, but using an app on my Andriod phone to keep better track of calories.  I tend to stick to 2 Myoplex shakes a day, 3 meals that stick to the nutrition program, but then my last shake is usually a whey protein shake with water with 40g of protein and very little carbs.

On lifting days, I'm following three meals for BFL, but tweaked three meals.  I'll explain a little here, but will do a post explaining it more in detail.  First, I take 20g of protein pre workout 30 minutes before my lifting.  Then post workout I take 10g protein, creatine, 2oz apple juice, and about 10 oz water.  45 minutes later, I eat a meal that contains about 1.5x amount my normal protein for a total of 65g and then kick up the carbs to 90g, and keep the fat down very low.  Then 2 hrs later I have another meal with the same breakdown, but allow a little more fat.  It's basically 5 meals instead of 6 and borrows some protein from one meal and you use it in the two meals after working out.  The idea is to feed your body and help promote muscle growth and have it increase insulin levels on lifting days.  And on the cardio days, keep the regular meals, to help promote fat loss.  I've really liked this approach and have 6 weeks into it and will continue this approach going forward.  I don't recommend this for first time challengers, but when you are ready to tweak, this is something to definitely give a shot.  It gives your body a constant change in calorie intake and let's you both gain muscle and lose fat.

Cardiozone

Earlier this week the treadmills at the gym were packed.  I finally saw one open up at the end near a window.  I jump on the machine and get started.  I love the fact that my speeds on hiit running have improved and how I really do get into a trance like state where I can completely zone out everything.  It's not always easy to get there though.  Almost every cardio session seems like I have problem motivating myself that I can push the limits.  Usually half way through, those thoughts are gone though and I hit my goals.  Last week I realized it was time to push the intensity up and I did.  Back to the treadmill.... I was surprised as I ran my first interval just how easy it felt.  What a difference,  I must really be getting good at this... but when I went to 4.5mph for my jog I almost tripped at how slow the machine was.  I didn't think much as I had already been thinking to push my intensity up.  By the end of interval 2 at 7mph, I was like this is too easy, boy I'm doing good.  Interval 3 I smelled a rat... so I pushed all the speeds .5mph and things felt okay.  By the time I was done, my bpm was nowhere near where it was supposed to be.  So I upped my extra 20 minutes of moderate cardio to 5.5mph.  That was more like it.  Friday I hit a different machine,  one I normally use and as far as I can tell it just seems that he machine I used the other day is just not accurate on the speed.  The good news is that I continue to progress through my running.  For the most part hiit and additional moderate cardio put me at 40 minutes of straight running and the treadmill states about 3.66 miles each time.  The weather is incredibly beautiful, but not normal, but thinking I may start doing my Sunday moderate cardio run outside to get use to it.  I really would like that 5k under my belt ;)

Challenge 2 Week 5 Recap 17 weeks!

The biggest plus this week is that I'm FINALLY back in the 230's!!!  I'm hoping with the next 4 weeks focus on burning fat I will see some mind blowing results.  Could I get into the low 230's?  Should I even ponder 220's?  Woah.. that would be something.  The biggest change in my workout coming is doing the max cardio tweak from Hussman Fitness of adding 20 minutes moderate cardio to my 20 minutes of HIIT and adding an additional 40 minutes of moderate cardio on my normal off day.  I lost a little on my waist, arms, hips, and thighs and gained a little in the calves and forearms.  I'm starting to flex my forearms so I can see the veins pop out during the day... oh the simple things that amuse me lol.

17 straight weeks complete, a long vacation and a business trip later and d here are my results.  I really hope that sometime soon I get to look like the after work out pump look all day, then the I just rolled out of bed gravity takes over look lol... but considering I don't have a actual first day picture where I started at 265 and 35% body fat with a wonderful flotation device of a belly at 53", I think I'm doing pretty good.  I really wish I had taken more pics of back and side back when I started.  Lots of frontals, but would have loved to see how big I was really.

It's official...

I'm in the 230's!  Preworkout today was 239 and post work out was 237.5, so I had to make sure to get my fluids back in.  I honestly wasn't expecting this to happen as I have been teeter tottering back and forth beteween 241-244 these last few weeks with my focus on building muscle, but this was very welcomed :)

Friday's HIIT seemed okay to me and my normal 10's didn't seem to take my breath away as they normally do.  After HIIT I did an extra 10 minutes of moderate cardio at what has been my normal for a few weeks of 4.5 mph and again, I felt fine.  I checked my bpm and it was just slightly over 130.  Normally I'm at 140ish, so this means time to up the intensity next time around.  So this moring I decided that my 40 minutes of moderate cardio were going to be at 5mph.  I did it in in steps... at first I thought 10 minutes should be good, next thing I knew I was shooting for 20, then it was 25, then I was like go 30 minutes straight and you'll have run 2.5 miles.  Once that was done, I just focused on finishing the complete 40.  It felt good to run the whole 3.3 miles straight and the intensity I was shooting for was there.  As I cooled down, I checked my bpm and it was at 146, a little higher than I would have wanted, but still was good that I had the extra effort today.  I took my 10g protein and some creatine with water right after my run, then proceeded home to replenish my liquids and topped it off an hour later with my Myoplex shake.  That hit the spot... we ordered up a late lunch, forgot about the time change, and had Giordano's stuffed Chicago style cheese/ sausage pizza.  I may have over done it with this meal today, whoops. ;)  I'll make sure to be balanced the rest of the day, but then again... it is a cheat day.  Moderation, moderation, moderation... lol :}~~~

Pictures are a must

Today is one of those days, that I ask myself again why I didn't take any week 1 pics... I just wonder how fat was I really?  I know the answer, because I still am fat.  I'm just amazed at how I fooled myself into thinking that I was "in shape".  Not sure what the hell I was thinking to be honest.  Once I took my first picture on 11/29/11, after two weeks of BFL, I really haven't stopped snapping away.  At first it was just frontals as I thought that I would transform to Adonis pretty easily... only to find out that even after much hard work, I still didn't come close to that chiseled figure I had thought I had gained in just these few short weeks.  Then I found that after a few more weeks, that it had to be chiseled by now FOR SURE, I mean I can see my tricep peeking out... and you got it, pictures just disgusted me.  My clothes were so loose and the belt was having to be tightened, for sure on my birthday, two months into BFL, I should be a hard body, let's take pics... and wow, I'm still fat!  Don't get me wrong, I have made great strides and improvements,  both physically and mentally through all this time, but what I realized was that I was fooling myself all these years, heck even up until that point.  These pictures have been one of my prized possessions, because they show me the true progress I have made.  They show me just how out of shape I am.  They show me what I don't EVER want to be again.  They have been one of the ultimate motivators and realistic gauge of progress.  If you didn't take pictures initially, start today, take them weekly on the same day.  Make sure to take some with the everyday clothes you wear and some where you have your shorts/ swim suit on.  You don't have to look at them all the time, you don't have to share them with anybody (I have many unposted in my arsenal), but when you have a slight thought of falling off, pull them out and remind yourself where you were, where you are, and envision where you want to be.  Look at them and compare them at four week intervals, it's amazing what you will see in progress!  Week to week you may not see changes, but in 4 week intervals you will!

I'm wrapping up my last week in this building muscle phase I started after the end of my first challenge and haven't lost much weight, but even this picture to me shows a good improvement to me.  Still have to wrap up my last moderate cardio from the Hussman Fitness tweak tomorrow, and then will start a 4 week fat burning phase.

  

Challenge 2 Week 4 Recap 03/05/12

This past week was my first business trip since I started BFL on 11/14/11 and was a little nervous to stay on track.  The travel freeze I went through was probably the biggest reasons I was able to stay on track.  During week eight of my first challenge, I did a family vacation in FL and survived, barely, but I did.  This weeks weigh in was 241.5 lbs, up 1 lb from last week.  You would think this would put me into panic mode, but it didn't.  You're probably asking why?  One reason is that I started creatine back up this week and am focusing on a building muscle phase.  The other reason is that measurements show something different.  I lost a 1/2" on my belly, 1/4" on my arms, and then I gained 1/4" on forearms and 1/2" on my thighs!  I'm finally getting over the mind games our bodies play on us, it's not completely gone, but you have to have faith in this process and you begin to realize it's happening, just keep going.  It's about progress, not perfection.

I finally landed in Houston a little delayed and by the time I was in my rental and all, I still had to find a grocery store to pick up a few items.  I needed to have enough water and make sure I had gel for my hair lol...  I followed my normal workout routine through the week.  Not knowing what was in the hotel fitness center had me a little worried, as most hotels don't always have all the necessary equipment, and mine did not.  Lucky for me, my Houston office did have a full fitness center where I was able to do my LBWO.  I tried to complete my UBWO at the hotel, but even though I was down there early, the one bench and dumbells were in use.  So I immediately packed up and hit the office fitness center.

The greatest challenge on this trip was the wrong food availability and alcohol.  I made sure to bring my shakers and pack my laptop bag daily with my Myoplex shake mixes and protein bars.  I was lucky to have the hotel have a good variety of oatmeal, fresh fruits, and yogurt for their free breakfast in the morning.  I would take a few things for my mid morning meal to hold me over until lunch.  Lunches were small sub sandwiches, but the first day I found a sub shop and picked up a dry chicken wrap with double turkey and brought it with me.  The leftover subs became my afternoon snack getting rid of some of the bread and loading up with some extra turkey.  I was always able to clean up the lunch meals to fit my need, but protein was always an issue.  A few days, I had to make sure I took a little more protein later in the day to make up for what I may have missed at lunch.  Dinners were fairly easy, even the group ones.  One night was a Mexican restaurant and grilled chicken, steak fajitas, black beans and rice were an easy meal combo.  Another night was Italian buffet style, and I was able to have a serving angel hair pasta, chicken, and two servings of mixed steamed vegetables.  When I asked the server for another spoonful, she responded with I've never had anyone ask for more vegetables, and we both laughed.  We had a few free nights and I volunteered as a designated driver for others, but always made the right choices for food.  Through the week I had many compliments of encouragement and votes of confidence on my strength to say no.  No to desserts, no to buttered rolls, no to alcohol... they rolled off the tongue much easier than I thought they would and far from my vacation in week 8 of my first challenge.  Starting this second challenge, I had some uncertainty on why I was continuing this process, but I seem to be more focused now, more then ever.  It's the for life phase that I'm still trying to get in line.

In August of last year I had a business trip to Dallas and remember thinking when I snapped my belt on the airplane, that it was as loose as it could get and it was on the verge of being to small.  It felt good to put on that belt this time and tighten it up.  The fit in the seat was much nicer on my new body as well.  One of my coworkers asked me to put together a workout program together for her which of course I did.  I didn't take credit, but sent her the BFL sheets and was her personal trainer one morning after my workout.  She must have said to me about four separate times, "Look at the size of your arms."  Flattering it was ;)  She's been sending updates, so I'm hoping she sticks with it.  I think the funniest and most flattering situation was on my flight back.  I flew Southwest and almost missed my flight, but as I walked on all that was left was middle seats.  Being an expert at flying with them, I placed my laptop bag in a middle seat near the front and had to walk almost all the way to the back to find overhead space.  As it turns out, I wasn't the only one that almost missed their flights, as I had to wait in the back until the remaining 10-15 other passengers boarded preparing for their middle seats lol... anyway I got back up to the my seat eventually and the gentleman on the aisle stands up and let's me in.  As I'm sitting down, he makes the comment, "It's okay, I'm not the air marshall," and busts out laughing.  Well the remainder of the flight he continues to joke and hound me about being the air marshall.  At one point he even tells me that with my build, haircut, and sun glasses, that I sure looked the part.  Apparently he was hinting towards a military background, which I don't have lol... I guess my tight polo showing off my smaller belly and bigger arms are starting to stand out :)  It was good to have this type of ego boost, it really helps keep you focused.

This next week will wrap up my muscle building phase and I will be doing a 4 week phase focusing on burning fat next.  I'll be doing the Hussman Fitness max cardio tweak of doing the extra 20 minutes of moderate cardio after my HIIT and doing another 40 minute moderate cardio on my normal off day.  I'm hoping to lose 1-3 lbs a week in this phase, and hoping to see more of a drastic change in the transformation.

Challenge 2 Week 3 Recap 02/26/12

Yes, I'm still here and I'm sorry for the delay in my challenge 2 week 3 results.  I had a family issue and a business trip and did not have much time to post.  I had to do my weigh in and measurements on Sunday morning, because I didn't think there would be a scale in my hotel.  This weeks weigh in was 240.5 lbs and I lost 1/4" in my thighs and over a 1/4" on my forearms.  My legs are starting to show more definition and vascularity is coming out more in my arms, it's such a neat thing to see.  After a few weeks of slow movement, it was good to see I had a good week.  I was close to hitting my 240 goal and had even been hoping that I would bypass it and go right into the 230's lol.  I did see 238 after my run, but that was fluid lost sweating that I had to replenish. :)

Workout and nutrition were good this week, I did go back to adding back in a third shake into my nutritional program for the convenience and have been using a calorie counter on my Android phone called Calorie Counter to make sure where my fist portions are where they should be.  I'm shooting for about 40g protein and 30g carbs in each meal.  It's great as the bar scanner will bring up the nutritional information and I just adjust to about where my portion is.  It then saves what you eat too for future use.  I'm not weighing every portion or slicing and dicing, but it helps with the general numbers for me to make sure I'm hitting my goals.

My lifting sessions have been great, I've really been pushing myself to make sure I'm hitting my intensitites and I think the results are paying off.  I'm still doing treadmill for HIIT and still using the Hussman Fitness moderate tweak of adding 10 minutes of moderate cardio after HIIT and an extra 40 minute moderate run on my normal off day.

The biggest challenge I would have in the following week was my business trip. Outside of my vacation, this will be my first trip for work since I started BFL.  I'm not going to lie, it has been nerve wrecking as the food and alcohol are plentiful in the group activities, so I have to stay focused.  To add to the mess, Friday when I got home from work, my wife recieved a call that her grandfather had an accident and they were not sure if he was going to make it.  Originally they were going to drive down to Florida, but then they told them that may be too late.  So Friday night we found a flight for my wife, kids, mother and son in laws, to get down there Saturday.  So we were scampering to get them packed and off, as I don't know how long they will be down there.  Once they were off, I had to find a house and dog sitter, and then pack and plan for my trip.  I brought 3 shakes per day, a baggie of protein for my after workouts, creatine as I start back up this week, 5 protein bars, a shaker, a small shaker, a small gym bag, etc.  My cheat meals were leftover Noodles and Company Mac and Cheese with meatballs my son left me, and then I grabbed a Portillo's beef, cheese fry, and large diet coke on the way to the airport.  I then had a fudge bar at the airport.  I didn't get to my hotel until after midnight, but I picked up 5 gallons of water.  I had my shake and off to bed I went.

I'm now back home, just got back yesterday, but I'll post up about Week 4 and the business trip in my next recap in the next few days, going off to get my lower workout in for today.