Vacation, working out, and my challenges...

Countdown: 26 days
It's good to be home! I missed my home, my gym, and well, not work lol... I still can't believe that I am already in the middle of week 9 of 12 of this challenge.

I was able to "eat out" succesfully on vacation and supplemented with both protein bars and my Myoplex shakes for the on the move meals. I would highly suggest for anyone travelling to bring some protein bars. There were times I thought I would have time to mix a shake and didn't, but since I had the bars I chomped away and kept to my eating times. Good example would be on the actual flight or in flight, I just opened one up and ate up. I think the hardest part was drinking my normal water intake. We spent a few days at Disney World and it was hard to drink that much water and then be in a line or on a ride and have to use the bathroom lol... I did bring my own Camelbak water bottle that holds over 24 ozs and bought a clip for my back pack to hold it when I wasn't using it. We also bought gallons of water, whether one single gallon or the 2.5-3.5 gal water spouts. This was good for the whole family.

Eating out has it's bad side, I had quite the few mental battles with myself on what to eat. It's amazing that knowing what you should eat and what you shouldn't order, that you still have to fight the urge. A few times up until it was my turn to place my order I would want to order the bad food, I just can't believe the mental battle this was. I sometimes wasn't sure what was actually going to come out of my mouth when I ordered lol... but I did good and did the right thing. It's easy to order out, just stick to fish, chicken, and lean steaks. Have them prepared broiled or grilled, but ask for them dry if you don't want the seasoning or oils to be used. Almost every place has steam vegetables, I tended to stick to the brocolli and green beans, but loved the medley which included zucchini, summer squash, pea pods, etc. Carbs are easy, rice (brown if they have), potatoes, etc. Just watch your portion controls. Lucky for me my fist is pretty big, but there were times I didn't have enough protein and lucky for me the wife had leftover grilled chicken. At times I even scrounged my 3 yr olds leftover vegetables. Lucky for me, his fist is small lol :)

Workouts, I had it in my mind that I would find a gym and do what I needed to and I did. The only drawback I found was that they were not 24 hrs. I never realized how much the flexibility on hours helps me be successful at home. When everyone else is in there down time, I can sneak out and do work. Lucky for me, when I was at Disney, I only had to do cardio. I did 2 miles outside and tried HIIT. Of course with my luck it was 34 degrees, but I still did it, I wanted to quit so bad, but I kept talking myself into just doing it. It's the first time I have probably run outdoors since high school football and I was like this stinks! In reality it did not, I conquered. The hardest part for me was how do you pace your 5 or 6 mph like you do on a treadmill? You can't. What I did was walk one minute, jog a minute, run a minute, and run as hard as I could for a minute. It worked for me as I was pushing myself pretty good. I ran from my hotel to the guard gate and boy was I ever happy to see that gate. I touched and spun and repeated on my way back, only to realize, I still had another mile to go lol... running outside was a different experience and something I will eventually enjoy, but I definitely felt it more in my feet, knees, and lower back.

My vacation list recommendations:
- Look for a gym prior to your vacation, find out what your options are where you are staying, try for a 24 hr gym. I paid about $32 for a weekly membership at a local gym.
- Supplements, bring protein bars, shakes, and a shaker. These really helped keep me on track. Maybe do some research if there is a near by Vitamin Shop, FitRX, or other reasonable supplement shop that you can purchase your stuff at or just bring it with. I had to bring a carry on to bring all my supplements, but well worth it.
- Bring a water botttle and a clip to hang on your carry on. When you get to your destination, buy water in bulk with a spout so you can just refill as necessary and use for your shakes. I was also able to use at many water fountains!
- Don't forget your workout attire, mp3 player, gloves, shorts, shirts!
- Think ahead of what you will be doing eating out. Make sure you understand what you can and can't eat. Don't be scared to ask for other options for fried sides.
- Tell everyone your traveling with your goals!  Sad to say, but sometimes this helped me stay on track.  As I did, you also get the compliments of staying on track, which make you want to stay on track even more!!

Week 8 Recap 01/09/12 (Updated 1/11/12)

Countdown: 28 days
I hadn't updated my body fat percentage on this screen shot, as I did not bring my Omron monitor.  I brought my calipers and took a measurement of 38mm, which is approx. 28.7%.  Will update tomorrow night with more information once home.

<Update 1/11/12>

Eight weeks officially done and extremely happy that this one was a good week since I was on vacation away from home, away from my gym, away from my routine.  It was difficult to stick to the routine, but with determination it is possible for all of us.  My weigh in this week was 250 lbs. and my belly is at 47".  It is the first time I have actually seen 249 on the scale, but this was after my workout and because I hadn't replinshed my water from working out, but still a good feeling.  This brings my to date totals of 15 lbs scale weight lost, consisting of 21 lbs of fat lost and gain of 6 lbs of lean mass.  My waist is down about 6".  This is all exciting news for me!  I've been a little frustrated with the Omron monitor and it's readings, but trying to make sure that I am doing this correctly and consistently to get the most accurate reading.

The workout week started tough.  I did my HIIT running cardio early Monday morning, but as the day went by and we finished packing and getting organized for my trip it became more apparent that I may not have the energy to get up early and get my workout in and did not want to use my vacation as an excuse.  So at 1130pm, off to the gym I went to get my lower body workout in and then finish up with a bike HIIT.  By the time I finished up it was into the next day, so I completed what needed to be done  for Tues.  Had my shake, went off to bed and started the vacation.  A hard lesson to learn was doing legs before taking a trip to the airport with the family, good additional workout with the burn feeling through the whole thing lol.  By the time we checked in and got settled in at Disney it was about 10pm and off to bed we went.  I couldn't update any of my blog because I was sharing my bed with a nosey little 3 yr old that needed to go to sleep lol...  I did ask about a fitness center, which my hotel did not have, but was informed that from my hotel to the guard gate was 1 mile and there is a jogging path.  Figured this would work and it did, but I didn't expect it to be 34 degrees out on Wednesday morning!  Yup, it was chilly and I was dressed for it, but boy that wind hitting my face was killer, made my eyes water, and all I kept thinking about was you can do this.  I did it alright, I couldn't judge speed, but had an idea so I completed my HIIT on walk, jog, run, all out run for my intervals.  It was not an easy task since I have been a treadmill runner for years now.  At one point I kept up with a few runners who had a good pace going, which made me feel good considering that they definitely weren't amateurs!  I think the last time I ran outside like this was football in high school, so make that over 20 yrs!  It was a great accomplishment for me, but I felt it in my feet, knees, and lower back, but no different than anything else I got over it.  In addition, walking all day Wed. in Disney was another workout in itself, as I had stroller duty most of the time for my 4 month old and also threw my 3 yr old up on my shoulders for most of the day.  Easy way to keep track of him that way.  By Thursday we were making the trek to visit famly in a small town, but since our day started late and we decided to do a big family dinner, the time crunch was on.  I was upset with myself, but by the time we got settled back at the house, it was 945pm and the gym closed at 1000pm.  I took my son with me and at least went to find the gym and get there to pay for my week.  I ended up taking Thurs as my rest day and moved everything a day later to finish out the week on Sunday.  This made me feel much better and the guilt went away.

My cheat day was Sunday and after sleeping in, getting to the gym, and helping getting the family together we started with a very late breakfast.  A corn hash egg skillet and biscuits and gravy were on the menu for me, along with a small portion of a cinimini roll.  My mother in law decided to make some good baby back BBQ ribs with potatoes and a salad, yummy hit the spot!  I filled in the rest of my meals with my shakes.  I ate so well today I had to force the last shake down.  My nutrition was on point, but was challenging at times at the restaurants, but you can read about this in my other post.

Week 7 Recap 1/02/12 (Placeholder)

Countdown: 35 days

I forgot my Excel spreadsheet at home on my personal computer and actually brought my work computer, so here is a screen shot of my stats from my Android  based phone using JEFit application.  I will update more tomorrow.

Lifting in the morning just not working for me

I've been trying to have a split schedule with cardio in the morning and lifting at night when it's in my schedule, but in the last few Weeks due to the holidays and vacation I've done both in the morning when limited to time.  I always do weights then cardio, but when I get to my fifth our sixth sets in each exercise, I fall flat on energy.  Normally in the evening I have much more energy and this would be because of me fueling with food all day.
The last time I did BFL I did most of my workouts in the morning, this worked for me.  It's probably more of an expectation thing now then back then, not realizing that with more fuel, I could lift more, but sure made me feel bummed a little this time around.  Moral of story, food equals energy to help push harder through the reps, but my goal is fat burning so I need not worry about as much on strength in my morning workouts, just stick with the program and rest between sets :)

My temporary gym

I searched around for a gym prior to visiting my wife's grandfather.  Lucky for me, I found a very nice one a few minutes away.  I did my upper body and cycle hiit cardio this morning.

Social dinners, started to get to me...

Through all these weeks eating out has not been an issue for me.  I know what I need to order and how I need to order, but Thursday night I think I reached a breaking point, maybe even a milestone point for me.  As I sat for dinner staring at the menu all I could think about was everything I shouldn't be eating.  I was also confused with what do I eat, I still have to work out, so a salad with turkey would be good or do I go with fish and the healthy sides.  All this went out the window when they brought out the fresh rolls glazed with butter and the butter cups with sugar.  If someone would have taken my picture, I swear I must have been drooling.  My nieces ordered ribs, there was homemade chicken pot pies, pasta with Alfredo, Mac and cheese, diet Cokes... And then there was my salad.  I must have gotten quiet, as the wife asked me what was wrong and of course I responded with nothing.  After dinner out came the slices of pies with an array of flavors.  Hard gulp and deep breath here.  I will tell you, that I survived the night, but almost at my breaking point, i almost did not.  A salad has never taken me so in depth into it's flavors as I let it that night.  I savored the lettuce and tomatoes with the avocado, the turkey.  When it was time to leave, I said my goodbyes, and took my children to get strapped in the car.  My wife got in the car and again asked if I was okay and again  I said yes, but I will talk to her later about it.  This is when it dawned on me that my mood must have changed through dinner and she noticed, all because of the deep conflict I was having with myself and all the foods that I wanted but could not have.  I accepted that I have an issue with food tonight and that it is trying to control me.  I was also willing and able to talk about it to my best friend, my wife.  Her encouraging support of course made me feel good about what I am doing in this challenge and how this needs to be a life change as I do not want to go back to where I started.
In addition to this enlightenment, I didn't have the time to workout tonight.  By the time I got the family home and situated for unpacking, I only had time to take my son with me and pay for the week pass at the gym as they closed at 10 pm and I only had 15 minutes. I will adjust my schedule the remainder of this week to complete my workouts starting first thing in the morning.  :)

Even Disney World isn't stopping me!

It's been a little bit of a challenge here on vacation, but still holding firm and on middle of week seven.  2 mile run this morning attempted hiit somewhat, explain later when I have more time.  Getting on it's a small world after all now...just enjoying my family and my vanilla Myoplex original shake. :)