Competitive streak

Today's swim class was fun. I mean, they are always fun, but this one was particularly enjoyable. The first few weeks of class have definitely been challenging, but most of the swimmers are new, so I'm almost always way out ahead of everyone else during the sets. It can get mundane. However, Patrick, the guy I usually share a lane with, is vastly improving. Today, we had a bunch of sprint sets with fins. Patrick is a cyclist, so whenever we do kick drills, he's a beast. Since we had a bunch of them this morning, him and I were going at it throughout our sets, and it was a blast. It's kind of nice to have a solid athlete in the lane with me as he keeps me motivated to really push myself and not slack off. I think we both were feeding off eachother's competitive streak.

That being said, he didn't quite beat me during any of our drills. ;) Maybe next time, son...

Total distance, 1,300 yards swimming

Week 11 report

Only one more week to go!

After a shameful Week 10, I made up some ground this week, but it wasn't quite enough to overcome the nearly two-pound weight gain from that dismal seven days. I weighed in at 168.5 , a loss of 1.4 pounds from last Wednesday, but it's still not my best (167.8), which came in Week 9.

Hey look, another narcissistic "selfie" of me on the bike last week.

Now, it's time to really pour it on. I was reading an interesting article in Time magazine while sitting in the doctor's office with Jen yesterday. It was about UFC fighters, who undergo insane transformations in the 36 hours before they weigh in for fights. They call the process "molting," which involves eating nothing but raw vegetables, little-to-no fluid intake and living in a sweatsuit. They will run on treadmills all day long and then spend the evening hours in the sauna. Doing so, they drop 10-15 pounds in almost no time, and then, after they weigh in, they pack it all back on before their fight, gorging themselves on pasta and steak. To me, this is incredible, although insane and probably very dangerous.

Although I plan to really hit the gym hard and try my best to make Week 12 my "healthiest" one yet, expecting to drop tons of weight in a short period of time simply isn't good for you. If I can drop 1.6 pounds and fall below 167 by next week, I'll be stoked. It will be the ultimate test of will, too. Jen is due ANY day now, and if the baby arrives, it will certainly throw off any workout plans I had. That being said, our doctor is going to be out of town until next Friday, so we are hoping Jen can hold out until then before having her labor induced that weekend. Fingers are crossed.

I need to schedule an appointment with the Wellness Pays staff for next Wednesday, too. I want to find out what progress I've made. Even if I don't do the full battery of tests again, I at least want to sit down in the BodPod and find out if I've made significant progress with my body fat percentage.

Week 10 report

Last week sucked. Plain and simple. I completely fell apart on several days, went way over on my calories, and I really have no excuse. I ate out too much, only worked out three times and I paid dearly for it, gaining a pound. I was so pissed off at myself that I didn't even want to blog about it yesterday.

My swollen wrist after this morning's swim session.

It's a new week, though, and I have some serious work to do in order to make up for it. I'm back up to 169.9 pounds with only two weeks left. I probably won't reach my goal of 165 by then, but I'll do my best to put together a big finish. After that, all bets are off. The baby is due any day now and Jen is my No. 1 priority right now. If she needs me to come straight home and help her with anything, forcing me to skip the gym, I'll do it. That being said, these last two weeks may be the toughest yet.

Once the baby is here, a new and greater test will begin. Will I be able to maintain this healthier lifestyle with much less time on my hands? The biggest reason most people have crummy diets is because they are often on the run and "don't have time" to cook and eat right. It's a lame excuse, but I think we've all been there.

Anyway, this morning's swim class wasn't as grueling as Tuesday's, but it was solid and a good way to start the day. I plan on a good session on the stationary bike later, as well. We did a lot of butterfly sets, which I'm not very practiced in. Just like I used to do in high school, I repeatedly smacked my hands and wrists on the lane line, trying not to whack anyone in the head on the other side of our lane. That's the biggest reason it's difficult to circle swim with fly. I saved their heads, but my hand took a beating. I'm gonna have a few bruises tomorrow.

Total distance: 1,650 yards

Jello arms

When I walked onto the pool deck for class this morning, Pepper had a big grin on her face. I'm always the first one out there and with nobody else around, she just grinned wider, and in true Ivan Drago fashion said, "I'm gonna break you today."

Indeed she did. Right off the bat, she had me doing full kick sets and butterfly. She followed that up with sprint sets, broken up by push-ups after every 25-yard sprint. I wasn't even 500 yards into the morning workout and my arms felt like total mush. In the end, though I ran out of time before I could finish the full set on the board. I went hard the entire time, so I don't feel too bad. With no working arms to speak of, it forced me to focus on a powerful kick. That was difficult, too, as I ran for an hour last night, so my legs were a bit sore.

Yikes!

Total distance: 1,450 yards

Not so fast, Cowboy!

I was looking forward to swim class all morning and it was totally justified. When I showed up, there were workouts waiting for us on the board, broken down into high, medium and low. I chose "high" and this is what it was.

The first part of today's workout.

It wasn't easy, but as I was plugging through it, Pepper, my instructor, stopped me and asked how far I was. I told her I was just about to start my IM set and she replied with, "Dang! OK, I'm going to add more for you." While it was a confidence boost, she certainly added enough that it completely wiped me out once I finished. Here's what she added for me and a couple of others.

The revised version. AKA the tougher version.

In the end, I was pretty tired. It was by far, the most vigorous workout we've done since the class started. It even included a two-minute treading water drill with no hands and that was brutal. Now, I won't feel too guilty about taking it easy on the stationary bike later today.

Total distance: 1,700 yards

Week 9 report

I know these weekly updates must be getting mundane, but I feel obligated to report my progress regularly. Just like the entire purpose of this blog, it helps keep me in check, guilt-tripping me into staying focused throughout the week. But once again, I had a good week. Well, kind of.

Jen took a photo of me Hulking out after a run and a haircut yesterday.

As far as calories are concerned, I completely fell off the wagon. I did great most of the week, but completely binged twice, which resulted in an average daily intake of over 1,800 calories. I'm supposed to be averaging 1,520 per day. That being said, I really stepped up my exercise, finally adding swimming into the mix (two classes so far). That must have been the difference-maker, as I still dropped a full pound, just like the last two weeks. I weighed in at 167.8 and was so excited, I almost Hulked out.

There are only three more weeks left in this little "experiment" and I'm starting to think more about what I'm going to do once it's over. I really like where I'm at physically and mentally, but I certainly don't want to count calories for the rest of my life. However, I think this will go a long way, as I am starting to make better food decisions without even really thinking about it. I never blacklisted any types of foods, but when you are monitoring your caloric intake, you kind of eliminate the junk by default, forcing you to make healthier choices. I hope that carries over and helps me be more aware of what I am putting in my mouth every day.

I've been saying it for a few weeks, but starting this week, it's definitely time to add more weight training. When I get my body fat checked again at the end of Week 12, I want to make sure I've done everything I can to help lower that God-awful 27 percent of body fat I had before starting my diet.

Kick drills still kicking ... my ass that is

Today was the second day of swim class. My shoulder has been bothering me a little more than the usual ever since last Thursday, but fortunately, today's class was focused around technique and kicking. We did some work with kick boards and fins before incorporating some easy pull with fins, which was perfect. I didn't log a ton of yards, but that's just fine with me. I pushed myself hard during our drills, so I'm glad I got a metabolism boost for the remainder of the day. The class was small today, too, so it was nice to have entire half-lane to myself with no circle swim. However, my legs are still hurting. That was more kicking than I'm used to.

Warm up
150 kick
Core
150 kick drills (sprints of 25)
200 pull drills
Cool down
200 breast

Total distance: 750 yards swimming

I heart chlorine

Today was the first day of swim class. I'm taking it as part of the employee Wellness Pays program at my work, which allows us to take three hours of work time per week for fitness and health purposes. And let me tell you, the first class was wonderful. It wasn't much, but the second I opened the locker room door and got a big whiff of that humid chlorinated air, I felt like I was in heaven. I friggin love that smell!

My new home pool. Sorry Roy Rec Center. ... It's not you, it's me.

For the first day, we were simply divided up into the six lanes and tested with a 12-minute swim. There were no rules, just simply go as far as you can, with or without breathers, before the time runs out. I'm sure our instructor just wanted us to gauge our levels and give each of us an individual goal to reach by the end of the course. Admittedly, I was nervous. I haven't been in the pool for about four months and although I've been working out a lot, swimming is a whole different beast. Immediately, I felt it, as my shoulders tightened up within the first 200 yards (we weren't given time to warm up). I ended up doing 100 yards of breaststroke about halfway through, but finished with 700 yards when the whistle blew. Not a strong mark, by any means, but it was the most in our class (13 people) which definitely stroked my ego a bit.

In the end, that's all we ended up doing, which was a little bit disappointing, but I do understand this is a class for all swimming levels, so workouts have to be planned to work for everyone. Fair enough. I'm just happy to be back in the water, and it's probably not going to allow me to overdo it on my shoulder, too. I did an easy 300-yard cool down and hopped out. Showering and heading back to work is something new I'm gonna need to get used to. Weber State's pool is only a 10-minute walk back to my office. The second I sat down, I treated myself to a granola bar and a Diet Coke. Haha!

Total distance: 1,000 yards swimming

Week 8 report

I can't believe how fast the weeks are flying by. It's strange, because as I wait for Jen's due date, it feels like time is at a standstill. But, when it comes to my 12-week diet, I am at warp speed.

Three quarters of this regimen are now over and although I don't feel like I'm seeing a huge difference in the mirror, the scale is certainly reflecting it. This week, I weighed in at 168.8, down exactly one pound from last week. That leaves me with less than four pounds to go in the remaining four weeks. It's entirely possible that I may not reach my overall goal before the baby gets here, though, as Jen has reached a point in her pregnancy where she could go into labor at any time. Honestly, I wouldn't mind cutting this experiment a bit short if our baby boy does arrive a tad early. The entire point of this was to get down to a healthy weight and body fat percentage by the time I'm a father, and I feel like I'm certainly on track for that.

A nice blurry photo during the cool down of my one-hour run yesterday.

While I had a difficult Week 7, this week was a little bit better. As always, I had a few bad days, but finished the week strong. It appears to be a microcosm of how I would like to live my life anyway. We can enjoy ourselves and let loose a little bit as long as the majority of the time, we are doing our best to be healthy. I can thank a couple of in-laws for such a good week in the gym. While having dinner at their place on Sunday, Jen's brother, Vaughn, and his wife, Chrissy, were debating if they would like to run the Huntsville Half Marathon with me in September. I still am not entirely convinced I even want to run it, but they seemed receptive to it and it gave me a fresh motivation to start training for it early. That being said, I did an extra long running session yesterday to finish the week. Plus, I didn't get to start swimming in my class yesterday, as we simply discussed the course schedule and don't get in the water until tomorrow. I can't wait!

Well, I'm now down 10.4 pounds in eight weeks. Only four more weeks remain with 3.8 pounds to go.

Week 7 report

It's been a long week and I'm pretty tired, so I'm going to keep it short in this update. Last week wasn't ideal, but overall, I managed to keep myself under control regarding what I put in my mouth. I had a couple of bad days, but they weren't so overboard that I couldn't recover with exercise.

I haven't seen this territory in about eight years. Holy crap!

That being said, I still finished the week in the red with my remaining calories, which is a first since I started this. I only managed to work out four times, rather than five, but I think it's OK to miss every once in a while. I still managed to lose a little bit more weight, dropping 0.8 pounds this week. When I stepped on the scale on Wednesday, I couldn't help myself as I instantly grabbed my iPad and took a photo. I weighed in at 169.8 pounds, which puts me very close to a 10-pound weight loss since March 13. I haven't seen the 160's since I was 19 years old (almost eight years ago), so I was pretty damn excited.

However, the bloody push-up challenge fell through after less than four days. It was simply too much, too fast, and my shoulder told me so. It was in terrible pain for several days after and it's still twinging a little bit. All I can do is ice the crap out of it before starting my swim class next Tuesday. Oh well. I still managed to get in almost 350 push-ups that I wouldn't have otherwise done.

Till next week. Less than five pounds to go!