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 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!

Week 3 report

There really isn't a whole ton to add to this week's update. I'm still going strong and I'm still on pace for my weight goal. I weighed in at 174 even this morning (a 1.4 lb loss), which still puts me ahead of the curve for my 12-week goal.

This is almost identical to what I had done yesterday. Rather than getting the injection into my bursa sac again (like in this image), the doctor shot the cortisone down into my shoulder joint, which was much deeper and much more painful.

The nutrition has been going well, albeit not stellar. I maintained 36 percent of my calories from fat and 17 percent from protein, which is about the same as last week. No significant improvement there, but I stayed under my calorie intake goal for the week and it's obviously paying off on the scale.

In the fitness department, I basically rotated between cycling and running/hiking. One day, I'd knock out 30 vigorous minutes on the stationary bike, and the next I'd go for 40 minutes (one day I even did a full hour) on the treadmill, alternating 10 minutes of brisk walking on a heavy incline and 10 minutes of running at 5.5 miles per hour.

I haven't been able to do as much weight training as I wanted, due to ongoing shoulder issues, but I did do some, including a difficult ab workout session after the bike on Friday. I had an MRI done a few weeks back to see if there is an actual tear in my rotator cuff and thankfully, there isn't. However, there was some significant "fraying" throughout my tendons, and the doctor was unable to give me a straightforward solution as to what's next. Surgery to clean up the fraying is an option, but an expensive one that I cannot afford with the baby coming, and it's not even guaranteed to fix the problem.

So ... he filled up my joint with cortisone yesterday (different from the injection I got in my bursa sac well over a year ago) and told me to start doing the weight-bearing exercises on my rotator cuff religiously once the initial soreness of the shot wears off. That should limit any exercise-related pain while I strengthen the tendons as much as possible.

It may work ... it may not. I suppose only time will tell.

Week 2 report

So far, so good. After knocking out the first week, my second week of dieting was much easier to get through. It's so strange how quickly habits can form, and in this case, it's a good thing. I maintained my calorie goal all week, despite slipping up on a few bad nutrition choices. Fortunately, MyFitnessPal has a feature that calculates calories earned through exercise, and that helped me stay in the positive on my net calories consumed.

Dripping sweat off the tip of my nose during last night's stationary bike session. It was a doozy.

There is still a ton of room for improvement, though. My percentage of calories from fat was 37 percent, which is still way too high, but I did manage to improve my percentage of protein from 13 to 18 percent this week. Breakfast is where I've been the weakest, getting the bulk of my fat calories in those meals. I simply haven't been giving myself enough time to get ready, eat and get to work on time in the mornings, so I've been eating quick junk for breakfast. Lunches and snacks have been fairly solid and Jen and I have been vigilant about cooking healthy dinners in the evening.

Here's another product I've been snacking on lately. It has a shit-ton of fiber, is low in fat and only has 130 calories in it. They've been good to eat an hour or so before the gym.

I weighed in this morning at 175.4, which is only a slight loss from last week's weigh-in, but I anticipated that. I dropped much more than I wanted to in the first week, so I'm still on pace for my 12-week goal.

I also locked in a five trips to the gym last week, although I kind of slacked off on one of them, following a piss-poor calorie decision. I really challenged myself in the other workouts, though, mixing it up with cycling, running, treadmill incline walking, and circuit training. And that's just the cardio. I also threw in some weight lifting and ab work and have still been going on walks during my lunch hours on most days. It definitely was a good week in the exercise department, and I hope to crank it up even more this week.

On a side note, I finally surpassed 1,000 miles on the stationary bike since I started logging my distance almost a year and a half ago. Huzzah!

Week 1 report:

Huzzah! Whatever I've been doing this past week seems to be working. My initial goal was to lose anywhere from 1 to 1.5 pounds per week. I figured that was reasonable, considering I'm not trying to drop a drastic amount of weight; just about 15-20 pounds. When I stepped on the scale last Wednesday I weighed in at 179.2 pounds. This morning I tipped the scale at 175.6. Losing 3.6 pounds in one week is quite a bit more than I anticipated. That being said, I did have a light dinner last night, so the one-week result may be skewed a little bit.

These are so good, and there are about four more styles I can try out.

I am on a run of five straight days at Planet Fitness and I haven't been going crazy, either. Usually, I just do anywhere from 30-45 minutes of cardio. I did get in one weightlifting session and one hour-long session on the stationary bike on a day that I went over on my calories. I've also been supplementing my after-work workouts with long walks during my lunch break. The weather has been so nice, so I figured it is a perfect opportunity to burn a few extra calories, giving me a little more leeway on my dinners.

Speaking of dinners, the first few days of my diet were VERY hard. I went over on my calories twice in the first three days, but gradually found a rhythm with healthier choices as the week went on. I've grown fond of the microwave bags of veggie steamers. They are filling, low in calories, low in fat and do a great job of energizing me before I go to the gym after work. My percentages still need improvement, though. I consumed 36 percent of my calories from fat this week, which is still much higher than I want. I want to get that to less than 20 percent. Also, only 13 percent of my calories came from protein, so I plan on eating a few lean turkey choices for dinner this week. That should beef up my protein and keep my fat content down.

So far, so good. I'm still updating my distances on my tracker, but memorizing them for weekly totals is more than I want to do for every blog right now.

The results are in

OK, I know it's been about two weeks since I last posted, but I wanted to wait until I got my full Wellness results back. I finally did, and now I can move forward. Here's what I took from it.

The good

• My blood lipid profile was excellent. My triglycerides, total cholesterol, HDL and LDL cholesterol, glucose and lipoprotein levels were all in optimal ranges.
• My "risk" factors are low, including not smoking, rare drinking, no diabetes, no signs of osteoporosis and somewhat regular physical activity.
• Upper body strength. I scored well on every category. The aide even said my grip strength score was "through the roof," which shocked me. I never thought I had a very strong grip.

The bad

• Nutrition. This comes as no surprise to me. I sorely need to eat more veggies, less red meat and less high-fat foods. The only area I scored particularly well in was my intake of whole-grain and wheat carbs that are low in high-fructose corn syrup and gluten.
• Flexibility. Although I've vastly improved since I lost weight, I still have a long way to go, scoring a little low on my sit-and-reach test.
• Body fat percentage. This is the big one. I scored a whopping 26.8 percent, which stunned me, even though I knew my percentage was going to be high. The charts map me in the "obese" category here, even though my weight (179 pounds) and waist (34 inches) measurements were only slightly high.

With this information, I have formulated a lofty goal with a tentative plan, aided by Gordon Gridley, a friend and fellow swimmer who has undergone an incredible transformation himself. I'll fill you in on that a little more later.

The goal

• To drastically improve my overall health by the time our baby is born. This gives me about 12 weeks, as he is due in early June. I need to set an example for my family, one that will stick and hopefully encourage a healthy lifestyle for both Jen and my son. I would like to drop my weight down to 165 pounds and my body fat percentage to less than 15 percent (eventually to less than 10 percent).

The plan

• Diet right. I've never actually "dieted" before, but I'm going for it. I started last Wednesday and have been using a very helpful tool on my iPad called MyFitnessPal. It's an incredible app that logs my diet and exercise, keeping track of my calories and nutrition with an exhaustive database of millions of foods. I don't have to drop calories drastically, only a little bit. I mostly need to focus on what calories I consume. I should consume less than 20 percent of my calories from fat (less than 10 percent in a perfect world), with a rough balance of 50 percent carbs (the right kind with less bad sugar) and 30 percent protein. The best part is, I don't have to do any friggin math. MyFitnessPal charts those percentages automatically for me as I enter my food after every meal.
• Exercise more often, but not necessarily for longer. I don't need to log hours upon hours of cardio like the people on The Biggest Loser do, but I need to get cardio sessions in more often and every day if possible. I've pretty much slacked off since last November, rarely working out more than 2-3 times per week. I've been at it for four straight days now (including five of the past six days) and I'm gaining steam. Depending on how fast I shed the fat/pounds, I will eventually start doing more weight-bearing and strengthening workouts to add muscle. I set a reasonable goal of about 1-1.5 pounds of weight loss per week for now. Another fun social media app called FourSquare helps keep me motivated. You "check in" on your iPad or iPhone wherever you are at and can try to become the "Mayor" of certain locations by having the most check ins at that spot. My goal is to be the Mayor of Planet Fitness in Roy by the time my son is born, which will be tough, because there are some regulars there that have logged a lot of check-ins.

So, that's the tentative plan. I will fill in more details as I report back every Wednesday for weekly follow-ups, starting tomorrow.

Still waiting ...

It's been a week and I'm still waiting on the results of my fitness test. I really would like to get that back as soon as possible so I can map out some goals.

That being said, I went to the gym twice last week and then just got home from the gym today. I still need to improve on the amount of times I go, but I have improved a bit on my eating habits as of late. Still limiting the amount of carbonation and number of times I eat fast food in a week.

Baby steps... Anyway, today was the first time at Planet Fitness that I've had to wait on a machine. It wasn't too long, though and I was able to get some good stretching in before sitting down on the stationary bike for 30 minutes.

Total distance: 9.5 miles cycling

Weekly update

Since starting my new job, it's become a bit harder to find time to update my workout blog. When I find the time to exercise, I completely forget about it by the time I come home. I'm going to do my best to keep updating, but I might just do what I'm doing today, and do weekly blogs that recap my exercise for the week.

I went to the gym on Wednesday, Friday and today. On Wednesday, I did a 30-minute run on speed intervals, going 5.5 mph for 2 minutes followed by 7.0 mph for a full minute. I logged exactly three miles doing so and followed it up with some biceps/triceps work using nothing but my own body weight, so no dumbbells this time. On Friday, I went for the same thing (speed intervals), but this time on the stationary bike. I ended up setting a new 30-minute personal best of 9.35 miles (old record was 9.30).

Today, it was the first time I've tried going to Planet Fitness on a Sunday morning and to my surprise, there were quite a few people there. Not so swamped that I couldn't find a machine, though. I planned on doing another 30-minute run, but after a mile, my shins were starting to throb, so I stopped right away. I spent the rest of my hour doing hip-strengthening and some light ab work.

Not a terrible week, but I still need to do better.

Total distance: 4 miles running, 9.35 miles cycling

Lungs on fire

Today was my first day back doing dryland training for about three weeks and I paid dearly for it. I stuck with something simple, riding the stationary bike for 30 minutes, but I made sure to turn it into interval training, much like I did at the pool earlier this week.

First photo taken of the stationary bike at Planet Fitness. I normally capture my workout stats via picture on the bike at the Roy Rec Center.

I rode for three minutes on level 10, cranked it up to level 15 for a full minute (sprint) and repeated for a full 30 minutes. And the last couple of one-minute sprints had my lungs burning like I hadn't worked out in years. It's amazing how quickly you lose stamina after just a few weeks off. I finished up with some easy weightlifting on my arms and chest.

I start my new job on Monday and with it comes full access to Weber State's gym on campus, which happens to be right across the street from where my new office will be. So, I'm going to try that out next week and see how I like it. I've grown fond of Planet Fitness and its hours right near my house, so I'll have to weigh the pros and cons of each and go from there.

Total distance: 8.97 miles cycling.

Circuit training

I did my first session of circuit training today. It was tough, but not so much that I felt like vomiting. I suppose that's what I was most afraid of. Here's the gist of how it works.

The circuit training section at the gym

1 minute intense cardio (jumping jacks, high knees, running in place, mountain climbers, etc.)
30 second rest
1 minute weight training
30 second rest
Repeat through all 20 stations (10 cardio & 10 weight)

There is a light on the wall that alternates between green and red to set your pace. It really gives you a full-body workout, mixing cardio and weight training. You really get an upper body and lower body mixture of exercises. There are even two ab stations in the mix.

Anyway, it's not a gigantic workout, but something nice I can throw into the mix once or twice a week to supplement everything else I do.

Total distance: N/A (30 minutes of circuit training)

Day 2 at Planet Fitness

I kept it short and sweet today, because I had some errands to run. But I made it to the gym, which I suppose is 75 percent of the battle. I did a 30-minute bike ride and called it good. I pushed it hard and cranked out some good mileage. Yesterday's weightlifting left my shoulder a bit sore, so I avoid upper body work today. I'm very impressed with Planet Fitness so far. The convenience of it is nice and the facility is brand spanking new, so the joint doesn't smell like sweat yet.


Yep. ESPN in the locker room.

 Total distance: 9.35 miles cycling

New gym: New motivation

Today I started at a new gym. Earlier this week I noticed a Planet Fitness was opening up a few blocks down the road from my house with a big advertisement that said "Only $10 per month NO CONTRACT!" I was interested and went in to take a tour. Sure enough, there really are no gimmicks. It's a very nice facility with tons of machines and the fee never changes. And the real kicker for me, was that it's open 24 hours during the week and the weekend hours (including Sunday) are still quite long. That sold me and I immediately signed up.

Only one small part of the gym. The staff is very helpful, too.

I've been having a very hard time staying motivated and I have all sorts of excuses why I haven't been working out much, but in the end, I truly think stress is the main factor. And what usually helps with stress? Exercise. I don't want to work out when I'm stressed, but it helps with the stress every time I do. Kind of a Catch-22.  

Anyway, I went in for my first "trial run" today and I was quite pleased. There weren't very many people in there, and I could plug my headphones into the machines and watch any of the plethora of TVs on the wall. I did a nice long ride on one of the stationary bikes before hitting the weights and just like the machines, everything was brand new. I followed that up with a short run on the treadmill to round out my full hour of cardio and then went home.

So far, so good. I have a feeling this is going to work out nicely, even though they don't have a pool. I'll still have to hit the Rec Center for that in the winter.

Total distance: 14 miles cycling, 1.5 miles running