A little late-night workout...

It's been a busy couple of days filled with errands and getting to bed rather late (for me): 1 PM Thursday, 3 PM Friday. I ended up not getting in a workout Thursday night/Friday morning, but I managed to do my strength training session from Friday, although it was technically Saturday morning when I did it. My plan is to get to bed at a more normal time (between 7 and 9 AM) and get up early enough to do my cardio/abs routine before going to work.

It was a good workout, though, regardless of the time it took place. I'm definitely feeling stronger. A few more weeks of this, and I've got a good feeling about the direction in which I'll be headed.

And, since you've been so patient, here are a few pictures. These were taken pretty much right after my workout, so my upper arms especially were more tense than they would be normally (just stating this in the interest of full disclosure). Also, I think it was just the angle at which I was standing that makes my back look so crooked, though I am overdue for a chiropractic adjustment. The top picture in both poses is me in a relaxed state, the bottom is of me flexing my arms. Not a huge difference, but I'm for sure seeing progress. I've said it before, my midsection is my biggest visible weak spot, but that's just going to take time to correct. The last numbers I saw, I was carrying around roughly 80 pounds of fat in my body, and that's a ton of calories to burn!

Happy Saturday to you all! Be sure to do something nice for your moms tomorrow.

 

 

 

Pre-P90X

As I mentioned last week, I have decided to get into P90X again. Tonight will be my first night into it this time around. I will be taking it SLOWLY so as to not injure my back again. I don't know if P90X was the cause of my disc herniation or if it was what pushed me over, but in any case, I don't want to risk that sort of hurt again. I'm going to keep the weight light and the reps using the band minimal for this first week as my body adjusts. As great as I think this program is, I am not wanting to use it as a once-for-all solution to my weight management goals. Rather, I see this as a way to get into the best possible shape I can over the next three months and then go from there.

I am hoping to manage 2-4 days a week of some light running, too, to keep up with that end of things. Abi wants to be able to get out and do some walking so she can continue to feel well, too, especially as she is in the third trimester now.

I weighed myself tonight, and I came in at 223.6 pounds. That's only 2.4 pounds heavier than my last update on July 23rd. I had feared I had gained more than that, so I'm quite happy, especially considering I didn't do nearly so well with healthy food choices the three weeks I was on the overnight shift.

I had Abi take some new pictures today, too, for a bit of a baseline.

The shorts I'm wearing in these pictures are different (and smaller) than the ones from my previous updates. These are a 36-inch waist while the others were 38-inch. I thought they would make a better dramatic presentation for comparison a few months from now.

Well, I need to get the spare room in order so I can do my exercises, and I want to try and get a thermos of water finished an hour before I get started on the program, so I'm going to have to go for now. I'll be back to let everyone know how it went.

As always, I hope you're finding time to get some movement in your days!

Progress update

Well, here we are, ten days out from the last update. I have to say that things are going well, even though it's not always the easiest thing in the world to deny myself sugary treats or get to the gym three days a week. However, I'm quite serious about getting healthier, so it's worth the sacrifices that sometimes have to be made.


Okay, on to the numbers. When I first started hitting the gym, I was around 238 pounds (the heaviest I've ever been in my life). My first picture update on 7/3 had me weighing in at 226.6 pounds. Today it's down to 221.2. I'm trying not to obsess over my actual weight, but I have to admit it's fun and encouraging to see that number getting smaller.


Now for pictures. Here are the pictures from 7/3, 7/13, and today all together for easy progress viewing.

It's been neat to see how my body has been changing as a result of exercising more and making smarter food choices. The next several weeks should continue to be exciting!

Progress report!

I haven't been to the gym yet today, but I'll be heading that way shortly and another post will follow at that time. For now, I thought I'd give a brief progress report, complete with new picture, spurred on by the fact that my wife has noticed I'm looking a bit skinnier. I've lost about 3 pounds in the last 10 days, so...yeah, things are happening!


The past 9 weeks have been fantastic, and I'm feeling overall more energetic, which is a great feeling. My clothes are fitting a bit better, my running endurance has increased, I can take the stairs a bit more easily now...in short, I am getting healthier.


Last week, Abi got an iTouch and started using the MyFitnessPal app to track her calories (she's trying to gain healthy weight since she's about 19 weeks pregnant). She invited me to use the web-based version at www.myfitnesspal.com, and it's been very helpful. Seeing my calories, protein, fat, and carbs all added up and compared to a daily intake goal based on my weight (current and desired) and my weight-loss goals, has helped me make better food choices over the last couple of weeks, as well as avoid some of the temptations at work when there are various snacks waiting to be eaten.


And, as promised, here's a new picture:

It's not super-dramatic, but one thing noticeable compared to my previous picture is that my shorts don't curl over at the top when I'm standing up. Little things like that are great motivators.

And with that, I should get into my exercise clothes and head to the gym for a run.

Progress update

Well, I'm not sure if this really counts as an "update" per se, since I haven't really put anything up on the blog previously in this category, but who cares. I got up this morning and weighed myself, not something I do on a daily basis, and was pleased to see how the numbers came out. I weighed in at 226.6 pounds, but the number I was more concerned with was the body fat figure of 34.7%. That means I'm carrying around about 78.6 pounds of fat.


Then, since I had my calculator out, I played with some numbers (as any good geek is inclined to do). The first thing I did was figure out what would happen if I lost 50 pounds of pure fat. That would put my total weight at 176.6 pounds, my fat weight at 28.6 pounds, and my fat percentage at 16%. That's definitely more in the range I'd like to be for body fat, especially since I don't have dreams of being an elite athlete. However, 176.6 just seems a bit too skinny for my frame, so then I figured what it would be like if I was down to 28.6 pounds of fat with a total weight of 190. That drops the fat percentage to 15% and puts me at a reasonable weight overall.


I'm not super concerned about these numbers, I just find them interesting. My goal is to be healthy, which certainly means shedding some fat pounds, but I don't feel a need to have six-pack abs or to look like a fitness model.


And to show you just how much not like a model I don't mind being, here's a picture I took this morning.

It's kinda frustrating that these shorts fit as tight as they do because I bought them last September when I'd lost a good deal of weight and they were a bit loose then. Oh well. At the rate I'm going, it won't be long before they're kinda hanging off of me again.


I hope you're inspired. The progress I've made has encouraged me to keep going.