Moving Forward

Made it to Peak really late on Thursday and Friday. I still have this really bad chest congestion. On Thursday slowed down and went for more time, more calories, but I also ran one session at level 10. On Friday I think my energy was so depleted by the time I got there that I just couldn't go long. But I did get in a 10 and a 10.6.  Watching the calorie intake today, but no extra exercise. Tomorrow will be difficult since I'll have a guest. 

Saving the Goal

Well, I'm there again: one hundred eighty five pounds. I have 13 lbs to lose in the next month - at this point 30 days to Jan 1. Time to focus and save this goal.

A goal is a promise we make to ourselves. Too often we allow ourselves to break those promises. After all, who will be affected? But these are some of the most important promises we make and some of the most important to be kept. The old saying is that promises are made to be broken. I can think of a number of promises that should never be broken and among those are the promises we make to ourselves to make our lives better.

My BMR is 1700 calories daily for 175 lbs. I'm shooting for 1000 calories a day. That gives a 700 calorie deficit every day, that's 1 lb every 5 days and that's a total of about 6 lbs loss by Jan 1. The rest will have to come from a  forced calorie deficit.

There is no weight loss without good nutrition, exercise and, importantly, calories deficits.

The goals remain: 172 lbs by Jan 1, complete 1 round of P90X by April 4th (Easter) and finish a second round by July 4th.

Here's to pulling this one out of the fire.

Which 50% Are You?

During the Thanksgiving break I heard a news broadcast that related appetite and exercise. Their report was on research indicating that exercise would increase appetite and was therefore suspect as a means of weight control. This took me totally back since my experience has been totally the opposite. This went report went on for awhile making this point about how questionable the value was of exercise for weight control. Finally toward the end of the report I caught the line that this was only true for 50% of the population.


Well, I guess I'm in the other 50%. I find that with exercise I can really ramp down my appetite. It’s when I don't exercise that I problems. And specifically, it is cardio that helps me to best control my appetite. A lot of the fitness people out there will rag on cardio as ineffective at worst or inefficient at best when it comes to burning fat. That may very well be the case. For me, cardio exercise has two other benefits that make it an important part of my weight loss regimen. First, I find it mentally helpful. Completing a good cardio or HIIT session gives me a sense of well being or positive mind set. I can stay in a much more positive mindset about my program when I'm doing cardio. So, if for no other reason than that, cardio (HIITs) would continue to be a part of my overall exercise program.

The second reason is that I find my appetite bumped down when I am doing cardio. If I skip my HIITs, if I stop doing any kind of cardio exercise my appetite begins to go ballistic! I mean, seriously, food starts calling my name. I get amazed at the students I teach when we have snacks of some kind. Some of them can eat a cookie or two and be totally satisfied. How can they just let it go? I want the cookies, all the cookies, and some more cookies. I want cookies until my stomach hurts. Then I want some more. I think I know what it must be like to be an addict or alcoholic. The best way to control those urges is to keep up a regular cardio program. I can do a much better job of avoiding binge eating if I just keep up my HIITs.

If it’s a 50/50 break down, I sure am glad that I'm on the half of the population whose appetite is helped by exercise. I still recommend that everyone try it. If you're having trouble controlling your appetite, find a level of cardio that is sufficient to keep cravings curbed.

Sometimes the talking heads just don't seem to want personal drive to work. Drive yourself to health anyway.

In Pursuit of Intensity

One of the guidelines of doing effective exercise/weight resistance is doing it with intensity. Running a slow jog day after day teaches your body how not to burn too many calories. Using the same weights and never attempting to push heavier weight will not give you muscle. But what does it mean to exercise with intensity?

Dennis Hardy gave a good definition. In one of his latest emails Hardy said, "If you are applying the proper intensity to your workouts, at some point during the workout, you should seriously doubt if you can complete it."

That's what I have thought about intensity meaning, I only wish I could have said it as well.

To do my HIITs with intensity means at least once I must push my speed to such a level that I do not think I could possibly complete the 30 second run. To do my resistance with intensity means that in at least one set I must be struggling to get the weight up, using every bit of my fortitude to finish.

That brings up the other aspect of intensity. It is attitude. Without the attitude to give the workout 100% or even 110%, intensity will not happen. Intensity begins in the mind, in the will, to go beyond limits.

A nice jog is enjoyable, no matter what some of the folks say about "mind numbing cardio". I find it anything but that. But is it effective for the building of a better body. Nope. Admittedly, it can actually undermine your struggle for a better body if done too much. You will simply train your body to conserve as many calories as possible when doing cardio. Your body will look for the path of most efficient caloric expenditure.

But pushing your routines to the level of intensity, to the place where you think you may jeopardize your ability to complete the exercise, will bring results you can see, results that make a real difference. Then you begin to experience "intensity".

Does That Hurt?

I’m surprised that I have been so sore since Sunday after doing the cardio 3-4 of Power 90. I complete Power 90 1-2 sculpt 3 to 5 times a week, sometimes more. I run three miles about as many times a week as I do the Power 90. I certainly would not have thought that there was much in Power90 Sweat that would push me to the point of getting really sore. It did, though. I have felt the pain primarily in my claves, but it was in my legs, arms and shoulders at first.
I went to run last night after staying at school late. I arrived at Peak at 10 PM. I tried to start my HIITs on the treadmill, but I didn’t get through the first round before I could tell that running could possibly hurt me more. I had muscles in several places in my legs feeling like they would pull if I increased my speed very much. I had to stop at about 7 minutes and leave.

My calves are still really sore this morning. My original plan for today was to go home and do Power 90 Sculpt and Sweat. The schedule for the day has changed some and I’m trying to decide whether to keep with plan A or to go to Peak after church. Even as I write this I realize that the best thing to do will be to stay with the first plan. I’ll wait to get a run in tomorrow, but I’m doing another Power 90 Sweat tonight at home.

The episode has convinced me that I need to add the cardio routines from Power 90 to my regimen. There are muscles that get worked in that routine that all those weight resistance exercises don’t touch. Here’s to even more progress.

Challenges, Challenges

My weight dropped just as expected. The challenge remains keeping the fat loss going. This morning I'm skipping the Power 90 work out. I'm still very sore from the workouts on Sunday. Its important right now to give my body a chance to recoup. Muscle growth comes during rest following challenging exercise, not during exercise itself. I also need to get more rest. Sleep is important to the muscle growth process.

There are some nutrition pitfalls I face today. The students are cooking a Thanksgiving meal. I will be around a lot of food today. The temptation will be to overeat and to eat the wrong things.

Also, I'll be at school late today doing stats for a basketball game. I plan to go to Peak late and get my HIITs in, but it will be late.

HIITs yesterday were fair. Nutrition was good. Got in 45 pushups. Making progress. Weight was 185 this morning. That's 13 lbs left to go. Forty-five days left. Thanksgiving and Christmas to fight through. I'm going to do it.

Hurts So Good

There are 47 days to go. Today's weight was 188. That is 16 lbs to lose until I reach my goal of 172 by Jan. 1, '01. That will require 1 pound of fat loss every three days. That is entirely doable. But it will require total focus on carrying out the plan: resistance, HIITs, and nutrition.

Today is planned out. I've completed resistance. I'll have fruit and yogurt for breakfast, salad and a few ounces of chicken breast for lunch and supper. I'll have fruit and yogurt for between meal snacks.

I may have to stay at school for a while at the end of the day, but I plan to go to Peak afterwards and do my HIITs. I'll also make a run to the grocery store to pick up some milk and other staples to keep me on the nutrition track.

For my cardio yesterday I tried the 3-4 level of Power 90. I did fairly well on all but the yoga. I've got to get back into that as I near the start of P90X. An additional result of doing cardio 3-4 is that I'm sore. That shows I need to be doing that cardio aspect of Power 90. I get sore a little from the weights, but today I am noticeably sore.

In spite of this flare up from my bad nutrition over the last few weeks, I had several comments directed my way by folks who were noticing that I had lost weight. Actually, I think they noticed that my body is changing shape. I'm getting some muscle in the right places and its beginning to show, even from under a suit coat at church.

Well, comments are the goal. The goal is to see what I have left to lose when I get down to 172. Time to get started on this week.

Why Does This Feel Good?

I'm loving this. The way my body feels after a workout is amazing. There's a slight feeling of tiredness in the muscles, but a great level of energy and satisfaction.

Tomorrow is the 45 days left to go mark. I've got to push this hard, really hard. And I've still got Thanksgiving and Christmas to get through. I need to be flawless in the execution of the program to make my goal. I have 16 lbs to go. A chunk of that will be gone in the next few days. Then I drop below 180.

At that point my basic caloric needs will be pretty low and my body could even shift over into famine mode since it will be a new low in body weight. It seems that adipose is ill disposed to be disposed of. Its like fat fights back to keep from being burned off. That's another aspect to be factored in.

Muscle seems to be willing enough to grow. I just have to keep pushing forward on increasing the weight I use. However, I have to watch out for injury. Right now there are some twinges in my shoulders that are telling me I'm pushing my limits.

I'm doing well with the resistance training, but I'm doing it every day. I'm supposed to do it every other day. And I'm not doing the cardio aspect at all. I'm trying to get to the gym most days (5 or 6 out of 7) and do the HIITs. By the way, yesterday's results were okay: I broke 100 calories at 9'30" and 1 mile at just under 10 minutes. That distance is actually .97 miles in 5 minutes. The first 5 minutes on the treadmill are for warm-up and are a series of graduated walking speeds. Then at 5:01 I start running HIITs. I get two rounds in before I reach the 10 minute mark. I did okay on the next 10 minutes, but then I slowed down the last ten. I did break 400 calories, but just barely. I think I was dealing with some dehydration. What makes me think that is the way my body seemed  bit slower getter down to a resting state at the end of HIIT rounds. Also my top speeds were lower. Still, overall, I'm continuing to show improvement in my strength for running.

Today I'm eating a meal at church while attending a meeting. I'll be good. This afternoon I need to do some painting (community service project) and once I get home I would really like to get to the gym. Or I may just try the sweat thing here (Power90). Gotta do something to make these last 45 days count.

O well, time to get ready for church. Later.

What A Week!

I should be shot. Weight this morning is 190. It should be 7 lbs lighter. What a week though: anniversary, late days at school, God interruptions (God's insistence that I minister conflicted with my plans and I didn't think I was up for a fuss-fess with Him).

It seems that I still have to fight battles with handling stressful situations. Here's what I see: I must get more rest, plan my meals in greater detail, make complete preparations for the morning workouts before I go to bed, and avoid snacking on the food the students snack on.

Again, most of this is not solid fat weight. I will drop a lot right away. But that is about a week lost to shed the first 5 lbs. Then starts the slow crawl to the final goal of 172 lbs.

I also see that part of the problem is I really have progressed this time. In comparison to where I was, I like where I am and he way I look right now. My overall body proportion is better. Shoulders are bigger (even if the gut stays biggest) and my face looks more normal (not so much like someone just rescued from a prison camp). Just being so much better is undermining my resolve. But this last twenty lbs has got to go and stay gone.

And notice also how easy it is to put it all on.  I have to dedicate myself to weight resistance, HIITs and great (not good) nutrition to really get the adipose to come off. I only have to give in to cravings to put fat back on.

Once again I'll start on my goal of doing 50 push-ups a day (not all at once right now, but in increments of 10 to 15). I didn't do all of them this past week by any stretch of the imagination, but I did do more. I can already see the increase in strength, and I see it in more than just my push-ups. I have a much stronger back fly set now than before.

So I'll continue with those goals, but I need to do better planning. I need to spend more quality time in planning and include in those plans what I will do when Plan A goes awry.

I have made such astounding progress! I am so pleased with where I am and I'm excited about where I'm going with my health. I look around at other men may age and think, "I'm handling this a lot better than you are." And I could do it so much better. I will do it even better. Goal: 172 lbs on the morning of Jan 1, 2010. Goal: start P90X the first week of January. Goal: buffest guy at the wedding on July 9. I'm doing this. I'm doin' it!

Update 11/10

I ate heavy but clean yesterday. Weight today was 186. Once again, I anticipate a large drop in the next 24 to 48 hours that will get me close to where I should be. I didn't try to eat very clean on Sunday, but I did over eat. Whether the calories are compact or just immense in number, they will get me.

We've got a jam-packed week and it looks like I can't get to the fitness center until Thursday. Our anniversary is Wednesday and we're celebrating during the weekend. So, there's some food issues to come.

Power 90 strength levels are coming up. I hope that means more muscle mass, not just muscle toning or better mental attitude. I still need to focus on doing extra pushups during the day and work on pull up technique as well.

The goal today is to eat clean. Fifty one days to go. Fourteen lbs to go.