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.

Work Out, Weigh In, Write It Down

Today's weight: 183. Power 90 Sculpt done. I gave blood yesterday. Probably ought to consider that as part of the weight loss. I was really weak the rest of the day. Maybe I felt that way because I'm used to feeling stronger, where as in the past, hey, I was weak.

I am a week ahead of my schedule, not 5 lbs like I said yesterday. That means I'm only 2 lbs ahead of schedule. That's one plateau from failure to reach my goal. I was 10 lbs ahead of my projection a month ago and 13 lbs ahead of schedule on Oct. 3. On Oct 22 I was back to only about 2 days ahead of schedule and I stopped blogging and weighing in daily by October first I was 1 lb behind schedule (weight 190, goal 189/188). Is there a pattern here?

I caught back up by Saturday, but that was a loss of a nearly 15 lb lead in one month's time.

I think the answer to the question is "yes". I need to make a promise to myself to weigh in and blog daily. I did keep my journal most every day, but that's my journal and its not posted. There is something effective, motivating about posting this blog. I know most all of the fitness guru's out there suggest that weight be taken once a week. I understand that they want to keep people from getting discouraged. I can see that. But it doesn't discourage me. I can take the day-to-day fluctuations. And weighing daily helps me identify the plateaus when they come and gets me started fighting them early on.

I just need to make sure that no matter what, if I'm here and I'm not sick or running late getting ready for work, I need to work out, weigh in, and write it down. That helps keep me on task.

Here's a past treadmill HIIT I didn't post.

Do I look angry or what? I'll try to smile next time.

Late Update

Between being excedingly busy and wasting the little bit of descretionary time that I had, I haven't posted much lately. Here's a quick catch up on all that's been going on.

Progress is right on top of projection. If I fall off the wagon any more I could get behind the projections and miss my goal. So this is "fish or cut bait" time. Current weight is 187. Nutrition has been clean. I've kept up with the weight resistance and the HIIT routines. Sooner or later I'll have to start interspersing the sessions instead of trying to do one of each every day.


I was interested in watching what would happen to my appetite when I started getting my exercise regimen up to par. And it has happened as I thought/knew that it would: as I settled into a regular exercise routine, my appetite abated. It is absolutely necessary that I exercise just to keep appetite in check, not just to lose weight.

I've also seen a problem with the HIITs. Slowly they are turning into cardio sessions and not just intense intervals. The problem arises from trying to meet certain goals of time and distance. One of the easiest ways to reach the time/distance goals is to run longer, and that leads to sacrificing intensity to do longer runs. I will have to think through my HIIT goals to get myself back on track to focusing on intensity. The purpose of the HIITs is to burn fat and specifically to burn belly fat.

Monday, Monday

Been a bad boy. But I'm past Halloween. I've got a couple of days here by myself where I can focus on exercise and good nutrition. Once again, the first 10 lbs will fall off quickly. My goal is to be in the 170 range by 12/1 and at my goal by 12/31. I can do it. I will do it.

I have developed a problem here of making promises to myself that I'm not keeping. Not good. I actually should have already been at my goal weight of 178 if I had kept the original track.

I have a co-worker who is trying to lose some weight right now. That will be a help. We can hold each other accountable. Also we have had a coupled of schedule complicators: Dad's surgery and Judy's flu. Both of these put me in situations where I was not being very careful about nutrition and had to neglect some of my exercise. Hopefully that's out of the picture for now.

It also points to a problem I have of not handling the un-routine very well. I'm failing for lack of a rut. I'm a train in dire need of a dependable track. That's an issue I need to address.

I've been reviewing P90X. Yeah, it finally came in. I've decided (for some of the very reasons I addressed above) that I will wait until I return from the Christmas trips to start P90X. So, I've got two months to get ready for it.

So here goes a new week and a fresh start. I've completed Power 90 1-2 Sweat this morning and I plan to run this evening, though the thighs are still a little tender from the Friday run. I think if a person pushed hard enough on Power90 1-2 it would be enough to do amazing things. And what I've seen from my review of P90X is that it's Power 90 on steroids - very do-able while simultaneously very challenging. I can see from some of the routines why the people who do it are so confounded ripped when they get finished. Looking forward to March 31 (end of first P90X round). 2010 is the year of P90X for me. It's been three years and 160 lbs coming, but its here.

Ready, Set, . . .

Okay. Caught up on rest (I even fell asleep this evening watching the news and its anything but boring). Ms Judy is feeling better (flu, not H1N1). I'll start tomorrow with Power 90. I'll run after school tomorrow. So I should be back in the grove. I can tell my exercise is off, because my appetite is way on! What  a valuable lesson: exercise plenty, eat less. I'm also looking forward to what I do after this hiatus from my exercise routines while I was taking care of sick folks - first Dad, then the lovely and gracious Ms Judy.

Been a busy day so I'm off to bed so I can get up with a semblance of rest in the morning and start a really great day and slide into an outstanding weekend.

Long Trip Home

I returned from a long trip to my parents’ house to help take care of my father who had had knee replacement surgery. The combined trips added up to over 24 hours on the road. And some of that was some really late hour driving.
I was glad I could be there for my folks, but what a number I did on myself. My parents can have sweets around the house and just ignore them. If I know there's candy around, I catch myself going back again and again. It's like I can't leave it alone. Additionally I don't cook anything like my mother cooks. When I'm preparing meals the nutrition index is way up and the unwanteds (highly processed food, breads, and fried foods) are way down. It can be exactly the opposite there.

I went in without a plan and I gave in. But what I learned is the importance of going on trips with a well developed plan. That won't make nutrition perfect, but it will certainly keep me from being a total victim of really bad nutrition.

You see, I notice that it isn't just going to my parents' house that's a problem. It’s anytime I'm on the road. My bad nutrition started while I was driving to my parents' house, not when I walked in the door.

Before I go on another trip, I'll take some time to work on controlling nutrition/eating while on the road. I need to have a plan, a routine that I can turn to when I'm out of my own environment. The importance of planning - that can't be overemphasized enough when I'm preparing for a trip or circumstances require me to be out of my own element. I know how weak I can be around food I don't need. I also know how strong I can be in the same situations. I just need to plan to stay strong when I'm out on the road.

That planning is just as important at work. We're coming up on holidays. Today, the PTSO brought in all kinds of goodies for the teachers to eat. Lots of brownies are on the venue. I luv me some brownies. Thanksgiving is just a little further off and then comes Christmas. All these holidays are saturated with food traditions. The need to plan on how to get through these days is really important. I've already had one year where I lost ground to bad nutrition because I gave in to the food storm that came during the holidays.

So, a primary task for the next few days is to spend some time coming up with contingency plans and to develop some strategies for dealing with food issues while traveling or celebrating the holidays.

Things That Go "Bump"

My weight has been holding at 184 since Sunday, but I do expect a drop in the next few days. Looking at my nutrition (which hasn’t been perfectly clean – darn the Krispy Kremes, darn the Krsipy Kremes! – but it hasn’t been much) there has to be a "let go" point. My weight going into the weekend was 182. I certainly haven’t eaten 7,000 superfluous calories since then. So for some reason there is a bump up that either will be gone soon or has some other explanation. I don’t think I u-turned back to Plateauville.


What could be causing this stubborn bounce? A primary cause might be the amount of salt I've eaten with the Mexican soup we've had the past three days and a resulting increase in fluid retention. It could also be the weight of the soup. It’s clean, but it’s heavy. No processed ingredients in it, just canned vegetables.

Another possibility is that here has been a gain in muscle mass. Could that happen so quickly? My muscles were possibly ready to grow after all the conditioning I had done. When I started pushing heavier weight, muscles responded immediately. I certainly can feel more definition between my pecs in the center of my chest.

Another possibility would be my body reacting to the loss in weight last week and purposely holding on to some fluids. This is a lot like the “too much salt” reason, but I’ve seen it before. I have some weight loss, nothing changes in nutrition or exercise, but the weight drop just suddenly stops for a few days. Then there is a sudden drop and the gradual weight loss resumes.

The real issue here is that it’s time to get down into the 170 range and stay there. I’m facing some challenges to that this weekend as I prepare to go to my parents’ house to be with my dad following his surgery. I’ve gotten to the age that I have fluid retention/swelling when I travel for long stretches of time. This is a twelve hour trip both ways. I won’t be surprised if I lose all definition in my feet – no more veins sticking out or tendons showing when I flex my foot. Also, Mom’s food is just plain toxic to me. She is the world’s greatest cook (no, really) and I’m a food-aholic. Why my parents aren’t human blimps I’ll never be able to figure out. If I spend just a few days there I start gaining pounds and pounds. And I’m about to spend a few days there. I will be challenged to practice some Spartan discipline while I’m there. The travel time will have a detrimental effect no matter. Here’s to striving for some positive results.

Just Being Accountable 10/17/09

I didn't get my HIITs in until this evening. I had already had supper before I went to the fitness center. The session went well. I reached the first 100-calorie burn before 10 minutes. I reached the second 100 calories burn by 16.5 minutes. I didn't reach 3 miles until 31.5 minutes, but, after all, I was running after supper. So I reached my early targets earlier and my later targets a little later. Still, a great set of sprints. I hit several 9's, a couple of 10's, 10.5 and one brave attempt at 11.  Can't wait for Power 90 in the morning. P90X should be here in just a couple of days.

Progress Log

I wish I knew why I waited so long to set up a progress log for my workouts. I remember when I first started this journey toward better health and began by regularly going to the fitness center. I carried a small binder with me. I had the different exercises broken down on separate pages and included a table showing date, weight and reps for each one. It was easy to track my progress and to tell when I needed to push for additional weight on each exercise. It worked well. I didn't have to remember and I didn't subjectively go by what I felt like doing. I had a record and knew what to do to make progress.

In just the few days that I've been doing this with the Power 90 sculpt sessions, I've already been able to push myself beyond what I was doing. And it is a much more intense workout. I find myself gasping for air at the end of sets and pushing to make my reps. The end result will be definite gains in strength.

Keep a log of your progress. It will keep you on track, moving ahead with your goals as you seek to build the muscle needed to burn calories and fill out physique.

Today I will have to work to squeeze in the HIITs at Peak. I have an important meeting immediately after school at an office in town. I'll need to change there before going to the center, and all that gets to be a bit complicated. But I'll do it. I'm facing problems enough with consistency this week with the trip to my parents for Daddy's knee replacement surgery. But I'll do it because I'm so close to reaching the long term goals I set.

On Course

Finished with Power 90 this morning. Why did I keep putting off making that tracking log to go with the workouts? Today, instead of going by memory, I was able to look at the written record of what I had done previously and make progressive adjustments.

I've never used a tracking sheet before and had seen progress when I had done Power 90 rounds in the past. I had been indoctrinated by my own bad habits of the past and my satisfaction with what was probably much less than optimal results. I look forward to reporting some significant strength gains as I finish up this round before going to P90X.

Weight was 182 again today. That's great, because I expected a bump back up. My weight had suddenly dropped down to that level and looked like it was a fluctuation. I do plan to get in a run today. If it turns out that I don't I will try a Power 90 Sweat session. I haven't been doing the cardio aspect of Power 90 at all. I've only focused on the sculpt. Living in an upstairs apartment makes me a bit conscious of noise I'm making on the floor. So I've avoided the jumping around of Power 90 Sweat. But daytime noise should not be such an issue and I guess I should go down, introduce myself and let them know what I'm doing and that I will be careful about it. Just wanting to be a good (healthy) neighbor.

Finishing the Day

Good set of HIITs at the fitness center. I went up to several 9 MPHs, 9.5 MPHs, even 10 MPHs. I felt great afterward. I reached 100 calories burned before 10 minutes, 200 calories at 16.5 minutes, 300 calories at 24.5. I reached 3 miles at 3 minutes, 5 seconds. I did more sprints until I broke 400 calories burned. There was a 5 minute warmup at the beginning and a 5 minute cool down at the end.

 

Later in the evening I made Mexican soup. Some of the best I've ever made. No processed contents. High protein beans with corn, peppers, brown rice, and grilled chicken. Time to wrap this day up and get some rest.

Saturday Surprise

Yesterday's weight was 184 and today's was 182. That weigh in came after my workout and a shower. I didn't expect to see anything else this week. This one might bounce back up before the weekend is out.

Basic eating has been clean. I ate a brownie some of the students had cooked, but just one. It couldn't do that much damage, and by the weight loss, it doesn't appear to have done any at all.

I finished up a worksheet to use with my workouts so that I can keep a record of my progress while I'm dong the DVD workouts. I"ll do it a few days before I come up with a baseline.

I'm planning to go to be with my parents during an upcoming surgery. This will mean a few days on the road and away from home. Keeping up with my daily routines will be a challenge, but I'm committing to doing them.

I've been really slow about getting busy today. I've worked on several 'puter projects and now I'm about to go to the gym and do HIITs. Then off to work for a couple of hours.

Vince Delmonte of No Nonsense Muscle Building (http://www.vincedelmontefitness.com/) has the info in one of his recent emails that 1 lb of muscle burns 50 calories a day. Add 10 lbs of muscle and that's an additional 500 calories to work with every day. I've done great on the nutrition end. It has become part of my lifestyle. I may climb down off the wagon from time to time, but I realize this is not just a temporary diet. I've seen what happens when I stop watcing nutrition and give in to eating without thinking: my weight goes up incredibly fast.

I'll be starting P90X soon. I'm not as progressed as I had hoped to be with body strenght, but its time to get going with X. I expect to see some good muscle mass buildup from using X.

Well, time to get up and finish this day.

Some Progress

Finally dropped down to 185. That's two days ahead of the goal. Now I can seal the deal between now and Saturday morning. Two more days at this weight or lower and I should have eliminated temporary fluctuations up or down.

Good run yesterday. I've definitely cranked running up a notch. I'm getting close to where I was when I stopped last fall.

I didn't push hard with the weights in Power 90 this AM. I got the routine in, but I'm pushing hard about every 2 days. Great progress overall and good job keeping with this plan.

Gotta get more sleep.

Is This Plateauland Already?

The past few days nutrition has been great, resistance training has been great and HIITs have been great. But my weight won't budge off of 187. Plateau already? The drop will come and it will come soon. My goal is still to be at 185 by Saturday.

Just the few days of getting back into Power 90 has caused some of my muscles to bounce back. Along with some noticeable added strength, I can already tell that the cleft between my pecs is deeper (pecs getting bigger).

I had a great session with my HIITs yesterday. My goal was to reach 100 calories before 10 minutes (counting the 5 minute warm up walk), 200 calories before  15 minutes and 300 calories before 20 minutes. I also set goals to reach 3 miles before 30 minutes and to continue the sprints until I hit over 400 calories.  I hit every goal, sometimes with only a second or two to spare, but made it none the less.

This was my final reading at the end of my cool down walk. I had to push into the 9 mph range several times and did it well. Good day yesterday. Now, if only I could find the exit from Plateauland.

Working My Plan

Four days straight of Power 90 sculpt. The plan I started this past weekend is working great. Before I go to bed I make sure everything is ready for me to do a session of sculpt. When I get up, the computer is on, the water and towel are out. The CD is in and ready to go. I literally just have to push play. But lets do this for a month before I declare "Mission accomplished."

Peak is going well. I'm getting my sprints in. That's another thing I make sure is prepared before I go to bed. The back pack is packed and by the door. I just have to pick it up and change at school before I leave for the day so that my first stop is the fitness center on the way home.

I'm pushing my sprints/HIITs. Rest periods between sprints is limited to 1 minute, 1 & 1/2 minutes, or until my heart rate is in the low 140's. One consequence has been that I don't run as long, but because of the speeds I'm selecting, I run as fast or faster. I should be able to bring my goals to 200 calories burned before 20 minutes and 300 burned before 25 and 3 miles reached by 29 minutes. Yesterday I missed 3 miles in 30 minutes by just few seconds.

Excercise and Appetite

I've been advocating exercise as a way of cutting into appetite. Now a professor in Austrialia has researched this process. Steve Boucher has shown how interval training increases catecholoamines, a hormone that actually reduces your appetite. So HIITs are  a hit when  it comes to using execise to modify your apetite.

Do Your Best, Forget the Rest

Can't account for the jump in weight from 182 to 185. Yesterday's or today's measurement must be wrong. Yesterday I got in HIITs and Power90. I've already done Power90 this morning. I'm trying to get everything ready for Power 90 before I go to bed: the computer comes on, towel and water are waiting. I just get out of bed, come to the man cave and get started. This will work. I'm just doing sculpt int he early morning (I'm getting up at 5:00 AM to do Power90) so I may try to add some sweat Power 90 in the afternoons or early evenings. Peak HIITS are immediately after school when I can get there which is most days. I find I don't have to run every day, but I enjoy it. Usually I have an exceptionally good run after a day or two off.

Today is Sunday, and its time to exercise the soul.

Developing a Strategy for Success

Last year I would go to the gym early in the morning before heading to work. I would prepare my gym bag at night and have everything ready for me to get out of bed and head to the gym at 4:30 or earlier. It worked well. I walked out with my workout clothes on and my change of clothes in the bag and my lunch packed. I would even have something for breakfast, like a granola bar or the like. It worked.

Now I'm having to go into school early and that's cutting into the time that I would be getting up and going to the gym. I'm getting there after school. I take my gym clothes with me to school and change into them after the last bell. Then I head to Peak and get in a very good HIIT session.

The problem is getting my weight resistance in. And the best time would be the first thing in the morning. The conflicts are not getting up early enough, being concerned about the amount of noise it makes for my downstairs neighbors and the fact that I really like to take it easy in the morning and wake up slow.

So, to get the resistance in first thing I'm planning on using my strategy from last year. Before I go to bed I'll make sure that everything is ready for me to start Power 90 when I first get up. I'll make sure that my clothes are ready, that my water and towel are ready and that the disk is in the machine. I may even see if I can learn how to get the 'puter to start itself and be waiting on me.

So I'll put this strategy got work this next week and see if I can't be consistent about getting Power 90 done on a daily basis.

Necessity of Weight Resistance

In the three front approach to fat loss there is an important symbiotic relationship. Diet is the most important. You simply cannot out exercise bad nutrition. Cardio (HIIT type) brings a focus to burning belly fat. There is also a specific role for resistance training. Calories deficits from reasonable eating can also result in loss of muscle tissue. It is resistance training that supports muscle maintenance. So to keep from losing muscle mass while dieting, weight resistance is essential.

I had thought that the HIIT might keep the muscle mass on me, but that definitely did not happen. During this time that the weight resistance (Power 90) has been iffy, I have definitly lost some upper body strength. HIIT did not help me maintain my upper body strength, though it obviously did not.

All three elements are necessay. Good nutrition is absolutely required for the fat to come off. I deal with it by eating no processed food and very little meat. I've not even bothered keeping close track of calories and the weight has come off. To be sure, I haven't over eaten, but that's the next point. HIIT helps to cut into appetite as well as give specific help with burn belly fat. And weight resistance builds muscle mass as well as keeps it from being attacked by the body as an energy source. HIIT helps promote the accumulation of lactate acid and that brings on the HGH.

What Should Have Happened

Still 13 lbs ahead of schedule. Bounced back up after the two weeks of the sponsor visit and the Joel trip. Yesterday I deserved to be sent to nutrition hell. I was surrounded by snack food in the morning that had been brought in for the TAV meeting. I resisted every bit of it. I really wanted it, but I resisted. But when I let my students cook as a reward for their cooperation with me during the TAV event, I had to sample the muffins. I ate one and that started it.

I was like an alcoholic. I ate one and I just allowed myself to eat more. They were certainly good, but I have no idea how many I ate of those cupcake sized muffins. Then Denise's class cooked a birthday cake for one of her students. I had two pieces of that (my student's muffins were better, so I ate a lot more of those). I let the afternoon class cook brownies and I ate some of that, too. That stuff had Crisco and oil in them. That's killer stuff.

I felt so badly for eating like that during the day that I wouldn't allow myself to eat anything else for the rest of the day. Judy was still a bit sick and I catered to her some. She wanted donuts and I went and got her some - six. I didn't eat any of them. Frustrating! How can I be so strong at home when I was so weak at school?

What are some options I could have utilized to keep from eating like a fool.

1. I could have told someone. I simply could have said to Denise or Robert "I want to eat. I don't just want a muffin; I want the muffins. Watch me to make sure I don't."

2. I had good food there I could have eaten instead. I could have eaten nuts. I could have eaten a salad and let that satisfy my herding instinct.

3. Think of different foods to have the students cook that is healthier. We could have done microwave popcorn. I could come up with a healthier (less nutritionally disastrous) oatmeal cookie recipie.

I think I'll work on number 3. That helps me and the students.

Back on track now. Here I come 172.

The Cost of Ditching Nutrition

Progress has been great. There have been days when my weight loss was totally inexplicable. I'm marking it up to the three front approach to fat loss: totally clean eating; resistance training; and HIIT style cardio.

From September 27th I went 12 days without watching the nutrition. Judy had "company" company in town and then we had a few days before the rush to my youngest son and his fiancee's engagement party for family. I could feel my body thickening up. And I could tell that I wasn't feeling as well. Those few days really demonstrated how imnportant my nutrition is and just how fragile the benefits of good nutrition are. In that short time the scales say I gained about 10 lbs. I didn't eat that badly every day (though there were some). The issue is that my body reacts awfully to awful food. This will come off right away, I'm sure. But even if it comes off as fast as it went on, that will be a total of one month lost on the progress.

I'm not beating myself up over this. It was factored into the plan. And I fully expectd the results. The weight loss I have seen since I took all processed foods out of my diet is amazing. My body just dosen't do highly processed carbs without the natural fiber element. Fruit is fine as long as it is in its natural state. Take away the fiber and it becomes a recepie for fat. I'm glad to know that. Randall can't do bready foods. It makes him almost instantly fat.

The goals are on track. I will easily beat the 172 goal by 1-1-10. Then I push for the cut bod. Woo hoo, doing great, even with the set backs and difficulties getting the exercise in.

Back To School Strategy

The official first day of this personal challenge begins today. The challenge lasts until 01-01-10. Thats 153 days from today. My goal is to be in the 170 range on my weight. My specific goal is 173 lbs. I also want to be able to do 10 pull ups by then. The personal challenge will continue through to late May or sometime in June when Katie and Joel are married. I'll define those goals a little better, but generally speaking, buffist fiftyish dad at the wedding.

I'm setting some priorities in my life for this challenge. They are non-negotiable. Negotiating, rationalizing some of these is exactly what has led to my need to get radical about my current health. I must exercise. I must eat clean. I must plan my days. In addition to these health related priorities, I'm adding writing and ramped up Bible study. And these are my new year resolutions. I resolve NOW to reach these goals by 01-01-10.

Yesterday I ran at the gym doing wind sprints on the treadmill. I enjoy doing that because it is easy to set goals. I can set a calories goal (I know that's not very accurate and should not be counted on, but it does give me a target) a speed goal and the ability to time my workout. What I do is spend five minutes warming up (learned the hard way last year when I started running and pulled a muscle; it took weeks to move past that injury); I start out at 2.5 and increase my speed by increments of 3 until I get up to 4.3. That usually leaves me with about a minute to a minute and a half to go before I start running. At the end of the five minutes warm up I increase th speed to 5.2. Every thirty seconds I increase the speed by .2. I continue to increase that speed until I reach 7.0 and run at that speed for 30 seconds. Then I reduce the speed to 4.0 - a fast walk. I watch my heart rate until it is in the 120 range, at which point I increase the speed again, but this time to 153. With each 30 second increment of time I increase the speed by .3. When I finish at 171, I drop again to the fast walk, 4.0. When my heart rate is in the 120 range, I increase the speed to 154 this time. And with each 30 minute increment I increase speed by .4 until I complete 30 seconds at the 170 level. Reduce to walk, let heart slow down and then increase speed to 15.0. Each 30 seconds I pick up the pace by .5 until I complete 30 seconds at 170 or 175. Then I begin the 5 minute cool down. When I check my heart rate at the beginning of each of the other cool downs I'm usually in the 160 range of BPM. I can burn (according the treadmill, which, admittedly, is not accurate at all, probably not even close) 300 or more calories in less than 30 minutes. I do this particular plan as a version of HIT training. I'm avoiding steady state cardio. I'm training my muscles to do more. And as time progresses I make the session harder. I go at higher speeds (I want to end each level in the 10.0 range). So that gets me around the problem of the body adjusting to what is being done in cardio and burning next to no calories at all. That's what happened to me last summer. I ran miles and miles and got almost nothing for it. My nutrition was bad and I wasn't burning nearly the calories I thought I was.

I'm also walking here in the apartment community. I have a mile course set around the place and walk it three to four times. I'm pushing to getting up to five laps soon. What I'm finding is that my running is doing better than usual. I think the walking is exercising and building some muscles that I was compensating for in the running. There is more air time (pushed up from the ground with my feet) than I had before. So yesterday I walked 4 miles.

Then later I went to the pool and swam. I'm swimming underwater so I can listen to my shoulders. I'm hearing a lot of crackling sounds and I know from previous experience doing squats in Power 90 that that is the sound of tendons moving that haven't been stretched very much. I heard it in my knees before, but now its gone. So I want to work my shoulders until its gone from there as well.

What I'm learning: My appetite can be voracious, but I also know that exercise can help me control my appetite by putting a damper on it. This is one of those great serendipitous truths about health. The more you exercise, the less you may want food. My understanding that always been that just exercising cuts back on appetite. I thought that although I had plenty of evidence that that was not the whole truth. I would exercise, then crave and crave and crave. What I think I'm learning now is that there must be a certain level of exercise before appetite is affected. I did not eat a lot yesterday, but I exercised a whole lot. This morning I had a practically empty if not totally empty stomach, but I went to the gym first. I ate afterwards because I could tell I need food, not because I craved food. After I finished my 8 oz. whey protein drink and my 4 whole egg omelet, I was stuffed.

It seems that the level of my exercise finally affected my appetite. So, to hold down appetite, I need to elevate the amount of exercise I do until it takes affect. I need to exercise not just to control weight, but I need to exercise enough to control my appetite. Exercise too little and appetite can still be out of control.

I'm using whey protein drinks (EAS chocolate powder) after intense workouts. My soreness has been almost non existent. It seems that possibly taking the protein drink helps to keep me from being sore. That's stuff I'm glad I learn as I continue on this challenge.

Well, that's a bit much for today. I've gone way past the amount of time I had intended to spend on this. So until tomorrow.

New Start

One thing I've learned is that I don't handle summer very well. Last summer I learned that you can't out exercise your diet, but at least I was exercising/running regularly.

This summer I'm learning just how intolerant of high processed carbs my body is. Gaining weight when I'm not eating clean is incredibly easy. It also seems that eating the carbs causes my appetite to escalate and to crave more processed carbs.

I had read in one blog that craving the unhealthy things was a sign of poor nutrition and could be helped my loading up on macro-nutrients. The brain would be able to detect the presence of the nutrients and would back off of the craving for processed carbs. I don't believe it. I think the answer is that we just crave the things we like and we like the sugar in highly processed carbs.

August first begins my "New Year's Resolution". Instead of waiting for the new year to make resolutions, I'm making resolutions for the new year.

Here are some of my goals: I will be in the 170's range. The goal weight is 173, but I'll call it successful just to be in the 170 range. I will be able to do 10 pull ups. Joel and Katie's wedding will be in May or June of 2010. I will be at my "buff" stage by then. I will be in the 10% body fat range.

I have the diet well mapped. I should be losing about 2 lbs per week. That means staying extremely focused, anticipating the setbacks and plateaus. I'm ready. I'll do it.

Fighting the Binges

The biggest difficulty is fighting the urge to binge -- to just eat whatever is at hand. I did it today. I had to host a reception for a speaker in my class room and just couldn't keep my hands off the sweets.

I'll make up for it, or at least I'll get back on the wagon. But this still means making up lost ground. And when I give in to the binges, its easier to give in to not doing the exercises as well. This is the challenge I will have to find mental tools to deal with.