90 Days to Ripped!

Day 87 - Crazy weekend...

2009-08-09T10:41:00.000-07:00

Spent some time at the gym yesterday - went to the pool, did a great 40min weight circuit, hitting my arms and chest pretty hard. Kept the cardio going pretty intense for the whole workout, so I could keep that endorphin high running.
Started out with a 1.5mile run, doing interval cardio, and then did weights, pushing the upper limits for being able to do 8 - 10 reps. Weight increases have slowed down a lot - my upright row has been at 90 pounds for a while now, and while legs are increasing a little bit, up to 280 or so. I don't do a straight bench press, but the machine press is up to about 70 pounds an arm.
Still no abs, with only three days left. That's ok. I'm very happy with my body right now, and possibly happier with my life. It's tough to say that, really, because I don't have a way to track my happiness levels. My life is very different than it was three months ago - I sit taller, stand straighter, and am prouder of my body. The yoga has helped me with my breathing and posture, although I feel like I need to stretch more often throughout my day to maintain that.

Day 81 - Sunday, still going!

2009-08-03T17:57:00.000-07:00

Almost there! My blog posts are slowing down, but I'll keep you posted. I did a fat-burning cardio workout on Saturday, an hour and a half of intense yoga (cardio) Sunday with a little hot tub time, and ate good most of the weekend. Not perfect, but damn good for a weekend I'd say.
Still no abs, 81 days into it. While I've only missed probably 6 days in total since I've started, I haven't been doing ab workouts 2x daily like I wanted to. I don't think I've put on any mass at all, but I bet my body fat is below 10% now. I'll try to get it measured here in the next couple of days at the gym.
Weekends I've definitely been less good about eating. Had half a bottle of red wine today, and lots of carbs, and a delicious breakfast burrito. I've gotten into the habit of being conscious about what I eat, which is great.
I did some more interval workout on Saturday, running on concrete, and gave myself a case of shin splints, which sucked. All better now, but throughout the day my shins were killing me. A great reason to warm up & stretch before going all out running.

Day 77 - Interval Cardio & Yoga

2009-07-29T20:55:00.000-07:00

I did some research yesterday about interval cardio, and there's a lot of stuff out there about how it's much better for burning fat than standard cardio. So I decided to try it - 30min, after yoga, alternating between 9mph and 4mph. After 12 minutes my side started hurting, which has only happened a couple of times, and by the end I was dripping wet and felt like a million bucks. Definitely it's going to be the way I go with cardio from now on. Did 3 miles, too, in under 30minutes.
Yoga was decidedly unsatisfying, for some reason. There was some soft music playing, which threw me off, and I think work stress made relaxation more difficult. I can't really put my finger on it, but I didn't get in the mode until the last ten minutes. Kind of a waste of time. My first bad session, though, so I'm not putting much stock in one bad session.
Then I hung out in the hot tub. And it was amazing - had some very good thinking time, and relaxed perfectly. Love that hot tub.
Food was good today - oatmeal & protein for breakfast and a grapefruit, protein bar at 10:30, turkey & provalone on wheat for lunch, fruit at 2:30, protein bar at 5pm, and then a spinach/chicken salad with oil & balsamic for dinner. Good stuff.

Day 75 - two days off, but got it right today!

2009-07-27T20:54:00.000-07:00

Not a great weekend for working out. Drank a ton of IPA on Saturday (IPA challenge for microbrewers in ABQ), and did a lot of yardwork, but no gym time. Sunday I got up late, had a fabulous late brunch, and slacked all day. Didn't eat much, either. I'm not taking weekends off on purpose, but they do tend to be less organized.
Today I was back in the groove - ate right, breakfast, protein bar, healthy lunch (mostly), fruit, protein bar, and steak, potatoes, and spinach with oil & vinager. My workout was intense and right on - I did more weight than I usually do, 250 on the leg press and 90lb upright row. 35lbs barbells on the swiss ball for fly and bench presses. I could've done more for the ball press, but I didn't want to go get more weights. The key is really keeping that adrenaline up - starting with some hard cardio, doing some hard cardio in the middle of the routine, and never slacking between sets.
I'm not posting any pics because I'm too lazy to mess with photoshop. sorry...

Day 70 - hard at work

2009-07-22T22:05:00.000-07:00

Today was a winner! Ate mostly right, did a great and very cardio-intensive weight circuit, but did have a little beer tonight. Still, good day.
I did discover boiling water for oatmeal and frozen blueberries are a very bad combination. The oatmeal isn't hot any more but are lukewarm, and the blueberries aren't crisp and frozen anymore, just lukewarm. Pretty much the worst of all world. Definitely a mistake I'll not be making again.
The workout was great. I got everything going, then went running for about 5min in the middle of the workout. It got my heartrate up in the good zone, and I felt great, and blew threw the last half of my workout. Really an exhilarating push, and a good workout. I've been stretching post-workout, too, and I think that, along with the yoga, is really starting to make a difference.

Days 67, 68, 69 - Getting back in the groove?

2009-07-21T23:03:00.000-07:00

The last three days have been, well, moderately successful. I haven't eaten much, and did my workout fairly regularly, but haven't done a hard-core cardio session since before the wedding. I did some great yoga, and it was an intense cardio yoga workout on Sunday, and I did a good ab session. Monday was a fairly intense, if slightly short, weight circuit, about 35 minutes. I didn't eat enough on Monday, and ran out of blood sugar & got shaky 35 minutes in. Did good abs, though, on Monday too. Tuesday I had a really long day at work, and never made it in to the gym. It was raining, too, so didn't run outside either. Only a late-night abs workout redeemed that day.
I'm finding it difficult to get my diet back together after that weekend of fabulous food. I'm not eating enough, and not eating good enough food when I do eat. Discipline is having a tough comeback!
I'm starting to feel a bit of the pressure. Time is running out - only three weeks left in this thing, so I've got to pick it up. No way I'm not getting abs after spending all this time at the gym!

Day 66 - back in the saddle

2009-07-19T16:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I made it back to the gym in a serious display of will power. Did a good workout, not amazing, but definitely threw some weight around and did a great ab workout.
I'm not back on my food track yet. Grandparents are still here, so still ample supplies of homemade food floating around, which I cannot possibly decline for culinary and etiquette reasons. It just tastes so good!
Side note: Homemade cinnamon rolls are the best thing ever.
After the workout, I felt good. I feel almost as if with a couple days off, my body has had time to heal and rejuvenate. My weights didn't decline really at all, thankfully, although the cardio side seems tougher, at least mentally.
So back on the saddle again! 24 days to make it happen.

Day 64 & 65 - Two days off

2009-07-17T12:45:00.000-07:00

Two days off in a row! My sister is getting married today, so I've been totally slacking. Both grandmas and a bunch of aunts in town, so the food is fantastic and it happens all the time! Some of the food habits I've been cultivating transfer smoothly, such as eating a lot of fruit & veggies instead of the main dishes, but I have to say, I consumed an enormous amount of an impossibly unhealthy bean dip!
I'll be back on track tomorrow, with a nice little workout of some kind. My lower back's been hurting, still, from the slip on the leg press, and I've actually been lacking energy for some reason. This week has been full of long, long, days with very little Tim time. Relaxation is going to be great this weekend.
The big thing is that I just can't let this break my rhythm. Gotta get back on it on Saturday.

Day 62 - Running!

2009-07-14T21:56:00.000-07:00

Did 4.2 miles today, in 40 minutes. Not amazing, but waaay better than two months ago. So much of running is in the breathing, I discovered today. Much like lifting - monitoring my breathing lets me do a lot more weight and kept my pace going for longer. Also, I'm doing intervals - a couple minutes at a 8:20 mile and a minute at 20min mile, so it averages out to about 10min/mile. I've found 7.2 mph is a great pace for me. Any faster, and it slows down my overall pace.
Didn't eat too much, especially at night. Friend's b-day party, and then went to my dad's place, but they were out of food. So I ate plums and came home and ate a grapefruit.
Two days without yoga and I'm starting to feel it. Might try to sneak off during the weekend, but family is in town and it's going to be tough to get any workout done, especially an hour of yoga. Probably will have to settle for a quick morning jog or something.

Day 61 - Monday & back at it

2009-07-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

Couldn't get up to save my life today. I was planning on getting up and running with the dog, but that sure didn't happen.
Not a big deal though - I'll do it tomorrow. Family starts to arrive for my little sister's big wedding this Friday, and that's going to make it tough to keep the routine up. Lots of early mornings, hopefully. I'm finally starting to see some results, so keeping the pressure on is a priority for me. I figure if I can make it all week, being good with family and family cooking, I can do anything.
Did a good routine today, except was doing the high leg presses and it somehow fell back on me, killed my back. It's fine now, I think - did lots of yoga back stretches and it felt better. Did some good ab work. I'm thinking my abs are definitely getting stronger - shooting for 100 abs each morning and night, although I've yet to do that. Hate working my abs, for some reason that I can't explain. And they're the whole reason I'm doing this.

Days 59 & 60!

2009-07-13T20:39:00.000-07:00

Two-thirds of the way done!!
My double-chin is pretty much totally gone, which is amazing, because I've never been chunky and I've had that since I was 12. I'm definitely more comfortable with my body, but still impatiently waiting for the first signs of my abs. Legs are definitely stronger, and pecs have started to develop a little. Flexibility is way up too, which is great.
Incredibly relaxing day - got up, went to yoga, hit the pool, then the hot tub, then the sauna, before a cool shower and a fantastic burrito. Seriously probably one of the best Sundays in a while.
I ate mostly healthy, but didn't eat very much and only 3 meals. Yogurt, burritos, and snacks. Not enough to keep the metabolism going, but I did drink a fair amount of water.
So two-thirds in, and here's my thoughts: Massive time investment, at least 60min/day, but usually at least 90min/day after changing, showering, driving, etc. Definitely feel slightly better - not really emotionally, but more comfortable with the way I look & more confident. Love the extra flexibility, endurance, & strength.
Next plan - train to run a half marathon in September!

Day 57 & 58 - Still sore from the wakeboard

2009-07-10T19:40:00.000-07:00

Thursday and Friday - after getting fried on Saturday, my sunburn is starting to face and has finally stopped hurting, but I'm sore nearly every day for some reason. Wrists & hamstrings from the lake, I think, and just blew up my upper body on Thursday again, so sore on Friday from that.
I've been looking forward to yoga all week, and when I did it today (Friday), it felt absolutely fantastic. Tough - my teacher made us do some really intense core workout stuff, abs and hamstrings, but it was very relaxing when it was over. My stretching has improved immensely - I can bend down about 4 inches further than I could when I started, and can actually briefly touch my toes. This comes from a loosening of my hamstrings & calves. Both incredibly sore and tight two months ago, and still, both are tight, but it's getting better.
At the end of the class, the relaxation part, it was pretty intense. I quieted my head, and then all of a sudden all the thoughts from work came rushing in, and kind of startled me. I guess I didn't realize how stressed I've been at work lately. Like AA, the first step to fix the problem is recognize it, right?

Day 56 - Morning run

2009-07-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

Got up early to do a little run, but I think my workout last night took my hamstrings for a ride. Couldn't run for shit, so went for about half and hour dragging the semi-reluctant puppy and called it a run. Now gotta rest my legs so I can get a crazy workout tomorrow.
Good day for food - ate mostly healthy, with the exception of a little Kathy's Carryout Tacos, which are practically impossible not to eat occasionally. Especially if you work in the South Valley, like I do. But there's nothing, and I mean nothing, healthy to eat in New Mexican food down there. Mom & pop shops don't understand healthy in the South Valley. Which is why it's so damn good.

Day 55 - hard, hard, weights

2009-07-07T21:59:00.001-07:00

Good day. Got up plenty early - I was planning on doing the early workout thing, but that didn't happen, so instead I went to work and started crunching numbers. Number crunching all day, which isn't particularly fun, but does have a beautiful satisfying feeling when I get a good-looking report thrown together.
Got out at five, dropped by my sister's place for a quick bowl of chili and a gander at my little nephew, who's doing just peachy. Then had a very successful meeting for an hour, and a great and intense workout. I told myself I was going to give myself a workout that would make me want to ralph, and yes, about 30 minutes in, I was ready to call it. But pulled it through, and went out for a great abs workout after.
Then went to my friend's place for some great pasta, found out I won a $5k grant for my work, and yeah, a good day altogether.

Day 54 - 4minutes from deep-fried

2009-07-06T20:39:00.000-07:00

Back at work today, after a great weekend in the sun, and yes, I'm paying for it. Putting aloe on fairly regularly, because I hate peeling. Back trying to the diet today. I'm cutting carbs out entirely after 5pm, just fruit, protein & fat, & veggies. Still got the tummy fat I gotta get rid of somehow - that just isn't going away very well. If it doesn't go away in a week, I'm gonna try carb-free for an entire week.
I heard about this - by day 5 you're not thinking too clearly, dropping stuff, but on day 8 you eat regularly and it all shoots right to your muscle. We'll see - I gotta break this plateau somehow.
My exercise was good, but, well, lackluster. I'll do more tomorrow morning. I did 3.5miles in 50min, for an average of about 4.2 mph, which sucks, but I was dragging a 26 pound puppy. That was a lot of work, especially for sunburned me. Had to stop a couple of times. This was also my first free-run, and I learned it sucks to run on asphalt.

Days 51-53: Fourth of July weekend!

2009-07-06T20:30:00.000-07:00

I totally took the week off from responsibility and watching my food and booze - almost. I bought a bunch of fruit to take with me, and tried to stick more with the vodka shots than the beer. Didn't really work for the most part, but that's ok. It was a great time.
Got burnt all to hell - parts of my body are bright red, almost orange. And my wrists and triceps are incredibly sore from wakeboarding. It was a good abs workout, anyway. By Sunday me and my buddies were all so sore, we barely made it out again - but we did. That's another thing this whole workout has taught me, especially working with Cera, the trainer - when you think you can't possibly go on any more, you probably can. Funny, too, that last ride, after I thought I was too tired to go on, was the best by far. Damn good weekend.

Day 50 - Going out for the good stuff

2009-07-03T14:13:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a workout. Cera took me for my last training session - worked it out really tough. Lots of full-body exercises. I'm thinking I'm in decent shape by now, but 20min in I just wanted to give up all together. Really, really intense. We did everything - including one intense little exercise where I pushed a 25pound weight across the floor at full speed. Killed my legs.
I ate crappy today, except for breakfast. Treated myself to the first nice restaurant meal I've had since I started the program, at Villa de Capo, and Italian Restaurant downtown. They had this gorgeous artichoke dip, buttery and smooth - just a fantastic piece of work. Then had a little salad, and a combo plate with lasagna, fried eggplant, and bona mangiata, which is a rolled, stuffed eggplant. It was all pretty good, including the two glasses of Chablis.
We went home after, and I made milkshakes with fresh blueberries and strawberry Haggen-Daaz ice cream. I didn't eat much, but I had a good little taste. Fabulous. Tough workout, but a great day nonetheless.

Day 49 - 3 miles in 30 minutes!

2009-07-01T20:21:00.000-07:00

Well, I know it's not spectacular, but considering I started with the capacity to run for about 10 minutes, I think it's pretty good! This is a measure not so much of my endurance, but of the strengthening of my calves, hamstrings, and lower back. They're sore, but they didn't stop me at least! And a pretty good ab workout on top of it.
I did wake up a little sore from yoga again. I bet it was the crow position - that's the one where she asked us to curl up standing on our hands. It hurt! I did it for maybe 15 seconds, and that was pretty much it. I'm really liking the yoga.

Day 48 - lots of work, yoga

2009-06-30T21:55:00.000-07:00

So suprisingly good day today for as little sleep as I got. I had a dentist appointment, got my clean bill of health there, thankfully, and then had meetings for much of today. Work is a little stressful right now - I have some really big deliverables that are being very difficult. After, came home for an hour, made myself a little dinner, then went to a 7pm yoga class with my friend Liz.
It was a good yoga class. Since there were only three of us, we got personal attention which is great for me, since I'm just starting out. Sometimes a very minor adjustment makes all the difference in a yoga pose. I felt like it was a light cardio workout, but a good strength workout.
It was very different from Sunday. Sunday was more cardio, and much more meditative. While today was relaxing, the teacher doesn't flow from one position to the next. It's like you reposition yourself for the next pose.
I did like that she had several series of ten or so poses that we did multiple times. A couple more classes with her and I'll be able to remember those to do on my own time.

Day 47 - Weights, abs, appetizers...

2009-06-29T21:52:00.000-07:00

Good day! I didn't manage to get up when my alarm went off, so had to go after work for a nice 45min weight circuit. It was a good workout - upped most of my weights a little bit, and felt a good cardio burn. I'm doing 55-60 pounds with each arm now on the machine press, which feels great, and the cable crosses are come up nicely too.
I had a conversation about pressures on guys to do large weights. I've never felt that, probably because I started with a trainer, and I know if i work out right, at the end of the workout I'm not really able to lift much. Also, I can do more weight and do it crappily, with not much benefit. Like my ex-body builder friend said, if you're going to cheat, why bother going to the gym?
Got my yoga hamstring stretches done morning and night, and also did abs at the gym and abs before I crashed, so that's good. Still getting there! Gotta put on the pressure if I'm going to get where I want to be in 38 days.

Day 46 - YOGA! YOGA! YOGA!

2009-06-28T22:22:00.000-07:00

Quite coincidentally, the second half of the experiment was my first day of yoga class. It was a beginner class, with an excellent teacher. Even though I wasn't able to do some of the more challenging positions - my balance is bad, but my flexibility is terrible - I felt like the teacher understood and explained the positions well. It was a cardio workout, too. I went with Megan, my roommate, and we both are sore right now. I've been assigned homework, a couple simple exercises to do at home to try to loosen up my hamstrings.
I think the yoga will be a good way to diversify my exercises. So now I've got cardio, yoga, and weight training. Do I double up a couple days? I'll have to ask Cera about how to make this work.
The yoga is a great meditation tool, as well. The teacher, Erin, gave a little motivational talk at the beginning of the class, and it was really good. At the conclusion, she asked us to think about what we'd like to get out of yoga. I was really impressed by the grace and balance of the class as a whole, and the way yoga approaches exercise - deliberately, slowly, and powerfully. That's what I'd like to take out of this, over time: A sense of deliberate grace and balance in my daily life.

Day 45 - Halfway there!

2009-06-28T17:08:00.000-07:00

So 45 days in! 45 days of working out, eating mostly pretty good, and generally working to be fit, and it's been an interesting half of an experiment!
I definitely think i look better. Not sure if I feel better, but I feel good. I can see some pretense of abs coming out of the fat, too!
The biggest difference is simply the discipline. Going to the gym every day, without exception, and eating right - both are a big commitment, but I've found that I can do it. It's helped me be more disciplined in other areas. The alone time and self-reflection that has quite unexpectedly come with the workout has helped me in my job and my personal life.
On a micro-level, I'm up to 25min of running. I did just over two miles - still not all that impressive, but it's up from less than a mile when I started a month and a half ago. Weighted in at 158 today.
I'll get measurements posted later this week. It was a good 45 days, and while I'm still not exactly 'ripped,' I'm still excited about getting there!

Day 43 & 44

2009-06-27T11:18:00.000-07:00

Totally missed Thursday for the gym workout. Worked too late, had meetings too early, and had plans with friends on Thursday night. And was in meetings over lunch, so they catered in a delicious chicken ceaser salad, with this very good corn chowder, and I snuck a little cupcake for dessert. Slate Street - damn good eats, really.
Had myself a bowl of oatmeal after work, and then homemade pizza about 9pm at a friend's place. While not the healthiest day, it wasn't terrible.
Friday got up early and did the workout things. Went to the Downtown gym, which has a pretty limited number of machines and it's definitely harder for me to get a great workout there. I'm still not sure i have a great grasp on the major muscle groups, which exercises to start with, and where to finish. But I can do a pretty intense cardio/weight circuit workout in an hour - I feel good about that. Abs are still tough, mentally, for me. I don't know why.
Food Friday was all good, with the exception of Friday night out, as generally happens. But still, not a terrible couple of days. I'm getting there.

Day 42 - Long day... good workout

2009-06-24T23:25:00.000-07:00

Missed my yoga today. Really want to give it a shot, but my friend told me there was a class, and I was ready to go, but apparently it's an Ashanti Yoga class that requires previous experience. I'm so inexperienced I'm not even sure I can bend, much less fit in to an experienced class. I'll wait.
Late workout today. I read today that early workouts, either morning, afternoon, or early evening improve sleeping habits, but not late workouts. So definitely gonna try to workout a little earlier. Unfortunately this starts in 6 hours, 6:30am, so it's gonna be tough today. blah.
Consumed 2400 calories, 200 more than the 2200 calories I'm shooting for. Not bad. I really kind of need to work to make it over 2k calories.

Day 41 - almost half-way there!

2009-06-23T21:44:00.000-07:00

Today was just a little bit off. Reminds me of the quote from "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" - I never could get the hang of Thursdays. Except today's Tuesday, and generally, I'm quite good at Tuesday. Got up a bit later than I should have, and made it to the gym for a rather lackluster weight circuit. My upper body is sore, but my will to make it a cardio, you know, really push it, was lacking.
On the plus side, had a catered work lunch and the food was healthy and fantastic! That always makes my day better. And I had no real work to do tonight, which was great too, so I cooked dinner and chilled out all evening. Very nice.
I haven't actually done my night set of abs yet, but I figured if I posted about it, I would have no choice. I do about 60-80 ab exercises - 15-20 leg lifts, obliques both sides, and full body, and then I try to do it again. Can't really count it the second time, because it's so sad and I have to rest too much. Getting there, though!

Day 40!

2009-06-22T22:15:00.001-07:00

40 days in! Almost half-way there. So far, I know I'm down about 3% body fat, and I know my stomach has gotten smaller, but haven't seen any real definition yet.
The workouts are easier - way easier than when I started. I did 55 minutes of cardio today, because I ran out of time (soaking wet when I finished), and then some abs. I can't seem to do abs in the morning - it's just tough for me! Even at night. They're such a little thing, just can't seem to get in the groove of even 5min of abs before I get going or crash out.
Tomorrow I'm weights, which I'm looking forward to. They're fun - I'm using caloriecount.about.com, and they've got great workouts on there as well. Trying to continue to use the full-body workouts, that combine weight lifting with lunges or steps or something. They're hard, but they make you sweat like nothing else. Great cardio.
I got a referral to a good yoga teacher on Monday & Wednesday nights at my gym, and I think I'm going to try to make one, no matter how embarrasing it might be. Does that supplement my workout, or do I still have to do cardio? I'll see how strenuous it is, and go from there.

Days 37 & 38 - Weekend Edition

2009-06-21T21:57:00.000-07:00

I did pretty good on food this weekend, if not that great on booze. Got a neat little martial arts workout late yesterday, then went out and had a couple beers and a couple vodka tonics. This morning, got up a little late, had a great breakfast, went out to the gym and had a great arm/chest workout. Lost track of time, and really got into the zone - pushed weight limits, and then did a little swimming and hung out in the hot tub.
Got home, did some yard work, took a nap, then some friends came over and we did a little BBQ action. Not a bad Sunday, altogether.
Found a new website - Calorie Count from About.com. You give it your goals, and it tells you what you have to eat. Then you enter everything you've eaten, and it grades how healthy it is and the number of calories consumed.
According to the website, I consumed 1,913 calories, about 300 calories short of the 2200 calories it recommended for me to gain a little weights.

Day 36 - back in the saddle

2009-06-20T01:18:00.000-07:00

So totally skipped yesterday. My first day in 35 days without a workout. I had to be at work too early, and my friend's birthday, so we went out right after work. Busy, and just didn't have time. Today I was back on, with an intense but short morning workout.
I didn't have dinner, though - absolutely sick of chicken, and couldn't think of anything else good, so just had a yogurt. I'm going to have to make a concentrated effort to eat more.
I think I did find part of an oblique, though! Stoked about that.

Day 35 - Cardio, not much food...

2009-06-17T23:43:00.000-07:00

So less than 24 hours after I found out I need to eat more, I totally blew it. Ate barely anything today, all because of work. Too much to do, and forgot to eat dinner.
I did another 60min of cardio! That I was pretty proud of. It was hard, but not too hard. Definitely manageable, even though I'm still a little sore from yesterday's workout. I'm taking the day off tomorrow, I've decided. I know, it's bad, but it's my first one, and I've got a crazy day. No way I'm going to get up before work to lift. Probably won't make it in until Friday night. I'll do a little abs, and pray for forgiveness, and it'll be fine. As long as this is a one-time thing, right?

Day 34 - aw I hurt

2009-06-16T21:34:00.000-07:00

Today was session #8 with Cera. I bought nine sessions originally, so maybe one more, or maybe I'll pick some more up. Depends on how well I do the next two weeks working out by myself. I feel like I have a decent knowledge of the routines, but not quite as comfortable as I wish I was. Cera, btw, I'm pretty sure she tried to rip my arms off today. Actually, we did a lot of balance/full body stuff with a focus on upper and lower body. 15 minutes in, and I was huffing, and 45 minutes in I was hurting pretty bad.
Still, good numbers on the weights. Not sure exactly what they were, because my brain wasn't exactly working at all.
I'm going to need to step up my caloric input, I guess. I've never been a huge eater, but to get the kind of increased build, I need to up it a bit. That's actually going to be a little difficult, but I think I can do it. Actually, probably need to start watching the diet a little more. I'm not eating bad, and not drinking much, but my diet - especially lunch - hasn't been spectacular.
Also, gonna try to do abs in the morning and the night. It's only a couple of minutes, and need to get some shape going on!

Day 33 - 630am workout....

2009-06-15T20:35:00.000-07:00

Yeah, so I'm realizing, again, that early morning workouts are not perfect for me. I made it to the gym at 6:30, and yes, I can do a serious workout first thing in the morning. But was sooooo exhausted after the gym, came home and crashed out again. Not exactly have the most productive morning.
But a very productive day, for a Monday. Mondays are generally all catchup, but I had very useful meetings, ate good, and it was all pretty decent. I think I'm slipping a little on my water intake - only probably 7 or 8 bottles of water today (refills - I don't believe in using all that plastic). My throat is a little sore, which makes water very un-enjoyable.
The weight circuit took a little time to get going. I did 3min of hard cardio, just to get the blood pumping, and then some very good weights. It wasn't until probably about half way through that I really got the blood going and the cardio workout rolling. It's a little bit of a mixed bag, I think. If I do my reps quickly, I get the blood pumping and a cardio workout. But if I keep it slow, keep the heart rate down, I feel like I can do bigger weights for more reps.
So what's better? A cardio or bigger weights?
Side note: I'm getting very tired of grilled chicken. Gotta figure out another healthy protein. Maybe more steak.

Days 31 & 32 - Weekend Edition

2009-06-14T19:23:00.000-07:00

I'm really enjoying the workout, and it just hasn't been that hard to get in on the weekends. Saturday I did 40 minutes of a nice intense weights circuit, and mostly handled my eating ok. I've been moving my focus to heavier weights, and aiming for failure at 2 sets of 10 reps instead of 15. Time to start building some bulk.
I did pretty good on eating both days, except for a couple of drinks on Saturday night. Another milestone today, with a full hour of cardio! Sure, that's not much for most people, but considering I started at 30 minutes max, I'm pretty happy about it!
And after Saturday night being only a couple hours of sleep, Sunday morning I got up at 9am to eat some yogurt, then went back to crash for two hours, and then off to the gym. I always do considerably better if I give it at least an hour and half to two hours after eating - any less than that, and I run out of steam earlier.
My abs, always the worst part, are getting better. Not great, but better. I work on them every day, and the workouts are getting slightly longer. I'm hoping for a huge breakthrough one day, but we'll see.

Day 30 - Milestone Edition - 1/3 of the way done!

2009-06-12T23:15:00.000-07:00

I finished my first 30 days off strong today, with a hard 50minute cardio workout, and topped it off with a nice ab workout, back workout, and a little hot tub action. Not a bad night, altogether. So here's the results of 30 days of workout - really not much different in terms of size, but I've doubled most of my weights and definitely doubled my cardio ability. Over the next 30 days I'd like to hit 10% body fat, and start gaining a little size!

Starting measurements: 5/13
Weight: 155
Body composition: 15.5%
Chest: 36.5
Rt Arm: 12.5
Lft Arm: 12
Waist: 33.5
Abdomen: 35.25
Hip: 39.25
Rt Thigh: 19.75
Lft Thigh: 17.25
Calf: 14.25

Measurements on 6/9
Weight: 157.5
Body Composition: 12.3%
Chest: 37.5
Rt Arm: 12
Lft Arm: 12
Waist: 34.25
Abdomen: 34.25
Hip: 39
Rt Thigh: 20
Lft Thigh: 18.5
Calf: 14

I had a good day - skipped breakfast, but most of the food was good, and the workout was good, long, and very satisfying. Didn't even drink tonight. I'm feeling good about this whole project so far. I was a little worried about hitting it too hard and burning out, but that hasn't been a problem so far. Two months to abs!

Day 29 - Surviving a busy work day

2009-06-11T22:30:00.000-07:00

Tough workout today. One of the more difficult in terms of discipline.
I had lots of meetings, and the food was less than optimal, plus I wasn't on that much sleep. I had to skip the oatmeal for lack of time, so a banana and yogurt at 8am, protein bar at 9:30, then meetings straight through until noon. Lunch meeting meant I didn't really get to eat then either, except half a burrito at noon and another half at 1:30pm. Slammed all afternoon, and a quick protein shake at 5:30 when I got home. A couple pieces of pizza and a bunch of baby carrots & cherry tomatoes, and when I went to my workout around 8:30 it was really hard to stay on track and hit my weights.
I did, though - discipline is something I've been able to improve over the last 30 days as well. Failure is success, right?
Still managed to hit all my weights, though, so the show goes on! 10% body fat in two weeks!

Day 28 - Four weeks in

2009-06-11T00:16:00.000-07:00

Today I ran intervals for 20 minutes, and almost died. My back and my left foot, instead of my right earlier, were killing me. So I went to the precore machine and did another 20 minutes before they closed the gym. It was an intense, if short, cardio workout.
Ate my standard oatmeal w/ protein, a banana, and was off to work where I had meetings all - and I mean ALL - day. 5:30 board meeting, and they have carrots, cherry tomatos, and broccoli, and that was basically my dinner, except for the 9:30pm protein shake. Dinner Dinner didn't come until 11pm, when I had eggplant lasagna, which is basically lasagna without the pasta. Very good, actually.
Left foot is still killing me. Gotta be careful on that treadmill, but I'm going to get that number up! I'm only at 2 miles now, which is a little sad.

Day 27 - Measuring progress

2009-06-09T21:43:00.000-07:00

After 27 days of working out, today we went back to my original stats and re-measured everything. Good news and eh news - eh news, I've gained no size whatsoever. Maybe an inch in my calves, maybe a tiny bit in my chest, but mostly, no size gain. Good news is that I've dropped from 15.5% body fat to 12.3%, which puts me on track to hit my 7% in another 53 days with a little room to spare.
Not that I'm slacking up. This week we're shooting for 50min of hard, intervaled cardio, intermixed with intense weight training. And I think I can do it. Except I may be going to the lake on Saturday, which will throw a little wrench in the works, because I don't think I can go to the lake without drinking - a lot. C'mon, what fun would that be?
Tough workout today. I think Cera (my trainer) is done with fun and games and getting me into shape! I've only got a couple more sessions with her, so I've got to maximize her input and get into my routine to finish up strong. No slacking off now!

Day 26 - Monday all over again

2009-06-08T22:02:00.000-07:00

Today was a semi-breakthrough. First, I figured out that apparently the machines I've been doing cardio adjust the resistance by weight, so when I was doing a difficulty 20 last Saturday, I think I put my weight as 16 instead of 160.
I did it right today, and did 45 minutes of difficulty 8 intervaled with a difficulty 4. And it was tough. The breakthrough was that even though I really, really wanted to give up, I didn't have to convince myself to keep going. Either the threat of blog-shame, or maybe I'm just getting my crap together, but I knew I was going to do 45 minutes. No excuses.
I mostly ate good, and fairly normal day at work - I think that green chile chicken burrito is the healthiest thing at El Modelo, which isn't saying that much. It was only chicken, green chile, and cheese, so couldn't have been that bad, right?

Day 25 - Fancy shoes plus

2009-06-07T21:44:00.000-07:00

Got myself some fancy New Balance shoes today. Apparently, my feet are wider than the standard athletic shoe, or at least that's what New Balance would have me believe. I ended up with 2EEs, but she gave me some freakin' huge shoes to try on too, that reminded me of big ol' panda feet to go padding around in. I ran for 5min on them, and they're way better than my old shoes.
Did the weight circuit today, with a focus on chest and arms, my favorite.Time flew by. I pushed myself, but not as hard as Cera would have pushed me. I'm really aiming for failure on every set, if possible. Plus that circuit makes a great cardio workout.
Afterwards, did the total zen hot tub thing. I swear, that hot tub is worth the gym membership by itself. Absolutely nothing is more relaxing than a good soak after a workout. I think that 15-20 minutes gives me more clarity about life in general than any other time during the week.
I didn't eat much today, and kind of had to force myself to have a late dinner, too. Not quite sure what's up with my appetite. Mostly healthy today, except for a little cheese and some chips, but overall, I'm satisfied.

Day 24 - Cardio & BBQs

2009-06-07T10:06:00.000-07:00

Great cardio workout. My weekend workouts are turning out the best, for some reason - my trainer said that noon - 2pm are the most ideal times to workout, and today I did 45min of cardio on a pretty high difficulty setting, and blew through it no problem. Compared to last time, when I had to convince myself not to quit every ten minutes, literally. And then I was on resistance 5, today I did resistance 12 intervaled with 15, and jacked it up to 18 then 20 for my last couple of minutes.
I don't understand the heart-rate monitor. 25 minutes through the workout, it said I had a heartrate of 96. That can't be right. I'll have to ask someone about that.
Eating was basically one long meal - went to a BBQ at one, and nibbled until 5. Didn't really eat much after that, except for some grapes & peanuts, and I got a street dog at 9pm or so. Nothing - and I mean, nothing - is better than a hot dog from the little vendors in DT Albuquerque. I don't understand it, the hotdogs are nothing special, but that melted cheese, & onions, wow, just makes life complete somehow.
I went to a Third Eye Blind concert at about 8:30, and started drinking. Nothing crazy, but steady drinking until 2pm. I figure about about 500 calories of booze. I don't know, though, about the drinking thing - I have some really built friends, and they drink more than anyone I know. One of my friends was at his best, as far as being buff, during his 50 day drinking spree a couple years ago. Guess it just takes lots more workout time.
Oh, and got a new fancy scale that tells body fat & hydration. Took a baseline an hour after working out yesterday, and it gave me a 19.5% body fat with 56% hydration. That's a little depressing - I thought I started with a 14.5% body fat. More workout time.

Day 23 - Twice the starter weights!

2009-06-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

Day 23 started off right, if a little late, with the standard oatmeal/protein breakfast. I snuck out of a meeting to kill a protein bar, then lunch was brought in, and I made the best of a carnitas (deep-fried pork, probably the most unhealthy thing on earth) burrito by eating a small one with only rice and pico de gallo.
I did a really good weights workout. I officially doubled the weights I started with on the shoulder & lat press today. That milestone felt great!
And then I went out for a friend's birthday celebration, which is never a great thing, and we drank enough for me to need an extra workout one day this weekend. I don't think I'll make it, but I'm going to try to sneak one in.

Day 22 - first compliments!!

2009-06-04T23:12:00.000-07:00

I think I got my official first compliments on the new me today. Two friends I haven't seen since I started said I looked great. I'm still not seeing a huge improvement in my pictures, but hey, maybe it's posture or something. I can't really say I feel a whole bunch different, but today I felt like crap all day because I didn't sleep.
Lack of sleep kills me. I stayed up until 3am, got up at 7:30. It threw off my eating, and I barely got a workout in. I'm finding in a workout program, sleep is a discipline like anything else, and anything less than 6 hours makes life very difficult.
Good breakfast, but had to do a 5 hour energy shot to stay alive this morning, which gave generally caffeine-free me a serious case of jitters, but, damn, it did help me get stuff done! Lunch was with friends at a Mexican restaurant. Non-New Mexicans have to understand, there's a difference between New Mexican and Mexican food. New Mexican is green and red chile, soapapillas, and rellenos. Mexican is more meat (usually cooked in lard and/or tons of fat) with a side of rice and refried beans, fajitas, or very cheese-heavy dishes that rely on chopped onion, tomato, and jalapenos for the spicy part. Neither is healthy, but with New Mexican you have to watch out because the best stuff is all deep-fried, and Mexican they love the delicious fatty meats.
I had Steak Ranchero, which fantastic and probably healthy except for the greasy (and very good) part.
Couldn't handle anything for a mid-afternoon meal - I was going to go home and crash, but I stuck it out, took a lukewarm Boost energy drink (9g protein, lots of vitamins & minerals) at 4pm, and took an hour nap until a friend's dinner party at 7pm. There I resisted home-made pizza, cheese & bacon-wrapped peppers, and homemade cake, along with basically unlimited beer & wine, and drank 4 glasses of water and ate fresh fruit & grilled meat. Excellent food, but still I ate less than I have on any other night. Again, blame it on the lack of sleep.
Left early to come home and do a cardio workout, something I am very proud of, but very unlike the me of only three weeks ago. Discipline, discipline, discipline - if I fall down on sleep, I make it up with a lack of party.

Day 21 - lots of food, lots of cardio

2009-06-03T22:12:00.000-07:00

Woke up at 7am, wide awake, which is unusual for me. Even more unusual, I stayed up. Had a cup of hot black tea, and my oatmeal with a scoop of protein. I did some work, checked some email, then met up with friends for an 8:30 breakfast at my favorite New Mexican restaurant. Where they had gorgeous plates of huevos rancheros (eggs, green chile, refried beans on a tortilla smothered in cheese, for you gringos), I had yogurt with granola.
It was a little painful.
Fiber bar and a subway 6" for lunch, another protein bar at 2:30, and a hardcore 45min run on a pre-core machine at 5pm. I set the resistance at 5, which was pretty easy compared to the hardcore workout monsters around me, and had to convince myself not to stop at 15, 25, 35, and 40 minutes in, but I made it to 45 minutes. I play little games - just 20 minutes. Then, just five minutes more. Then, five minutes more and I'll be at 350 calories, etc. Until I pretty much fell off the machine at 45 minutes.
A well-deserved 15min in the hot tub, and a quick shower, and I went home to make myself a chicken salad, with just a little unhealthy dressing. My friend and I cooked dinner at 9:30 again, strip steak in fajitas, and a little tiny bit of wine, and the day's done.
Each day I'm learning a little bit more about how this process works. I'm going to try to start including those little bits of information, as I've always been a unashamed collector of useless information, and I suspect others might be too.
Today I learned that you're supposed to eat protein 30min to an hour after cardio, and immediately following weights, because cardio keeps your heart rate up for longer for a residual workout effect. Tidbit of the day for you, there. enjoy.

Day 20 - Obama thinks I'm fat??

2009-06-02T21:03:00.000-07:00

Tip of the day: http://www.mypyramid.gov is a great resource to see what kind of diet works for your body type and activity level. It also told me I was too fat for my height. C'mon! 161 pounds is NOT fat for a 5'7" dude. Is it? Hope not. Way to shoot my self esteem, government.
I meant to get up and do cardio, but slept in instead, and regretted it all day. I really missed the workout - a very new and good experience for me. When I got to the gym for my workout with Cera, my trainer, I was pumped and ready to go.
I hadn't eaten for about 3 hours before the workout, and my energy level was fantastic, for about 30 minutes. Cera warned me we were doing a hardcore upper body, and I was ready to run, but after 30 minutes of bench presses, shoulders, chest stuff, pullups, I ran out of steam doing simple pushups.
I think this really emphasized to me the need for cardio to be ready to play with the workout. If I was in better cardio, I could have kept going, no doubt. After meeting twice a week for these first three weeks, now we're down to once a week. The challenge will be keeping my workouts of the same caliber now that I'm on my own six days a week.
I'm good though. I'm excited about my workouts, I miss them if I don't do them, and I think i'm starting to see some limited results in my arms, and maybe a slight tightening in the belly.

Day 19 - Off to a running start

2009-06-01T23:50:00.000-07:00

Really a decent monday. I planned on getting up early, but instead I hit snooze for an hour and got up just in time for work. I had my oatmeal, protein, & yogurt, went to work, had a fiber bar at 10:30, lunch was an apple and a cup of Healthy Choices soup (40% of daily salt intake!). I heard if I keep up my 10 glasses of water a day, salt intake doesn't matter too much. I should check that.
Protein bar at 2:30, then to the gym by 5:30 for 10 minutes of running (just over a mile - my feet and back were killing me), and 30 minutes of interval biking, just over 8 miles. Nothing too impressive, but a good 40min of cardio and some abs afterwards.
I rewarded myself with full pound of t-bone, a big beautifully marbled piece of meat for dinner with corn on the cob, and a baked potato. Not a bad day, really. I'm happy.

Day 18 - beautiful sundays...

2009-05-31T20:06:00.000-07:00

Probably one of the most relaxing days I've had in a very long time. Late night, but I got up feeling a little dehydrated & hungover, and made it to the gym by 10am. 45 minutes of weights, and I went up to try a yoga class out. It was packed! Full of beautiful women that were most likely far more flexible and waay less sweaty than me after a workout. So I wimped out. Couldn't do it.
Give me a couple more days - I haven't seen my flexibility improve much at all, really, even though I've been doing stretches and stuff. I've never been that flexible, so it may take a bit for me to get there, but I will.
So I went to the pool instead, did some stretches and a little swimming in the gorgeous summer weather, then sat in the hot tub, where I think the answer to life is, somewhere. It was incredibly relaxing, and I had some really good reflective time. Then a couple of hours with my family, and my adorable little nephew, some serious guitar time, and a little reading, and that's pretty much my idea of a weekend day.
I ate a lot today, even without much of a breakfast. I definitely have better workouts if I do it on an empty stomach, especially in the morning. Lunch at one, grilled chicken at 5, and pork chops at 8:30. Lots of protein today.

Day 17 - Slacker Saturday

2009-05-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

Today wasn't really my proudest workout day. I woke up, still pretty sore. Extending arms, legs, anything, really didn't feel very good. I don't know what triggered it - almost had to be that running. Or the lack of sleep Thursday night.
Had an 8:30 pancake breakfast for work, so went to that and had 3 small pancakes with some bacon & a little bit of syrup, and a ton of OJ. Good OJ. Got home, took a nap, had some leftover grilled chix & veggies, and went shopping. Got some swordfish to grill, which was fantastic, and had a side salad that my roommate made with no dressing. Just salt and pepper, and it was really good! I'm going to have to get that recipe.
I only did stretching and a light ab workout. Really, I think a light ab workout is all I can do right now, because my stomach just isn't there yet. No cardio to speak of, for the first time in 17 days. Not good. I resisted drinking all day, which was good, and then had enough drinks for the whole weekend last night - captain & diet, vodka & OJ, or straight shots, so it wasn't terrible, but still, that's a lot of alcohol and a lot of sugar. Going to have to try to make up for that somehow this week.

Day 16 - longest. day. ever.

2009-05-29T21:15:00.000-07:00

So had to get up at 6:30 today for a 7:30 meeting, which wouldn't have been so bad, but I went to sleep around 3am, which wasn't a great idea for such a busy day. Grabbed a yogurt on my way out the door, had a fabulous burrito from Golden Price (best tortillas & green chile ever) and had my 5th cup of coffee in my entire life. That kept me awake through the first meeting and pretty much all of the 2nd - a very sedentary day. I was a little sore from my workout yesterday, but not too bad. Got out of work about 6pm, went to the gym and tried to run.
I say 'tried' because it didn't really work. 2 minutes walking, and I felt my gluts and calves were tight. 3 minutes running, I was ok, 2 minutes walking, 3 minutes running, and my ankle felt like there was a giant toe-cramp running up the entire back of my leg. I had to stand, couldn't even walk. I finished, 35 minutes of pushing it on a Pre-core machine, but for the last four hours my gluts have made it painful to do anything that involves bending my legs. My legs are sensitive to any extension or bending. It's not disabling, but not comfortable at all - the most sore I've been since I started this experiment, and not even after one of those hurl-inducing training sessions!
Made myself a great dinner of chicken, mushrooms, onions, & zucchini with a little corn on the cob, and I am ready to crash out. Is it just me, or does my stomach look better?

Day 15 - lots of fish!

2009-05-29T19:09:00.000-07:00

Lots of deadlines at work mean I'm running today. Morning meetings, finish some things, then go to cook some dinner with my sister & future bro-in-law. Did some beautiful salmon, with onion, sauteed spinach, and some fresh pineapple.
Cera worked out my legs something fierce. My quads especially - I didn't feel it so much then, but the soreness was on it's way! I had a late work meeting, took me to 8:30 or so, then cooked up some catfish, breaded it, grilled some spinach and some swiss chard - which, by the way, is absolutely light and fantastic - and had a glass of wine or so. Also had a bit of an empanada, but it was just a bite. Not counting that.

Day 14 - Two Weeks In!

2009-05-27T21:35:00.000-07:00

They say it takes 21 days for simple motions to become automatic, and 30-40 days for more complex habits to form. Well, I'm half-way there in that case! It really hasn't been too difficult to make my daily workouts - I'm not giving myself an option. Today it was difficult to get to the gym, had to run between work meetings, but it's not really an option for me. I have to say, part of this is because of this blog. If I allowed myself to get away with cheating, I probably would.
I did the free-form running machine thing today. I tried to run, but my calves were so sore from yesterday's workout that I didn't make five minutes. That was a little depressing. But I did a straight 45 minutes of intense cardio, followed by a couple minutes of ab workout. Good sweaty workout. All in all, a good day, with the exception of that terribly unhealthy (but really good) nacho supreme.

Day 13 - 4th training session & sushi

2009-05-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

The first day after long weekends are always tough. Today wasn't too bad - it really was a relaxing weekend, especially at the end.
Cera - my trainer - worked me out hardcore today, lots of balance work, arms, back, and abs. I'm seeing some definite difference in my strength training, it's very encouraging. Again today, saw big improvements from a week ago in my ab workout, although miles from where I need to be. Cera was not easy on the cardio, either, a very intense cardio workout.
No alcohol, and food was decent although a little light and not spread out quite as well as I wanted it to be. Had a Boost protein/vitamin shake around 10:30, then had crazy work until I got my lunch at around 1:30, a quick apple at 3, chicken at 5, workout at 6:30, and protein shake after at 7:30, then very good sushi. Sushi is like a cuisine massage for me for some reason, always leaves me very relaxed and happy. Which I needed after that workout.
Well, Cera promised me I'd be sore in the morning, so I'm off to sleep to prep for that. Almost two weeks, and all is well.

Day 12 - Memorial Day wine festival

2009-05-25T22:02:00.000-07:00

Today was the (very nice) Albuquerque Wine Festival. It was cloudy, so not too hot, and the last day of the Festival, and yup, I had to go. I got up in decent time, went and did my weight workout. Again, ecstatic to find that I had to move up in weights for nearly every exercise, and I was actually able to do a couple minutes of abs! That's a first for me.
I was going to try to go again, to make up for the drinking this weekend, but didn't make it. It wasn't a sedentary day at all, with the hours of walking at the festival. I didn't eat much, either. Never really had a lunch, just oatmeal at 11:00 after the gym and a big beautiful ribeye about 8:30pm. Lots of healthy snacking on carrots and a protein bar in the middle. I weighed myself in at 161 this morning, which is four pounds heavier than my official starting weight at 157. After that steak tonight, I bet I'm up to at least 164 or so.
I stayed hydrated, drank lots of water, and had a really nice Memorial day, ending with a fire burning in our firepit, listening to Bob Marley, watching the stars come out. Gotta love long weekends.

Day 11 - Sunday with family & friends

2009-05-24T22:43:00.000-07:00

I got up far too late today, missing the yoga class I wanted to try. Stupid alarm clock is set to ring on weekdays, and not weekends. I grabbed some breakfast, and did the martial arts cardio again. Strangely, even though the first time I did it, I thought it was pretty easy, as I get better at it I find the cardio gets harder. I can put more energy in the punches and kicks and less time thinking about what I've got to do next.
Went to an amazing little mexican food joint, Lindo Mexico, in the SE. I had beef tongue, for the first time, and it was a tender thin-sliced grilled piece of beef with peppers, onion, & a fried jalapeno. Also, some of the best refried beans I've ever had. Went mini-golfing with the family, and then had a beautiful big bowl of home-made ice cream.
And then went to a house-warming party, where I had only three bottles of water in penance for my ice cream. Didn't really eat much today. I need to get a checkup, find out where I am after my first 11 days as opposed to where I need to be. I think my cardio is way better, but no noticable difference in the way my body looks yet. No worries, I'm definitely keeping the faith.

Day 10 - Memorial Day weekend

2009-05-24T10:30:00.000-07:00

It was cloudy outside and a little rainy for the 4th day in a row. This is really unusual in Albuquerque, but meant that it was really cool and when the clouds broke in the afternoon it was a beautiful day. I slept in, which means I missed my breakfast meal, but other than that I think I did ok for a Saturday.
Lunch was leftover beef and potatoes, and I made grilled chicken and corn on the cob for a quick dinner, seasoned with lemon pepper and a little butter. Rum and diet is my new drink of choice, and I only had a shot of Jamison because our favorite bartender would have been hurt if I didn't. Well, he would have gave me an inordinate amount of crap if I didn't. I figured it just wasn't worth the trouble. Plus, free whiskey in itself is a pretty hard to say no to.
Drank a lot of water still, maintaining that 10 8-0z bottles a day. This is Memorial weekend, a long weekend with a wine festival I'm planning on attending on Monday, and a housewarming party on Sunday. Going to be a challenging weekend to maintain.

Day 9 - Martial Arts workout Friday

2009-05-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

I was sore all day today, and for the first time, the soreness almost inhibited my workout. Probably because I was doing the cardio martial arts workout, and doing some of the same muscle groups that I worked out in the gym yesterday.
Food was not so great - I did fast food, and not good fast food. It's really hard to eat well at a fast-food place! I could have got a big salad, but those are only good when you do crispy chicken and a bunch of dressing, so i did small instead of good, and ate chicken nuggets, a tiny burger, and a side salad for lunch. Dinner was somewhat better, but I was using 70/30 burger instead of the really lean stuff, and then I drank a little. No beer, because of all the carbs, but still - it was about 150 calories, which I'll make up for by swimming a little on Saturday. I'm rewarding myself too much for my little breakthrough.
Other than that, everything is good! I'm liking the martial arts workout - actually dreamed about it for some reason. You know it's bad when your workouts start getting in your sleep.

Day 8 - my first breakthrough!

2009-05-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

I got up this morning, actually kind of sore from last night's martial arts workout. I went to the gym, and did all the exercises I did my first workout with the trainer, and they weren't hard enough! I upped the weights on most of them, got a great workout, and went for an hour, heart pumping the whole way.
It was very rewarding and exhilarating. I've noticed soreness hasn't interfered with any workouts so far - it kind of goes away once I start moving. After the workout, though, I've been sore all day. Well worth it, for sure.
Food discipline was decent. Lunch meeting, so I ate out. I had a very good gyro with a greek salad again, and drank a ton of water. Tonight I rewarded myself a little and had a huge taco salad, with beef, dressing, and tortilla chips. I don't want to reward myself too much, because I am planning on doing the wine festival this weekend, and that will be at least one extra workout. Overall, very satisfying day. Definitely a breakthrough day.

Day 7 - One week down!

2009-05-20T22:08:00.000-07:00

My first week of a fit me is over! So far, so good, I'd say. I did an hour of light cardio, with a martial arts video. When I say "light" cardio, I mean, I was soaking wet by the time I was done, but at no point during the workout did I feel like I needed to stop and take a break. Plus it was pretty neat learning something useful, like how to elbow punch 25 times in a row.
Food was good today, except I had meetings all morning and didn't get a chance to drink water or eat a mid-morning snack. Good breakfast, good healthy lunch, and a productive and interesting day all around. Still haven't seen any results yet, but then, it's only been a week. My trainer says I'm building muscle now, and when I lose the chubby, the muscles will pop. Can't wait!

Day 6 - Trainer workout #2

2009-05-19T21:58:00.000-07:00

We did mostly upper body, again, which I prefer to legs. I'm not really a fan of working out the legs for some reason - guess I care a lot more about how my upper body looks than my legs. They're naturally beautiful legs, anyway. :)
A 60 minute workout is really pushing it for me, cardio-wise. If I was starting this program all over again, I would definitely work my cardio up to at least 45min to an hour before I started a training program. As it is, I'm so exhausted by the end, I'm having trouble standing up, never mind standing up on a ball balancing free weights. Cardio is coming, though. We're bumping the cardio up to 40 minutes, maybe 45 if i can do it. Tomorrow morning, 6:30am!
Food was decent today. Breakfast was a little light - I was running late, and I forgot to bring fruit to the office with me, so I had to make do on fiber & protein bars. Lunch was good. I've been craving subway for some reason. I had a 12in oven-roasted chicken on whole wheat bread, with pepperjack and honey mustard and lots of jalapenos. Grabbed a protein bar about an hour before the workout, took two creatine tablets 1/2 hour before the workout with some apple juice, and then got home and made myself a beautiful steak, baked potato, & steamed spinach & garlic. Also, pretty sure I hit my ten glasses of water today. Two at home in the morning, bottle of water & three refills, one before the workout, one after the workout, and two or three tonight. Not bad. I'm a drinking machine!

Day 5: Hard Cardio, a little Snickers ice cream

2009-05-19T08:33:00.001-07:00

This is my first "morning after" post. I blame it on the vodka.

Day 5 was pretty good - I didn't eat quite as often as I should have, and not quite as well as I should have, and did have a little alcohol and a little ice cream. But I did a really hard cardio workout in the morning, with just a little bit of abs. Abs are still really tough for me.

It was a busy day at work, and I had a lunch meeting. The gyro I had wasn't too unhealthy, but did have some of that fantastic greek white sauce, and there was some dressing on the salad, although it looked like just oil & vinegar. Didn't eat the feta cheese. I don't like feta cheese.

Didn't eat anything after lunch at 1pm until about 8pm, except a handful of low-fat wheat thins. It's amazing how much worse low-fat wheat thins taste compared to regular wheat thins. They're really pretty awful.

The vodka sweet tea is one of my new favorite drinks I picked up in New Orleans a couple of weeks ago. Lots of sugar, but generally probably better with less carbs than a beer. It was a stormy, warm summer night, and just seemed right to have a little sweet tea. It was worth it!

Day 4 - my first self-guided weights workout!

2009-05-17T13:27:00.000-07:00

I woke up more sore today in my biceps than yesterday. Putting on my shirt was a monumental task, as was anything that required me to move my arms above my head. I had a good breakfast, mowed the lawn, did some minor housework, and headed out to the gym. Despite my being sore, I was able to replicate all of the exercises I did with my trainer on Friday. I don't know if I did them all correctly - I might have cheated unknowingly on a couple, I don't know. It's very hard to remember when to keep my back straight, head up, etc. It was an intense workout, but nothing that brought me on the verge of vomiting like the workout with the trainer. My soreness was totally gone during the workout, but when I got home, it came back with a VENGEANCE. I couldn't even straighten my arm without it killing me.
My abs are really hard to work out - I can't do more than a couple of reps without taking a break. Other than that, I was satisfied with my workout. I've adopted the method my trainer uses - 15 hardcore reps, 10 counted up, then the last 5 I count down. Makes it easier for some reason.
After my workout, a chill birthday BBQ and a graduation BBQ, where I ate one burger with some chips, a lot of carrots, and drank probably 6 glasses of water. Got home, ate some peanuts & chex mix, and kicked back with the puppy for a relaxing evening of resting those sore muscles! Tomorrow's going to be tough - going to try to make it up for a 6:30 workout! brutal.

Day 3 - Local Food Festival

2009-05-16T22:47:00.000-07:00

It's very hard not to eat an enormous amount of unhealthy food at festivals for me. I've always been a taster, one of those guys that likes to try every dish a restaurant has, no matter who's ordered it. It's strange, I know, and often makes neighboring tables pretty upset.
I did a pretty good job today, I thought - I had some samples of salsas, mustard, jam, caramel apples, and some chicken & potatoes with a goat cheese salad, but generally in very small quantities. It was a really busy day, going from 8am straight to my buddy's graduation, home about 7pm. Then I cooked dinner, watched a little TV, did my 35 min of cardio, and now I'm ready to crash. I'm very sore still. Almost worse now than I was this morning, maybe because I'm tired. I'm planning on hitting the weights to the max tomorrow, just hope this soreness backs off a little so I can do it. Right now the thought of lifting weights over my head is incredibly unappealing.
I've added a line for "workout" to my food tracking sheet. Hopefully this will make my progress easier to follow. Also, I've decided it's not worth posting pics every day - I'm going to go for every other day, or maybe twice a week. I'll still take them, for future reference, but I think my progress is slow enough that day to day isn't necessarily that helpful.

Day 2 - the first session

2009-05-15T23:55:00.000-07:00

I like my personal trainer. I mean, she knows her stuff. I also suspect she's trying to do me in.
For our first weight session we did a round-robin of brutal things to my body, most of which I don't actually know the name of yet. The abs were the most brutal, but seriously, even my fingers are a little sore from holding the weights! Tip for beginners: don't eat for at least an hour before you work out. Otherwise your stomach will betray you. My stomach didn't, but I don't think I was too far from it.
I do feel pretty good right now. It's just past midnight, and I'm a little sore, but not too bad. I had a reasonable day as far as eating right is concerned, and limited my drinking almost entirely, which I consider a great achievement for a Friday night. I also picked up some creatine - it may be witchcraft, but I'm going to give it a shot for a couple of weeks. It says on the box to drink 10 8-ounce glasses of water a day while you're on it. That's a lot of water bottles.
Even after one session I've noticed my arms are no longer hanging by my side. They kind of stick out when I walk. It looks a little ridiculous, but I definitely feel tougher. Think this is jacking up my testosterone levels or something.

Day1 - Nine Inch Nails concert

2009-05-15T00:11:00.000-07:00

So my first full day, and there's a concert. I was pretty good - I had a shot of vodka in a water bottle, and a beer, and then a piece of what was probably the best pizza of my life. I got in 35 minutes of hard-core cardio before the concert, and again, nearly died. It was tough.
After the concert, got back about midnight and had a beautiful steak quesadilla with spinach & sour cream. Today was tough because I had breakfast & lunch meetings, but I ate light both times.
Two days down, 88 to go!

Day 0 - I meet the trainer

2009-05-13T21:44:00.000-07:00

It's officially day zero!

I'm not a workout kind of guy. I'm more a TV guy. I love decadent food, have an office job and have always lived by the mantra, "no pain, no pain." But I'm ready to change that. I'm going to see what 90 days of good eating, spartan self-discipline, and hardcore workouts can turn this flabby 29-year old body into. Today I picked a gym, got a membership, and set up 9 sessions with a personal trainer.
As a baseline, I did 35 minutes of free-form running today, and nearly died. My diet is semi-set - I've been working on getting my diet under control, which I've done with some success barring the occasional night out (Friday).
So here's the rules: I won't lie to you, my readers. At all. No matter how much it hurts. I will record all my workouts, my diet, and my drinks. I will attempt to take a picture of myself every day to track my progress. Believe me, it's not easy to post these pictures. I take a lot of solace in knowing that soon, soon I hopefully I will be proud of these pictures.
If I can do it, anyone can do it. One of my favorite quotes is by Peter Drucker, the father of modern management - "Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work." So bring on the hard work, and let's see what happens!