Day 18 - beautiful sundays...

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

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.

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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!