Another Workout in the Books...

So, after a much-needed nap last night, I hit the gym at about 8:30pm. Yeah, it's an awkward time, but I felt an itch to get in there and get some work done. I did 15 minutes on the treadmill (while reading the Contemporary English version of Proverbs 9-12), and then hit that Smith machine again. Once again, I did 3 15-rep sets of squats and 3 15-rep sets of chest presses, both at 85 lbs. And then I did 3 minutes on the heavy bag - jabs, right hooks, and single- and double-round kicks from my right leg. I was dog tired after working that heavy bag, but I felt good having gotten in there and gotten some work done. And folks are really noticing that I'm slimming down... :)

I may not make my mini-goal tomorrow... so here's my plan - if I hit it, my mini-goal for March is 280 lbs. If I don't hit it, my mini-goal for March is 285 lbs. I'll keep myself honest.

And... I've discovered a new favorite lunch - 1 can of Goya Black Bean Soup, 1 package of Uncle Ben's Microwave Long Grain Brown Rice, and 1 piece of fruit! I mix the soup and the rice together, and I'm getting 2 servings of each for a total calorie count of 820 calories... it's low-sodium, and it's filling me up too! So you know my pantry is stocked.

Back on Track...

OK... so I've broken away from LL's Platinum workout a little bit. But that's OK - the soreness has healed enough to where I can work out again. So, I stopped in at the gym on Saturday to get in a workout. I did 15 minutes on the treadmill at a higher speed than I'm normally used to (even jogged 1/4 mile). Then, I went back to that Smith machine. I decided not to take myself through what Larry tried to take me through, but to back it off a little bit and work myself up to what he was trying to do. So, I did 3 15-rep sets of Squats and 3 15-rep sets of chest presses, all at 85 lbs. And I did them all at a very fast pace. Then, I did a few minutes on the heavy bag. I think that'll be my new thing, since Saturdays at the gym seem to be a little empty - I'll get 3-5 minutes by myself on that heavy bag. That first minute is cool... and then your body catches up. *L* But I held my own for about 3 minutes. :-)

Here I am, sore from that workout (mainly, my quadriceps) but I'm looking forward to tomorrow's workout. And... I'm down 2 more lbs.! I might just make my mini-goal of 299 lbs. by March 1st!

MINOR SETBACK

One of my favorite comedians, John Leguizamo, said a joke once about how people start off telling you a story... how non-Latino people start off a story happily like "Once upon a time..." and how Latino history is so jacked up that they start off stories with "You m*****f******s won't believe this s*** right here!" *LOL*

Well... I'm not Latino... but uh... check this out...

So I went to the gym on Tuesday for my one personal training session (free with my new gym membership). The trainer assigned to me, Larry, converses with me and takes me through a digital assessment... weight, height, health history, body measurements, BMI and body fat measurements, etc. No problems... then he says he's going to take me through some "cardio resistance" training, while we're waiting for the results of the assessment to generate and print. I'm thinking resistance training = low-weight, high reps, fast cardio pace... I feel up for it. He tells me that for my goals, I want to build my chest and legs, and he walks me over to the Smith machine, puts 105 lbs. on the bar, and tells me we're going to use this weight to do 100 squats (in 4 sets) and 100 chest presses (in 4 sets). First of all... I'm like [WTF!!] in the back of my mind... but I'm up for the challenge.

We start with a set of 30 squats. He's got me doing them at a rather fast pace, but he tells me I can pace myself if I need to. I get through that set OK. My heartrate felt OK at that point, so I felt I could go on. I get into position on the bench and barely make it through a set of 25 chest presses. We go back to the squats, and I do 25 more of those. I am feeling whipped at this point, not seeing an end in sight to this torture. *LOL* We go back to the chest presses, and I can barely push out 11 before I have to stop because I can't breathe and the weight is just too much at this point. I stop, sit and recover. I was almost in tears at having to stop - that's how bad I felt. Takes me a while to recover (breathing-wise), but eventually I'm OK. He prints out my assessment and while I'm waiting, I become EXTREMELY nauseous. I come VERY close to vomiting, but somehow I make it home. I can't even get my sweaty clothes off. I end up napping in the sweaty clothes. I just felt exhausted and extremely discouraged.

Here I am 3 days later, still sore and not walking normally. I've been stretching and trying to push myself through the pain in my quadriceps, but I haven't been back to the gym since. I'm going to try to go tomorrow, since I'm feeling a little better.

I did have a good lunch today - a few slices of pineapple & canteloupe, an Asian salad from McDonald's (no meat) with Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing, and a little black bean dip and a few chips. Total calories: 537. :-)

And this Diets To Go thing is GREAT! I've bought a week of lunches for myself and my fiancee... vegetarian meals... and they're great! I'm not a mushroom fan but their mushroom ravioli was awesome.

So... after a few days of discouragement, my weight has not changed... but I'm back on track now... :-)

It's On & Poppin'...

So I worked out last night. Week 2 of the BRONZE Phase. Got 15 minutes of cardio in to warm up (while reading chapters 1-4 of Proverbs in my Contemporary English Verion of the Bible), and then got to my circuit - (1) seated leg press, (2) seated row, (3) ab crunch, (4) tricep extension, (5) bicep curl, (6) chest press, (7) shoulder press, and (8) hamstring curl. Instead of doing the circuit straight twice, I just did 2 sets of 15 reps on each exercise. That shoulder press got me - I could only do 11 of 15 reps on the second set! I didn't do a cool-down at the end, because I was having such a good conversation with Larry, one of the trainers. He was supposed to do a personal training session with me this evening (a free perk when joining this gym), but the gym is requesting to reschedule the session. I'll call them later. I felt good about putting on clothes this morning for work - this pair of penstripe pants I'm wearing are normally EXTREMELY tight on my waist. This morning, I was able to button them closed with two fingers of room to spare between my waist and the waist of the pants! I put on a belt with them, and I had to close the belt at the 4th loop hole! And... my body is obviously getting used to working out again - I'm feeling no soreness at all this morning! I wonder if it was the post-workout stretching I did... well, I feel minimal soreness in my pectorals and shoulders... but I feel good... :)

First Workout!

Alright! I got my first workout in yesterday. Started with 10 minutes on an elliptical machine to warm up. Then, I went through the circuit once, as outlined in the book. I noticed that on a couple of the machines (particularly the seated row and the chest press) I had to increase the weight and do a second set before continuing to the next machine. But it was cool. In order, I did the following exercises: (1) seated leg press, (2) seated row, (3) ab crunch, (4) tricep extension, (5) bicep curl, (6) chest press, (7) shoulder press, and (8) hamstring curl. After going through the circuit once, I did 10 minutes on a treadmill as well.

I felt it in my hamstrings last night, but they feel OK today. I do feel soreness in my pectorals and triceps todau, and no pain in my knees or my right thigh! Also, I'm in a great mood for some reason today. I guess, working out and having a release for my stress really helps me.

According to the book, I'm supposed to do one more day of the above-mentioned circuit & cardio combo once, and then next week I extend the cardio to 15 minutes before and 15 minutes after, and do the entire circuit twice. Looking forward to it...

OK... so I shirked on my workout for Monday. I was just running rampant that night with so many different things, and Tuesday evening was just as bad. Weather-permitting, I'll be in the gym tonight. Or maybe I ought to push this all back one week, and start fresh next Monday. *sigh* I dunno. Initial weigh in & photo coming shortly...

Emotional Eating

Yep... had to get this post in before I officially weigh in for the first time and get started with this thing. And this is going to be some REAL TALK.

Emotional Eating. According to WebMD, it's "eating to feed a feeling and not a growling stomach". For the rest of this article, click here.

Yes... I'm a huge victim of this. And what's wierd is... sometimes I actually feel the ability to make the choice not to do it beforehand. I mean... not to say we don't already have the choice to not do it... but I'll be staring a second hamburger, a 4th slice of pizza, a 3rd helping of macaroni & cheese... and I'll sigh and say "what the hell" and eat it anyway.

This week especially has been bad for me. Had a couple of really bad days at work, and bombarded myself with pizza twice this week. My once-coveted 306 lbs. (scale reading from Tuesday evening) ballooned to 315 lbs. (scale reading Friday night). Scale reading from this morning was 311 lbs. You really shouldn't weigh yourself this often, but I'm just sharing to give you an example of what this has done to me.

Emotional eating has been a big factor in why past diet plans have failed for me. Something sets me off, I shovel food down my throat, and I feel even more defeated than before I began eating, and decide to give up. Over the past 4 years, my weight has fluctuated up and down between 289 lbs. and 330 lbs. NOT COOL AT ALL. My blood pressure and cholesterol levels have suffered because of this. Praise God that I don't have to take medication to keep those levels in check, but my doctor has told me in the past that I have borderline hypertension and I need to watch my sodium intake.

One of the things most people will tell you is that you can't give up - if you slip up, you can't wallow in it. So, this post is serving two purposes - (1) to give readers a little insight into what someone goes through when they let themselves fall victim to emotional eating, and (2) give me a little boost to not give up before I began. I want to look at this post 2 months from now (and possibly 15-20 lbs. lighter) and bask in the glow of the fact that I had this moment and got myself through it and didn't give up. I think we need that.

Yeah, I had a couple of bad days this week. Yeah, I let my emotions drive me toward pizza in a big way - once, I ate a whole large pizza from Papa John's, and last night I went to a pizza buffet. SO WHAT? I know I shouldn't do it. But here's the rub - it's OK. It has happened. I'm going to concentrate on the future. I'm going to keep my mind on my first weigh-in tomorrow. I'm going to look forward to my first workout on Monday evening. That's my little goal right now, on the way to the big goal. Getting through Monday's workout.

I feel much better after posting this.

So I went to the gym last night... decided to take the LL Cool J's Platinum Workout book with me and plan my first 2 weeks of workouts. For the first 2 weeks of the BRONZE Phase, you're only doing cardio and circuit training. So I took each body part, in order listed in the book, and found a circuit machine exercise to do. I got myself acclimated on each machine and found the optimum weight I should be using for that exercise. That went VERY well. A guy even offere to help me on one of the machines - it was one of those where you switch one lever and it goes from a seated press to a seated row... wierd stuff but cool. *LOL*

Went to the grocery store afterward and got some healthy stuff...

Today was just a BAD day all around. Left my lunch at home, almost lost my keys, got berated by my boss... ugh. I'm just looking forward to going home and napping before choir rehearsal tonight. Maybe after choir rehearsal, I'll get 30 minutes of cardio in, and then go home and go to bed. Yeah... that sounds like a decent plan.