Monday, March 31, 2008

Monday Morning Bike Ride 3

Current Weight: 222lbs
Body Fat: 40.1%

This is my third Monday in a row riding my bike to work. I made it in 55 minutes, we'll see how the homeward commute goes later today.

Home in 69 minutes, making it a 62 minute average.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Goal Reaffirmation

Current Weight: 222lbs
Body Fat: 37.4%

Having a written goal is an important part of achieving it. Writing your goal down assists you in visualizing it, seeing the success you want to achieve, and working toward achieving it. As I mentioned before, goals should be specific and achievable.

A common problem with most goals are they are only a single, long term goal. This can become discouraging, and make it harder to see the progress you are making toward that goal. To prevent this issue, take your long term goal and break it down into smaller steps. This gives you intermediate goals you can achieve and helps you see the steps you are taking.

An important part of goal setting is defining a time limit. A goal without a time limit is only a wish. Goals are things we WILL accomplish.

My Goals are:

  • Get below 20% body fat by January 1
    • Drop 2% body fat each month for the next 10 months
  • Perform 12 pullups without assistance or kip by October 1
    • Perform 2 pullups without assistance or kip by May 1
    • Perform 4 pullups without assistance or kip by June 1
    • Perform 6 pullups without assistance or kip by July 1
    • Perform 8 pullups without assistance or kip by August 1
    • Perform 10 pullups without assistance or kip by September 1
  • Make my 12 mile work commute on bike (both ways) within 45 minutes by January 1
    • Make 12 mile commute within 55 minutes by June 1
    • Make 12 mile commute within 50 minutes by September 1

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Smaller Plates

Current Weight: 223lbs
Body Fat: 38.4%

It has been shown that by eating food from a small plate, people feel fuller than if they ate the exact same amount of food from a larger plate. With a larger plate, especially at a buffet, we also have the tendency to try to fill every inch of the plate, causing us to eat too much.

So instead of grabbing the largest plate you can and piling on the food, find a normal sized plate, and eat a normal serving size.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

The Scales

Current Weight: 220lbs
Body Fat: 38.7%

I did it. I broke free of the stigma of the scales and am going to use it only as an additional measuring tool. I weighed myself today with the attitude of "so what?" So what if I've gained weight. So what if I've gained fat. I expected to since I didn't do anything for almost 6 months, and now I can use the scales to measure my progress once again.

Wednesday's Workout:

Assisted Dips: 12r at lvl 11 (weight unknown)
Assisted Pullups: 12r at lvl 15
Seated Chest Press: 12r at 115lbs
Seated Overhead Press: 12r at 115lbs
Cable Crossovers: 12r at lvl 7 (weight unknown)
Standing Calf Raises: 12r at 81lbs
Seated Flys: 12r at 94lbs
Seated Rows: 12r at 144lbs
Camber Curls: 12r at 55lbs

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Paul McKenna: I Can Make You Thin!

My wife and I recorded "I Can Make You Thin!" on TLC with our DVR last Sunday and finally had a chance to watch it. The show is based on Paul McKenna's book of the same name. Paul's rules make sense, and reiterate a few things I've said previously. His 4 golden rules are:

  1. When you are hungry, eat.
  2. Eat what you want.
  3. Eat consciously.
  4. When you feel full, stop.
First, when we starve ourselves, our metabolism slows down, saving precious energy and storing fat for later. When we feel physically hungry, as opposed to emotionally hungry, we should eat, so our body knows food is available and our metabolism can maintain burning calories. Paul also revealed a very important weight loss tip: if you think you are hungry, you might simply be dehydrated. It seems that 75% of the time we think it’s hunger, it’s actually thirst. McKenna recommends drinking one glass of water and waiting to see if the hunger passes, common to the "15 minute" trick I mentioned previously.

Second, appetite only increases in the absence of the thing we desire. If we eat the foods we have cravings for, the cravings go away. If we deny ourselves that which we want, we only want it more, and will most likely binge on it when we get it. The foods we desire, however, will change when we follow rule 3.

Eating consciously means to eat slowly and deliberately. Don't multitask while you are eating, focus on the food. Take small bites and enjoy each bite of food. Place your silverware down between bites and relax, savoring the flavors of the food. Instead of getting a rush from quickly eating foods high in sugar, you will begin to actually taste them and find you no longer crave some of the processed garbage you used to like.

Despite what your mother told you, don't feel guilty for not cleaning your plate. Better for the unused food to go into the trash than to your hips and thighs. Eating to excess is one of the largest causes of weight gain. It is far easier to guiltily consume 500 calories than it is to burn it off afterward, you will always be under the control of the calorie equation.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Monday Morning Bike Ride

As with last week, the ride in to work was nice, and it seemed easier to maintain my peddling pace. I got there in 55 minutes.

The ride home was hot, 85 degrees when I started at 5:00pm, and I was foolish enough to forget a water bottle. I made it home in 60 minutes.

Now my coccyx hurts. My bike seat is well padded, spring based, and has a gel cover. The middle of the seat has a crevice so it appears less pressure is put on the base of the spine, but I still felt it all day at work and at night tonight.

Friday, March 21, 2008

10x3 or 12x1

I previously researched, and posted, about how many sets and repetitions one should use when working out. I started my workout routine in February based on what I discovered and used 1 set of 12 repetitions to muscle fatigue.

While this appeared efficient, and initially saw gains, I'm not seeing gains now. Today I decided to try the 10x3 approach to see how different it would feel. Of course, I thought I wouldn't be able to use the same weight for the 10x3 as I used for the 12x1. It appears I've been short-changing myself and not pushing as hard as I should. For every exercise except assisted pullups I used the exact same weight as I used previously.

Friday's Workout:

Assisted Dips: 10x3 at lvl 12 (weight unknown)
Assisted Pullups: 10x3 at lvl 16
Seated Chest Press: 10x3 at 110lbs
Seated Overhead Press: 10x3 at 110lbs
Cable Crossovers: 10x3 at lvl 6.5 (weight unknown)
Standing Calf Raises: 10x3 at 75lbs
Seated Flys: 10x3 at 87.5lbs
Seated Rows: 10x3 at 137.5lbs
Camber Curls: 10x3 at 50lbs

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Maunday Thursday

Today is Maunday Thursday, so no workout tonight.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Discouragement and a Reboot

Last winter I got seriously discouraged due to a plateau. I couldn't break 213, and my weight kept going up and down around there. I took a break from measuring, took a break from Taekwondo, and from all other exercise. I gained a few pounds in the process. I should have at least maintained what I was doing to hold the current weight, now I feel like I have to start all over again and it makes it harder than when I initially started.

Regardless, in February of this year (2008) I enrolled in the local YMCA and started a weight lifting regimen. The choice of exercises right now are to build the muscles I want to focus on, my perceived weak spots. By gaining lean muscle mass I hope to increase my metabolism and further my long term fat loss goal. I'll be back-posting the old workouts as I get time, as well as future workouts and additional informative articles.

In addition to the exercises I'm doing at the Y, I'm also starting to ride my bike to work irregularly. It's a 12 mile trek 1 way and my bike is a mountain bike (Trek 4100 Alpha), not really designed for street riding, but it does the job. I'll be discussing that too.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Tuesday Workout

The week has already started yesterday with my bike ride, such as it was, and my workout for this week has no gains. My son has started Baseball and practice is on Tuesday and Thursday nights, so we'll be working out after practice, if it doesn't go too late.

Current progress:
Tuesday's Workout:

Assisted Dips: 12r at lvl 12 (weight unknown)
Assisted Pullups: 12r at lvl 15
Seated Chest Press: 12r at 110lbs
Seated Overhead Press: 12r at 110lbs
Cable Crossovers: 12r at lvl 6.5 (weight unknown)
Standing Calf Raises: 12r at 69lbs
Seated Flys: 12r at 87.5lbs
Seated Rows: 12r at 137.5lbs
Camber Curls: 12r at 50lbs

Monday, March 17, 2008

Bicycle Commuting

The City of Tucson is trying to promote riding your bike to work. You'd think they'd have employees (of which I am one) set the example by giving them incentives or something. Budgets being tight, I can see where the problem may be, but for my health, and cost savings, I'm going to give it a try anyway. I'll start one day a week, and see how it goes, especially as the weather changes into the Summer.

My path is around Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, down Golf Links road then all the way down Aviation Parkway to the Public Works building downtown. The map of the route isn't exact due to the nature of bike lanes and the Snake Bridge, but it's close. It's about 12 miles each way. At 6:30 in the morning the ride is nice and cool (for now), but the ride home at 5:00pm at 80 degrees isn't going to be as nice.

So today I took my bike, a 3 year old Trek 4100 Alpha mountain bike, and rode it to work. The rear tire was flat, but I had self-sealing tires so I pumped it up and was ready to go. Halfway to work the tire went flat again. It appears that sitting for a year didn't keep the self-sealing goop in good condition. I pumped the bike up again and almost made it to work before it was flat again. I didn't ride home on it because I didn't feel like pumping the tire on the way so I called my wife to pick me up.

I made the trip in about 60 minutes, so that's an average of 5 minute mile. For my first bike ride in years, and my first ever long distance bike ride, I don't feel I did too badly.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

End of the Sixth Week

Another week come and gone. Increases are still being made, but they appear quiet slow. I'd make a change, but I'm going to be starting to ride my bike to work Monday, so we'll see how that pans out.

Saturday's Workout:

Assisted Dips: 12r at lvl 12 (weight unknown)
Assisted Pullups: 12r at lvl 15
Seated Chest Press: 12r at 110lbs
Seated Overhead Press: 12r at 110lbs
Cable Crossovers: 12r at lvl 6.5 (weight unknown)
Standing Calf Raises: 12r at 69lbs
Seated Flys: 12r at 87.5lbs
Seated Rows: 12r at 137.5lbs
Camber Curls: 12r at 50lbs

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Another Thursday

Just another Thursday workout.

Thursday's Workout:

Assisted Dips: 12r at lvl 12 (weight unknown)
Assisted Pullups: 12r at lvl 15
Seated Chest Press: 12r at 110lbs
Seated Overhead Press: 12r at 110lbs
Cable Crossovers: 12r at lvl 6.5 (weight unknown)
Standing Calf Raises: 12r at 69lbs
Seated Flys: 12r at 87.5lbs
Seated Rows: 12r at 137.5lbs
Camber Curls: 12r at 50lbs

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Cutting Exercises

I want to focus more on my upper body and feel my bubble-butt doesn't need expansion. However, with the gluteous maximus being the largest muscle in the body, I'm not sure I should remove the directed exercises. We'll try it and see, it's not like I'm weighing myself.

Wednesday's Workout:

Assisted Dips: 12r at lvl 12 (weight unknown)
Assisted Pullups: 12r at lvl 15
Seated Chest Press: 12r at 110lbs
Seated Overhead Press: 12r at 110lbs
Cable Crossovers: 12r at lvl 6.5 (weight unknown)
Standing Calf Raises: 12r at 69lbs
Seated Flys: 12r at 87.5lbs
Seated Rows: 12r at 137.5lbs
Camber Curls: 12r at 50lbs

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Workout Changes

I'm adding Camber Curls to my workout routine to help increase arm strength. Camber curls are arm curls with your upper arm resting on a padded frame, focusing all work on the Biceps.

Current Progress:Tuesday's Workout:

Assisted Dips: 12r at lvl 12 (weight unknown)
Assisted Pullups: 12r at lvl 15
Seated Chest Press: 12r at 110lbs
Seated Overhead Press: 12r at 110lbs
Cable Crossovers: 12r at lvl 6 (weight unknown)
Seated Leg Press: 12r at 195lbs
Standing Calf Raises: 12r at 69lbs
Glute Extensions: 12r at 87.5lbs (each leg)
Seated Flys: 12r at 87.5lbs
Seated Rows: 12r at 137.5lbs
Camber Curls: 12r at 50lbs

Saturday, March 8, 2008

End of the Fifth Week

Another week come and gone and I'm still avoiding the scales...

Saturday's Workout:

Assisted Dips: 12r at lvl 12 (weight unknown)
Assisted Pullups: 12r at lvl 15
Seated Chest Press: 12r at 110lbs
Seated Overhead Press: 12r at 110lbs
Cable Crossovers: 12r at lvl 6 (weight unknown)
Seated Leg Press: 12r at 195lbs
Standing Calf Raises: 12r at 69lbs
Glute Extensions: 12r at 87.5lbs (each leg)
Seated Flys: 12r at 87.5lbs
Seated Rows: 12r at 137.5lbs

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Too Much?

It seems I won't have a chance to work out Thursday, so I'm making up for it today. Or am I? Working out the same muscle groups 3 days in a row without a day off may work, or it may over-stress those muscles and joints giving a diminished return, with increased risk of injury. I guess we'll see.

Wednesday's Workout:

Assisted Dips: 12r at lvl 12 (weight unknown)
Assisted Pullups: 12r at lvl 15
Seated Chest Press: 12r at 100lbs
Seated Overhead Press: 12r at 90lbs
Cable Crossovers: 12r at lvl 6 (weight unknown)
Seated Leg Press: 12r at 195lbs
Standing Calf Raises: 12r at 62.5lbs
Glute Extensions: 12r at 87.5lbs (each leg)
Seated Flys: 12r at 87.5lbs
Seated Rows: 12r at 137.5lbs

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Week Five

Tuesday's Workout:

Assisted Dips: 12r at lvl 12 (weight unknown)
Assisted Pullups: 12r at lvl 15
Seated Chest Press: 12r at 90lbs
Seated Overhead Press: 12r at 90lbs
Cable Crossovers: 12r at lvl 6 (weight unknown)
Seated Leg Press: 12r at 195lbs
Standing Calf Raises: 12r at 62.5lbs
Glute Extensions: 12r at 87.5lbs (each leg)
Seated Flys: 12r at 87.5lbs
Seated Rows: 12r at 137.5lbs

Monday, March 3, 2008

Missed Day Makeup

I missed working out this weekend so I'm seeing if I can just make it up today. When working out you need to give your body enough rest so it can rebuild, but I'm not a power-lifter and don't think 2 consecutive days should be too bad.

The below image is a chart of my current progress:Monday's Workout:

Assisted Dips: 12r at lvl 12 (weight unknown)
Assisted Pullups: 12r at lvl 15
Seated Chest Press: 12r at 90lbs
Seated Overhead Press: 12r at 90lbs
Cable Crossovers: 12r at lvl 6 (weight unknown)
Seated Leg Press: 12r at 195lbs
Standing Calf Raises: 12r at 62.5lbs
Glute Extensions: 12r at 87.5lbs (each leg)
Seated Flys: 12r at 87.5lbs
Seated Rows: 12r at 137.5lbs