99 Problems’s BodyBlog

Well today I am driving back home for the holidays.  I am really excited to get back to see my friends and family.  Not excited about the drive.  I know tomorrow I am going to be beat but I want to get up early and workout to get myself on the right track.  Thank you to everyone who left messages after yesterdays blog. 

Today has been the most motivating day I have had in years.  I got up this morning and got in some good cardio.  I did the elliptical as always and then jumped on the treadmill and did some interval training.  I usually wimp out of the intervals but today I stuck to it.  After that I got my bodyfat tested and I have dropped again to 23.1%.  I know a lot of people on this site hover around the 7-10% range so this may not seem like much but for me it means I’m back on track.  When I started just 4 weeks ago I was at 28.6%.  This is also significant because I have not lost a lot of weight…232 to 227 (5lbs).  Not to further bore you or insult your intellegence but this means I have lost about 14lbs of fat and gained about 9lbs of muscle.  I could not be happier. 

After this good morning I got 3 complements at work today from different co-workers.  Seriously nothing is better than that.  I know I still have a long way to go but now I know it’s working.  I am going to continue to push myself and stick to my goals. 

Now I am going back home for the next 2 weeks and I know I am going to have enormus amounts of pressure to hang out with friends and family which usually includes excessive amounts of alcohol.  This will not happen this time.  I am going to visit and have fun but I am committed to straying on track.  Instead of giving in I want to use the 2 weeks to drop 3% more bodyfat.  That would put me under 20% and I know that is attainable.  Thanks for everyone that have sent comments or support. 

Well I had a good leg day today.  Last week I felt very week mostly in my low back so I kept it really light.  Today I squated 185 for 3 sets of 10 and it felt good.  I also out up 600 for 6 reps on the leg press.  Overall I feel much stronger and my legs are recovering faster.  I am going to keep increasing weight on my squats and hopefully incorporate deadlifts sometime soon.  In the past I have got very good results out of lunges but I am still a ways away from doing those (they kill). 

I got in a good 40 minutes of cardio this morning and ate clean today.  My weight also dropped a bit so I guess today is pretty good.  I want to get down to 225 this week and hopefully I’m on my way. 

Well if you look at last weeks goals my week really sucked.  I did not reach any of my goals that I listed for the week. I’m pretty mad at myself for that because most of the goals were easy to hit I just had to do it.  I have lised next to my goals what I actually did.   

Here are my goals for the week of 12/9.

1. Weight 225lbs (going to keep that up there until I hit it) ……..Went from 230 to 228

2. Morning cardio 4 days……………Only did 3 days of morning Cardio (LAZY!)

3. Workout Abs 3 times……………..Did no ab work (THIS HAS TO CHANGE)

4. 1 mile run 3 times this week at night………..Did not run any night (Again Lazy)

Even though I didn’t hit my goals I did eat fairly clean (minus my dreaded Thursday of course).  I also got my workouts in which was good and even hit some new personal high’s.  I also lost an inch off my waist.  I guess I have mixed emotions about the week.  I didn’t hit any goals but at least I had a plan and made some progress through a very difficult week.  This week should be much better…..and here are my goals.

1.  Weigh 225 or less (Again this is staying up here until I hit it)

2.  Morning Cardio 4 time sthis week.

3.  Ab work at least 2 days this week.

4.  Lose 1" off my waist (that would be 40")

I will reach my goals this week!!!!

OK well I hate to admit but I did not do very good on my trip.  I did not do my cardio Thursday morning and I did not do cardio on Thursday night or Friday either.  I did have some beers at dinner on Thursday and it seems like every Thursday I break down and give into my cravings.  It sucks but I will have to find a way to get past that. 

The good news is that I got back on track today and had a VERY good chest day.  I put up 225 for 10 reps and then got 245 for 5 reps.  It felt great and got me very motivated.  Now that I have finally benched 225 for 10 reps my next goal is to get 250 for 10 reps. 

Even though I am losing weight slowly I am still keeping my strength up and I guess that is a pretty good sign.  I am also noticing some changes in my appearance.  Now I just need to kick up the cardio just a little bit. 

Well I’m offically half way through a rough week.  As I have posted earlier this week is full of customer meetings and travel.  So far so good.  I have got my workouts in and now the biggest challenge which is two days out of town.  This is what ALWAYS gets me off track.  This time is going to be different.  I am going to workout tomorrow morning before I fly out and I am going to watch myself tomorrow at dinner with no alcohol.  I will get at least 30 minutes cardio in tomorrow evening and at least 30 minutes friday morning at the hotel.  Friday is suppose to be my day off working out but I can use it for cardio.  I am not going to fail on this trip!!!!

Tonight I worked out arms and calves and got a good workout in.  My arms were pumped after the workout which was good but I think I may need to start going for some higher reps.  I have a good amount of size but I would like to see some more definition.  That’s all I got for tonight.

Well I was nervous about today because I had a couple of cusotmer meetings and a dinner with a customer.  Dinner with customers means drinking, eating bad and skipping a workout.  This also usually derails me for at least 2 days and considering I meet with customers for dinner just about every week it is something I have to focus on.  Yesterday as I stated in my blog I was going to hit the weights in the morning which I hate to do and not drink at dinner.  Well I’m happy to report that I stuck to my plan.  I know it may seem like a minor victory but I’m pretty damn happy about it. 

So this morning I worked out shoulders and traps and didn’t notice too much of a drop in strength.  I got in all my exercises and matched last weeks night time shoulder workout.  The best part of the workout is when I was done I looked in the mirror and my upper body looked ripped (well at least for me).  I always look leaner in the morning but with a workout on top of that it really gave me a boost to the self esteem.  I may be just imagining things but it seems like this is the week that things are really coming together.  Weight is dropping and I am feeling really good.  This is a very challenging week due to my work schedule but I know if I can get through this week it is smooth sailing the rest of the way out.

I think I put leg day on a Mondays just to make sure that my week couldn’t get any worse.  Going back to work is never fun and neither is working out legs.  Actually it works well because I get my most exhausting workout done first and I’m always very motivated at the beginning of the week.  I found when I schedule legs later in the week something always seems to come up.  OK after that rant I will get on with things.

I woke up this morning at 5am and got into the gym for some morning cardio.  I got in 30 really good minutes on the elliptical.  Tonight I went into the gym and got my leg workout in.   I felt very tight in my low back and hamstrings so my squats really suffered.  Instead of pushing it I listened to my body and just went light on squats and tried to ramp up the rest of my exercises. 

I ate clean today even though I had a customer meeting.  I scheduled my meals yesterday but didn’t realize how packed my schedule was this week with customer visits.  So I am altering my eating plan to work with my schedule.  I have dinner out tomorrow and Thursday night and a lunch on Wednesday.  I need to make sure that I eat clean and more importantly for me do not have drinks with dinner like normal. 

Tomorrow I am going to workout in the morning and do my cardio after dinner.  Hopefully I can stick to my plan.  Scratch that……I WILL STICK TO MY PLAN!

Today was a good end to the weekend.  I decided to play some golf since it was 75 degrees here today.  I had an 11am tee time so I had some work to do to get in my workout.  I woke up at 7am and did some laundry and cardio at the same time.  I got in a good 30 minutes on the treadmill.  After laundry I got to the gym when it opened at 9am for back and some calves.  I’m not going to lie I rushed through the workout but got it all in and worked up a great sweat.  It was intresting how much more intense the workout was when cramming into 55 minutes.  The shorter rest times made it feel more like cardio. 

Anyway my week was pretty solid this week.  Here are my goals for last week in review.

1.  Morning Cardio 4 days….Completed

2.  Ab work 3 days….. No only 1 day of ab work

3.  Forearm and low back workout….Completed

4.  1" off waist…..Completed

5.  Weigh 225lbs…..not reached 230.

Here are my goals for the week of 12/9.

1.  Weight 225lbs (going to keep that up there until I hit it)

2.  Morning cardio 4 days.

3.  Workout Abs 3 times

4.  1 mile run 3 times this week at night

Much anticipated results will be posted next Sunday.  HA!

OK before I get into my day I want to know if anyone has any ideas on the best way to take pictures of yourself.  I know a lot of people use a mirror and I’ve tried that but having issues getting a good shot. 

Alright on to my day.  Today was chest day and I got in a great workout.  I know it’s not all about weight but I felt very strong and can tell I’m back in the game.  It is my 3rd chest workout since I have got serious again and I put up 225 for 7 good reps today.  I also did 80lb incline dumbells for 10 reps.  Next week I want to get 225 for 10 reps on the bench and 90 lb dumbells for 8-10.  I can tell my clothes are fitting bettwe and I’m losing inches off my waist and in my face.  I’m pretty happy about that.  Hopefully I’m under 220 by Christmas.