BT2k9

Ok I fell off the train again (holidays) and now it’s 2009 and here I am staring back at another year gone by. This time, though, this past year has been sprinkled with various attempts at losing this fat that I’m carrying around. This is the first time in my life that I can say that throughout an entire year, if not consecutively, I’ve worked on a fitness goal. I think that’s something to be proud of.

What I don’t want to do is beat myself up for the goals that I haven’t reached, the things I haven’t done, or anything like that. Instead, I’d like to give myself an honest assessment at where I can improve, and what I can do to make myself stay consistent and to become disciplined.

Those are definitely my weakest areas, especially concerning diet. I don’t feel as though my workout consistency is bad, just my diet consistency, and keeping up with the cooking and preparation that goes into a healthy meal. I look back and I can see all of the time I spent doing various fun activities, which are important don’t get me wrong, but a bit of re-allocation could have freed up more time to devote to my meals.

So, step 1: devote more time to meal planning and preparation. This will now be my primary focus before any other fitness concern.

I’ve also had to deal with what has now become perpetual pain / discomfort in my right hip, and to a much lesser extent, my left hip as well. I think that a combination of factors contributed to this injury, exacerbated by the intensity of the heavy weights I was lifting on my leg nights. I just don’t think my joints can handle that stress anymore.

Step 2: really focus on keeping my legs as strong and resilient as possible through stretches and low-impact exercises.

Tying in to that issue with my joints is an overall feeling that my joints throughout my body are on the fragile side. Generally most of my aches and pains can be traced to my joints. What I want to do is look up information on how to strengthen bones and joints through natural means like exercises and foods.

Step 3: keep my general health in mind and focus on strengthening my joints.

Not a day has gone by this year that I haven’t thought about my fat-loss goal and what I need to be doing to reach that goal. I’ve discovered ways to psyche myself out, to keep myself motivated, to really listen to my body and know when I’m doing harm rather than just achieving hypertrophy.

Really, though, the biggest motivation for me continues to be the way I feel when I see myself in the mirror. Don’t get me wrong - I don’t think I’m hideous or anything like that, but I do feel that there is lots of room for improvement and in my life overall, improving myself is of paramount concern. It also helps to know that there are good folks here rooting for me and I appreciate everyone who has given me kicks in the tush, kind words, and encouragement - directly or indirectly. It means a lot to me that complete strangers can care so much about a fat dude like me.

Ok - enough with the gabbing. Let’s get to work!

This week I really need to get to the grocery store, and I’m gonna be honest again - I was really bad these past couple weeks with the holidays and all the days off from work. This doesn’t signal a return to bad eating habits, though. I’m very ready to get back to my diet and once-and-for-all lose the fat.

I’m gonna be hitting the gym next week for my weights. This week I’m gonna focus on stretches and getting my diet back on track.

I messed up on Wednesday and didn’t end up doing my Callanetics session, but I got in a really good workout tonight and an awesome cardio session.

I’m sorry to say my hip hasn’t gotten any better and the pain has been really bad lately in the morning with the very cold weather. I haven’t gotten an appointment for the doctor yet, but I’m honestly not sure they’ll be able to help me at all. I fear that my hip will get worse and worse as I get older, and eventually it’ll be so debilitating that I won’t even be able to walk around normally.

But that’s not the case yet, and I’m grateful that I can do any kind of fitness at all - I don’t ever want to get any heavier than I am right now. I see these morbidly obese people all the time and I never want that to be me, I’d rather die.

Anyhow.

Diet’s been going pretty good. I’m just about out of food here at the house, but I’ve been doing pretty good. I had some pizza on Tuesday night, but it wasn’t too bad, and I didn’t pig out. Getting enough protein seems to be a recurring issue - I’m always trying to find protein to add to a meal that isn’t chicken or beef. I like chicken and beef, but they get old after awhile - you can only cook them so many ways.

Tomorrow is back night. I’m very glad the weekend is here.

Ok, my hip was really bothering me this morning, so that’s bad news, but the good news is I had pretty good workout last night, though I was barely able to finish my deadlifts and I skipped my tri portion of the workout again.

Today and tomorrow night are my nights off and I have some things to take care of at home, so a couple nights off will be good. I’m gonna make sure to get lots of rest tonight and tomorrow night so I’m nice and energized by Wednesday.

That’s pretty much it. Diet’s been good, and I’m definitely gonna need to hit up the grocery story this weekend. I may not update the blog again until Wednesday or Thursday after my first workout for the week.

Great workout last night. I did a Callanetics session before I headed to the gym and this session was a bit tougher than last nights, but I got it done. My hip was a little achey afterwards when I was at the gym, but nothing too bad. This morning getting up there’s a bit of pain, but nothing like the usual amount.

So today is back day and the dreaded deadlifts. I think I’m gonna do the same thing I did yesterday - do a Callentics session then head over and bust out my weight workout and finish up with 30 minutes of cardio.

Diet’s been good. Weekends are a little tougher for me because I get real bad about not eating frequently throughout the day, but I’ve been on top of that so far. We’ll see what happens.

I’m gonna measure tomorrow since Monday and Tuesday are my days off. I don’t like going to the gym those nights because they’re especially packed. So measurements tomorrow, then Wednesday begins week 4.

Last night went well. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - Callanetics is an amazing program. I woke up this morning, and while I still had some pain in my hip, it’s 100% better than it usually is when I first get up.

I think I’ll do another session tonight before I head to the gym for another front upper body workout.

That’s pretty much it for now. Diet’s been going well, but I’m not gonna be able to pick up a scale this week after all (rent!), so I’ll just measure with the tape for now and get a scale next week.

Good workout last night, but them deadlifts murder my energy. They drained me so thoroughly that I wound up skipping both my triceps exercises, but it’s not a huge deal because I’m not terribly concerned about my tris losing mass.

I didn’t do cardio, and my friend never showed up to do Callanetics, so that was a bust. Tonight is leg night so I’ll be doing Callanetics when I get home.

Ok, great workout tonight. Not much else to report, really. My hip wasn’t bothering me at all during the workout itself. After around 11 or so, it stops hurting so that’s encouraging. I think once it gets warmed up, I’m good to go for the day.

Tomorrow is back day. My friend is doing the Callanetics program with me, so I may end up doing Callanetics instead of cardio.

Diet was good today, just finishing up my last meal now and then gonna hit the sack. This weekend I’m gonna pick up a scale and get my measurements done - I’ve been real lax about that, and I don’t have any clue if I’m actually making progress or spinning my wheels.

Off to bed with me!

Ok, so there’s something going on with my right hip because I’m feeling pain fairly often, especially after getting up from sleep. I also feel a bit of tingling when my leg is extended at certain lengths and angles. I’m definitely going to see the doctor as soon as I can schedule an appointment. As such, I’ve decided for now, once again if you’ve been following my story long enough, to forgo weight training my legs in favor of the Callanetics stretching program. My joints just don’t seem to be able to handle that amount of stress.

I didn’t actually get to the gym at all last week, primarily due to the reasons listed above. I pretty much rode out the pain and tried not to make it worse, which I definitely think would have been the case if I’d done my normal workouts. This week I’m going to head back to the gym for my upper body and cardio, but leg nights will be Callanetics only.

I’m still on this train and I’m fairly certain that I won’t hit my goal, but I’m satisfied that I’m ready to go the long haul.

It’s been a bit since I updated, but I’ve just been busy. I’ll be getting in a full post by Monday or Tuesday. I’m still on the train!

Had a good workout last night, though I really had to push myself to finish up my cardio. I got about halfway through and just wanted to quit, but I didn’t - I finished my whole 30 minutes.

My legs and hip were killing me yesterday and I’m thinking about going back to the doctor for my hip - I’m starting to get tingling in my feet and tingling when I am walking forward on my right leg. I woke up with no pain this morning, though, so that was a nice change from the norm lately.

I have to admit that my diet suffered a bit yesterday - I wasn’t diligent about spacing my meals throughout the day and only ate about 3 total meals, so I want to be careful and not repeat that.

Today I’m gonna finish the last workout from last week, then focus on Callanetics for the next few days with my weights starting up again on Wed. evening.