BT2k9

My workouts have been completely off track for the past couple months now due to several issues, not the least of which is gas prices. I also tweaked my shoulder a bit and it’s better now, so I’m gonna keep a close eye on it.

This fat is perplexing me again, and daily I look at it and am amazed at how gross it looks and feels. I’m at the point now where it’s that stubborn kind of fat that will take real dedication to destroy, but this is it… this is back to the grindstone for me. The question is, will I keep making the same mistakes I made during my last few cycles, or will I grow beyond those and finally reach my goal?

My goal is to lose at least 40 pounds of fat by my 30th birthday, which is on the 8th of October. So I’ve got about 2 months to reach that goal… I know that I can do it. I’m making sacrifices of other things in order to make sure I can get to the gym when I need to, so I’m not leaving myself any room for excuses this time.

Secondary goals: take all meals with me each day to work; never eat out; no more unhealthy snacks; conquer my sweet tooth; track all carb and protein goals very closely; stop being so damn lazy; start posting my workouts and my blog daily again for accountability.

So that’s what’s up.

So not much from me these past couple weeks. Basically I haven’t been able to get to the gym at all due to myriad reasons, but I’ve still been following the diet and doing my stretches at home. I’m not noticing any gains.

This week I’m gonna make a big push to get back into the gym for my weight training and start doing cardio regularly again.

This week I’ve been a bit behind so I’m gonna spend my off days this week playing catch up. It’s supposed to be week 4 of my cycle starting today, but I’ve still got 2 workouts to finish from week 3. It’s not a huge deal, and I knew coming into this 5-day plan that this kind of stuff may happen, so I’m just gonna roll with it and not sweat it too much.

Otherwise, nothing significant to report. Just been trying to stay consistent with everything. I’ve been doing a good job of getting my stretches in before all my workouts and it’s made a huge difference, especially on leg night. I can really push my legs again now that I’ve found a system that works without giving me cramps or aggravating current conditions.

My right shoulder still had a couple pangs during this last workout, so I’m gonna take it easy on my next shoulder day.

Diet’s been ok. I’ve gotta get to the grocery store soon, but I haven’t been straying too far from my goals for each meal.

Whew… already halfway done with this cycle. Man time flies.

Doing good this week. I’ve had a good rhythm going with my workouts. I get home, and depending on which workout night it is, I do my short stretching program or my longer one. The longer one is better for leg nights, while the other one is good as a total-body workout / warmup.

My right shoulder may have been tweaked a bit when I started up again because I’d get some pain during shoulder press and pec decks. It seems to be abating, and it wasn’t debilitating so I’m not worried about it affecting my workouts significantly.

Else, diet’s been good. I’ve really focused on watching my carb intake throughout the day and making sure I get enough protein. My multivitamin has been used up so I need to order more of those.

I’ve noticed a big difference in my fat levels. I’m gonna measure at the start of next week and see where I’m at but my clothes are definitely loosening up and I feel like a lot more people are seeing the effects. One night I was in the gym and one of the regulars came up and said he was glad to see me again; I pretty much keep to myself at the gym and don’t really speak to anyone, so it was quite surprising when this happened. For those who’ve been following my blog, it’s the guy who was going around giving everyone high-fives after his sets on a Saturday a few months ago - I’d said he brought great positive energy to the place, and it’s still true. (He also deadlifts about 8 45# plates…). I had no idea this guy’s been rooting for me all this time and it’s definitely an odd experience for myself.

Generally, though, I’m just noticing a lot more glances and more attention; it’s a bit uncomfortable for me, to be honest. I’ve never had much self confidence and I tend to wilt under this kind of scrutiny, so time will tell how I’m gonna deal with it. Social interaction has never been my strong suit.

Had a really great workout tonight. Got home, did my full stretch program and that was just the ticket for my legs tonight. I had absolutely NO issues with my weights tonight for all my leg exercises. Quite in fact, this is probably my best leg workout ever.

I’m very happy that I can finally start making progress on my legs again. The lack of the stress of leg weight training has taken its toll on my overall progress; I can already feel a difference in my overall fitness level now that I’ve re-incorporated that segment.

I’m looking forward to this cycle even more now than before.

Last week I started with the 5-day plan - things went really well.

I had to move a couple workouts around, but it really wasn’t a big deal at all. The only issue so far seems to be making sure I get to the gym in time not to feel rushed.

I’m very very happy to say that my hip hasn’t been hurting at all despite getting back to my leg workout. My first night I really focused on keeping my legs nice and warmed up and stretched real good between every set, especially during leg curls. My hamstrings have always been a problem for me; when I’ve lifted in the past, they’ve cramped up and the muscle would contract so tightly I thought a tendon would snap or something. It’s been so bad before that I literally have had to stand there and massage the leg and hope that nothing snapped before the muscle would release. I’ve been told it was probably a vitamin deficiency of some sort so the multi seems to be taking care of that end. Still… I felt a twinge last week and I don’t want anything to hamper this cycle.

Diet’s been pretty good. Honestly, my current food intake seems to match the new 5-day plan very well. I’ve noticed a loss in fat already and I’m happy to see that there is finally forward progress again. I don’t think my 3-day plan was doing the trick anymore.

So I’m still in this thing for the long haul; I think about my diet and my training every day and strive to make sure I meet all my goals. Summer’s here already and I’m not quite where I wanted to be, but I’ve definitely come a long way.

I’ll update again when I get a chance. I’ll be logging all my workouts soon; I’ve been slacking a bit on that, but I haven’t missed a workout, and even if I don’t get to update this every day like I have before, I’m still committed to my fat loss.

I’ve been on a forced hiatus these past couple weeks. If you have a car and spent an assload of your paycheck on gas, then you know what I’m talking about. I simply cannot make any trips except absolutely necessary ones right now. Yes, the argument could be made that workouts are critical to my overall health; the argument could also be made that I enjoy paying rent and eating food. Tough choices have to be made sometimes.

That being said, it’s been a pretty nice couple of weeks. I’ve been doing light cardio at home when I can, as well as my stretches here-and-there. No, I haven’t been very diligent to be quite honest, but I’m not gonna beat myself up over it. I’ve been mostly trying not to completely fall off the train, but that may be a bit of an over-exaggeration of the situation. I’m certainly not falling back into bad habits or deciding to quit training altogether.

I’ve thought about it and the solution that comes to mind is to get a bike. Not only would it be good exercise to ride to-and-from the local train station, but I’d never have to worry about being able to get to-and-from the gym. Drawbacks - obviously, the elements; I’d have to worry about my stuff falling off my person; time increase getting to the gym and home from the gym. Pluses - no gas bill each month; guaranteed cardio training; never stranded; no excuses for not getting my workouts done.

Diet… dear god, diet. Throughout these past 5 months, diet has been the number one struggle for me. I know that habits built up over years and years cannot be broken and changed in a short amount of time, but I still struggle daily with making sure I’m eating the right foods, in the right amounts, at the right times. It gets difficult at times for me because lugging food around all the time is VERY inconvenient for me, and I’m willing to pay and buy lunches / breakfasts at the places near where I work because of the convenience. It’s been a fair tradeoff all this time, but my lack of good results, especially this past couple months, has been telling. It’s time for a change.

To that effect, I’m making it my goal to make sure I have all my meals ready well in advance of needing to eat them. I’m gonna get a schedule in place for my grocery shopping so that I can make sure I’ve got all my food ready to cook at home. I’m gonna put my carb and protein targets for each meal on a piece of paper for each day of the week and hit those targets.

The last thing I’ve been mulling over these past couple of weeks is going to a 5-day weight-lifting plan for a cycle or 2.

I initially decided to do a 3-day plan because that way I could move them around when I needed to, as well as avoid mental burnout. Lately, though, it has been too convenient to say, ‘I’ll just do this workout on such-and-such day instead.’ What happens then is all 3 workouts have to be completed on 3 consecutive days at the end of the week instead of spread out over the whole week. This also leads to those workouts having a more ‘rushed’ feeling, and I become resentful because I feel like I have to get them done before the week is out. I don’t like feeling like my workouts are an obstacle.

A 5-day plan would be a really huge commitment, though. I’d have a lot less wiggle room for moving workout days around. I wouldn’t be able to stay overtime at work very much at all… something that definitely comes up every once-in-awhile here at my job. Also, it would leave only 2 days off for me to get other things done that I need to. On the plus side, though, I’d basically be REQUIRED to be more committed to my workouts. I’d have cardio each day after the workouts, and the workouts themselves would be a lot better for overall breadth of training.

So this weekend, I’m gonna have to get everything in order for my return to training next week. 5-days a week weight workout; savage return to the diet plan; 6 weeks of torture, here I come!

I’M GONNA DO IT!

I’m not at home right now, but I got my last workout in this morning.

Nothing special to report about today’s workout.

I didn’t end up adding the leg portion back into my workout from yesterday’s session due to continued hip issues. Next cycle I’ll start from the 2 set week and go from there. I don’t want to jump back into the legs with a lot of intensity right away.

I’m staying at a friend’s house tonight so measurement day may get put off until Monday. I’ll check and see if he has a measuring tape so that I can at least input something.

Diet’s been good today so far - a bit carb-heavy towards the middle of the day, but the end of the night will be fine.

Next week is the 2nd 3 set week. I’m looking forward to seeing how far I can take this momentum.

Another quickie update - good day today.

Just got in from an awesome, energetic workout. My energy stayed consistent throughout the entire session. I’m gonna eat my last meal for the day and hit the bed; I want to get to the gym as soon as the doors open tomorrow morning for my last weight session for the week.

Diet was very good today. This whole week has been a great week for my diet. I’ll post the workout details tomorrow when I get home on the Workout Tracker.

Ok, finally got a weight workout in. Yeah, I know, very late start to the week, but that’s the way it happens sometimes and you have to roll with the punches or you’ll just get the wind stomped out of you completely.

Today’s diet was pretty good, if a bit carb heavy towards the end of the day. My body has really gotten used to the frequent meals because if I wait even a little bit I get very very hungry and grumpy.

Tomorrow is my next weight workout and then Saturday will be my last one for this week. Hopefully next week I’ll be able to stick to my regular schedule.