PHATerik’s BodyBlog

….to be back to the routine, that is.  I took the weekend off due to coming down with a head cold, but got back into it yesterday morning.  I’m sticking with the P90 routine, and it’s pretty challenging for my fitness level.  Notable improvements include lack of back pain and knee pain.  I’ve been shooting hoops a couple times a week with the kids, and my knees usually kill me.  I haven’t had knee pain in quite awhile, which is nice.  I noticed today that my back is WAAAY better than it was when I started.  I think the circuit training and ab work is tightening everything up.

I had an "up and down" February, probably sticking to my diet and working out an average of 70% of the time.  I felt like I gained back a few pounds.  Probably because mentally I knew I was screwing up by drinking a few times and having a few bad meals.  I finally bit the bullet and stepped on the scale yesterday morning to get some idea of where I am it.  I figured, "it is what it is".  How will I be able to determine how things are going if I don’t check to see where I’m at?  So I stepped on the scale, and low and behold I was 3.5 pounds lighter.  I was pretty happy with that.  I figured I was 5 pounds heavier.

I completed the sculpt workout today, and feel pretty good.  The lunges/squats really tire my legs out, but I’m feeling a lot stronger than last week.  Gonna hit the elliptical now for half an hour or so to get the heart rate up and hopefully get some good rest tonight before tomorrow’s 5 am workout.

Well, today was rough.  After doing the sculpt circuit yesterday AM, I felt like I needed some stress relief after work, so I hit the elliptical for 2.25 miles in the PM.  I could hardly walk when I got up this morning.  I actually missed the workout in the morning, but was determined to get it in after work.  After a long day at work, the last thing I wanted to do was work out tonight.  That’s why I like to do it in the morning.  That way I don’t have the chance to make excuses….just get up and do it.  My legs were cramping big time before the workout.  Calves, hamstrings, everything.  I decided to hit the elliptical for 5 minutes to get the blood flowing, then did 5 minutes of stretching prior to beginning the second day of the sweat program.  There is a stretch/warm up session before yoga and cardio, but I’m glad I took the extra ten minutes before the to get ready.  I made it through the workout pretty well.  Had to make a few revisions due to cramping in the calves, but all in all I got a good workout in.  My legs are dead.  Yesterday’s sculpt has my lats, pecs, tri’s and bi’s pretty sore today, but not unbearable like when I started lifting about two months ago.  If feels good to be back on track.

To those who have been quick to give me a solid word of encouragement, I really appreciate it.  I get on this site and get motivated by reading about others and what they are going through.  I guess I never realized when I wasn’t logging on and putting in my two cents anyone would notice.  Kinda selfish.  I will say this….a huge downfall I’ve had in the past has been drinking.  It became a habit, and for about thirteen years it was nearly a daily occurence.  It’s how I dealt with stress and pain management.  I know it was stupid, but that’s the way it was.  I can’t change the past.  So this last month there were a handful of days where I rationalized going to get something to drink and relax rather than get my workout in.  I have, however, had more days in the last two months that I haven’t drank than I’ve had probably in the last two years.  So that in itself is an accomplishment.  Like everything, I’m still working on the lifestyle change.  I know I’m not a bad person for drinking so much in the past.  I was only hurting myself, and I’ve decided I don’t want to do that anymore.  I’m not going to beat myself up if I have a night or two every month where I don’t "get it right".  In the past, there was usually only a night or two a month when I did.  Eventually, the endurance and strength (both mental and physical) will develop.  I’m not giving up.  So if I disappointed, I apologize.  Will it not happen again?  I can’t promise that.  Will I get back on track if it does?  I can assure you of that.

Well, things are finally back to normal.  I said last week that I was back, but I wasn’t back 100%.  I did manage to get back on track this Monday though.  The wife and I had a little "grown up" time on Sunday night of all days, and drank a little too much, so working out early Monday morning WAS NOT an option.  I did get back to the strict diet and started a new exercise routing on Tuesday.

About the workouts.  I’m doing what I’d like to call "Pre-90 X".  About six years ago I bought the Power 90 videos when they came out.  They’ve been sitting and collecting dust ever since.  My workout routine I started got pretty redundant pretty quick with the free weights and elliptical machine, so I kinda fell off track.  I’m more of a circuit training guy.  I need to keep active and switching it up, so set after set of the same excercise is hard for me to stick to.  Especially when my main goal right now is weight loss.  So today was day two of the P90 program.  I’m hoping to complete the P90 and be in good enough shape to invest in the P90X.  Right now there is no way I could handle the workouts on the X version, so I think this is going to work out well.  The  cardio is a bit different from the elliptical workout.  It works my muscles harder, so in turn I can’t work out as fast and with the same intensity at this point, so I don’t get my heart rate up as much as I did on the elliptical.  I missed that, so tonight I did a "bonus" cardio session on the elliptical.  It was good to listen to some tunes and clear the mind.

I know I’ve been off and on this last month, but the amazing thing is that I’m still around, and I’ve been able to hop back on the wagon.  I’m psyched about completing the P90 program, which will be complete before June.  I’d love to be down about thirty more pounds by then, so I WILL STICK WITH IT.  I stumble across another group of guys doing the same program on a personal blog (not on this site), so I check in there daily as well for a little motivation.

That’s it for now.   I’ll be blogging more regularly to hold myself accountable again and keep up the motivation….again.

It’s been almost a month since my last post, which I guess means that’s how long ago I started to go off track.  When I started my new routine I was working in the office, so I was able to follow everything to a tee.  I started working on a surveying project in the field, and that screwed everything up!  My schedule was off, my energy was off, and I wasn’t able to adjust my diet and workout needs accordingly to meet my new intake/output needs.  I stopped working out EVERY A.M., because it was draining me too much and made the long, more physical day outdoors to rough to get through.

Then my daughter got sick.  Walking pneumonia.  Then days later my son got the stomach flu and was throwing up everywhere.  Then days after that my daughter had beaten the walking pnuemonia, but began to get the stomach flu, and she was home sick, throwing up.  On Tuesday of last week, I was feeling great at 8 am.  Went to the office to get some supplies and made it out to the job site by 9 am.  By 9:15 I was feeling achy.  By 9:30 I was vomiting on the side of the road, then it was all downhill from there.  I completely emtpied my stomach an hour later with another roadside "deposit", an was home and in bed by 11:30.  It was there I stayed until Friday, feeling achy and nautious.  Unable to eat or drink much, I took Nyquil to rest and slept most of the time.  I still felt sick all weekend, and now it is a week later and I still have a bit of an upset stomach, but feeling about 90% (which actually feels like about 1000% compared to the low I hit last week).

So, I got home from work yesterday and "flipped the switch".  I hit the elliptical and felt strong, putting in 2.35 miles, then made it to my daughters basketball practice, where I played for about an hour with my son.  Today things are getting back to normal.  I’m back in the office, so now I’m back on track.  I NEED to get up every day and get my cardio in, and get back on my lifting schedule.  I could really feel my stress levels go through the roof when I wasn’t working out, so i need to get it in first thing in the AM.  I feel like I may have put on a few pounds, so I’m starting fresh.  I’ll be weighing in and posting new progress in two weeks.  Positive progress is what we are looking for.
That being said…..ITS TIME.  AND IT’S GOOD TO BE BACK.

Well, they say old habits die hard.  In the past I had a very physical job working as a commercial carpenter doing heavy construction.  i would work hard all day, and at night I would rejuvinate by eating tons of calories and sucking down beers.

On Thursday and Friday this past week I had the opportunity to work with the land surveying crew doing some preliminary survey for a future road project.  Pretty physical work.  We’ve got a foot and a half of snow on the ground, so every property corner had to be dug out and the actual iron pipe was usually 6 inches under the grass in frozen ground, so there was a lot of shoveling, hard digging, and difficult walking in the deep snow.  With the cold temps, all of the extra clothing and heavy winter boots made walking even more tiring.

On Friday evening my mind was telling me I needed pizza and beer.  I immediately logged on to bodybuilding.com to check the forums on "cheat meals".  After all, it has been over three weeks since I have had anything unhealthy.  My diet consists of oatmeal, egg whites, whole grain bread and wraps, tuna, veggies, and chicken breasts.  After reviewing the posts I convinced myself it was O.K. to eat a cheat meal that night.  I picked up a six pack of my favorite New Glarous Spotted Cow, and ordered cheese pizza, bbq wings, chicken tenders/fries, and fried mushrooms from the families favorite restaurant.  We used to order from this place every week!

In the past, I would consume anywhere from six to eight beers nearly every day.  After my third beer I started to feel like crap.  Then the food showed up.  I had one wing (out of ten), three pieces of cheese pizza (smaller squares), a few fries and a couple mushrooms.  I felt like CRAP!  I ended up throwing away all of the wings/fries/mushrooms after the family was done with them.  We did keep the leftover pizza and chicken tenders.  I’ll let the kids have some tonight for supper, then the rest will go in the garbage.  I grabbed three pieces of pizza yesterday for lunch and put them on a plate.  I then decided to grab the bowl of brown rice and heat up some of that with mixed veggies instead.  I remembered how I felt the night before and figured I would not enjoy the food enough to validate eating it.

So I fell off.  I guess the important thing is I got right back on.  I think I over did it.  If I had a couple pieces of pizza and skipped the beer I would have probably been fine.

Now for today.  Stryka had a great blog post this morning.  He got me motivated again.  I started this journey three weeks ago.  While a lot of things have started to become a habit (working out every day, eating healthy meals every day), some decisions to do the right thing still have to be made consciously and are sometimes difficult.

So today was my 2 week weigh in day.  I woke up at 5 am (on Sunday mind you), took my Lipo6, and checked out the bodyspace blogs.  I then hit the elliptical at 6 am.  My normal routine is 30 min for about 2.3 miles.  Today I did a ten minute "warmup" at 4 mph, then my normal 30 minute program.  After that I did another 20 minute "cooldown" to make it an even hour of cardio.  I managed my best 1 mile time when I began my 30 minute routine, completing it in 11:20.  When I started three weeks ago I could only go 15 minutes for just over a mile, so not only did I improve my mile time by nearly four minutes, but also quadrupled (at least) my endurance.  I could have gone longer today, but figured and hour was enough.  Later today I’ll lift for legs/shoulders/abs, after I do the grocery shopping and prepare the some healthy meals/snacks for the week.  I weighed in and dropped another 4 pounds in the last two weeks.  After dropping ten the first week that is a drastic slow down, but I’m happy with it.  I feel better, stronger, and my mind is in a good place.  While my main short term goal is to work out and eat right TODAY, my unwritten goal is to lose ten pounds a month, which I think is realistic.  That would put me at about 195 by my 35th B-day in July.  One day at a time.  If every day is a good day, this year should be GREAT.

Well, today was the monthly Lunch and Learn, where the company buys lunch for those who sit through an internet presentation about different aspects of the company.  Today it was on Grants and Funding for municipal projects, but that’s not important.  What is important is the double dough pizzas they ordered for everyone.  I brought chicken breast/brown rice/broccoli for lunch, but they bought the pizza, so………about ten minutes before the presentation I went and heated up my meal.  I brought it in the conference room and ate my healthy meal while everyone else gorged themselves with simple carbs and fat.  It felt pretty good to know that at that point, I was better than everyone else.  People at work talk about eating better and getting in shape, but I am the only one really committed.  One of the guys has been walking around the office for the past two days with a bowl of M&M’s.  The office is on their second bag, along with the twizzlers and turtles on the front counter that are disappearing at a pretty quick pace.  That same guy acted disappointed when I told him I wasn’t eating pizza today.  So I walked into his office a few minutes later and asked him if he was truly upset because I wasn’t going to participate in the "Eat like sh!t and get fat" N Learn.  The receptionist thought it would be funny if she held a piece of pizza right under my nose.  I told her if it happens again I am going to snot on it.  It didn’t happen again.

Today I got home and did chest/tris/abs.  I skipped my morning cardio today.  I just couldn’t do it.  Got to sleep around 11 last night, so 4:30 was just too early to get up.  I’m going to bed in ten minutes so I can hit it hard tomorrow.  I’ll be out of the office for the next two weeks surveying, so my activity level is going to go way up at work, which will make working out more difficult.  Or should I say my workouts are going to make work more difficult.   I’m still going to get up and train first thing in the AM so I have no excuses.  I’ll just be dragging @ss at work all day.  I won’t have a set schedule, so eating at three hour intervals and getting all of my water in will be more of a challenge, but I’m determined to make it happen.

Another successful day…..and we’ll do it all over again tomorrow.

Well, I think I’ve made a drastic change.  I just decided I wasn’t going to drink anymore on the first of the year.  It has been three weeks to the day since I had a drink.  That is the longest I have gone without alcohol in over thirteen years.  Actually, consumption was a daily event.  This website has really allowed me to obtain the support and inspiration to get my health (both mental and physical) straight.  All the people have been great and supportive, and I’ve finally realized that these changes are possible.  Thanks.

I skipped my lifting on Sunday (legs/shoulders/abs) due to soreness.  I’m actually still sore from biceps on Friday.  I’ve been eating clean and doing elliptical every day, so I’m not stressing about the lifting.  That will improve with time.  I think my strength gains will come a lot faster than my weight loss, so I know I have time to put the whole package together.  I did go to the gym after work last night with the family and shot hoops.  I pulled some of my old moves out of the closet, and it felt pretty good.  I used to have severe knee pains when I played basketball, but I played for 45 minutes yesterday with a lot of running and jumping, and absolutely no pain today.  I’m hoping to get back on the court in another month and a half.  I used to play damn near every day before the kids and family took life over.  Now the kids are getting old enough where I can finally spend time on myself.

Time for bed.  I need to get my six hours of sleep in before doing it all over again.

Well, yesterday was tough.  Being around the house all day with nowhere to go and nothing really to do.  I figured I’d take the day off in order to allow my body to recover a little, but that was not an option.  I was craving pizza, big time.  I began asking myself, "What’s the big deal?  One day of pizza and beer won’t kill me."  I even went as far as to open the freezer and check the (mal)nutritional information on the box of pizza rolls the wife picked up for the kids.  After reading that I put it back and said "NO WAY".  How did I get through it?  I thought if I had a night of drinking my muscles wouldn’t hurt anymore and I could relax.  Then I thought about how today would be completely shot if I had a hangover.  I wouldn’t be able to train AT ALL today if I drank last night.  I decided to "walk it off", so I went on the elliptical in the basement and watched TV.  I just went slow, not really looking for a workout but a stress reliever.  I went about 3.5 mph on low resistance.  After 40 minutes I had gone 2.3 miles, so I quit.  Did it work?  No.  I was still not in a "good place".  So after an hour of nothing I decided to hop back on again.  I went an hour longer and went 3.7 miles, giving me a 6 mile total, ON MY DAY OFF?!?!  Did it work?  YES, IT DID!

So today is supposed to be legs/shoulders/abs for me.  My biceps are KILLING ME still, from the workout two days ago.  It was the first time I seriously trained biceps probably since high school.  I’ll give shoulders a shot today, but I think the strain is going to be too much on my biceps.  We’ll see.  If I have to wait another week to put shoulders in the mix, no big deal.  As long as I’m making positive progress EVERY DAY, I will adjust accordingly until my body catches up with my mind.

Eat like a champion.  Train like a champion.  BE A CHAMPION.

Today was day two for weight training.  Back, bi’s, and calves.  A pushed through the workout and feel real good now.  I was kinda stressed out before my workout, but after lifting and doing 3 miles on the elliptical I feel nice and relaxed.  My arms are going to be killing me tomorrow, but that’s what it’s all about!  My arms have gotten real weak since I quit working construction.  It’s affecting my bench and my rows so far.  Hopefully my arms will come around and I’ll be able to lift more effectively.  I just feel like my lack of arm strength will hinder the progress of my larger muscle groups.  One day at a time and it will eventually turn around.  I was supposed to do bent barbell rows, but decided against it.  I was diagnosed with a herniated disk in my lower  lumbar a couple years ago, and it still bothers me.  I did one arm dumbell rows, and supported my weight with my non-working arm on the bench, to take any strain off of my lower back. It sucks that I can’t do all the excercises, but if I’m a little creative I think I can get the same results.

Time for an update.  I did the first day of weight training on Wednesday.  I’m following Gethin’s 12 week transformation guide.  I am a weak tit.  I think I lifted more in 9th grade.  I lifted too heavy for my first 3 sets of bench, and killed the rest of my workout.  I was able to get through it, but it was real rough.  After I was done I had to go outside and clean the 6 inches of snow from the driveway and sidewalks that was waiting for me when I got home.  I decided to weight train before cleaning up the snow so I didn’t take away from my workout.  It had to be a conscious decision, because I’m so used to handling my daily responsibilities first, and putting myself and more importantly me health LAST (behind the needs of my work and family).  I’m glad I got through it.  By 7:00 pm I was in bed.  I couldn’t even peel boiled eggs for my daughter because I couldn’t hold my arms up, so I played the old "go ask your mother to do it" card to get out of that one.
Yesterday I did 35 minutes of elliptical in the morning (as usual).   When I got home from work I was tired.  I basically laid around all night.  I also didn’t know what to do with myself.  If I wasn’t going to be working out, I had nothing to occupy my mind (which was exhausted as well).  I used to drink at night to pass the time. Knowing I wasn’t going to be active at all, I just had a protein shake and some egg whites for dinner.  I’ve been eating perfectly every day, but now and then cravings are coming on.

Today I’m home with the kids.  It’s 40 below with the wind chill, so they’re off school.  My wife stayed home yesterday, so today it’s my turn.  I’d say I got the better end of the deal.  I get a three day weekend AND she cleaned the entire house yesterday.  WOO HOO!  Today is Day 2 for weight training (back/bi’s/calves).  Even though I am off of work, I still got up at 4:30 and did my 2.35 miles on the elliptical after some stretching to get it out of the way.  We’ll get through this one and do it all over again tomorrow.

I baked some apples before my morning cardio to mix in with my morning oatmeal with some cinnamon.  I can smell ‘em, and they’re calling my name, so I gotta go "handle my BID-NISS".