TJ31’s BodyBlog

That was the very phrase one of my old HS football coaches used..and I developed a strong hatred for it in a quick minute. He would tend to say that right before we did up-downs till we puked or ran sprints till we cried LOL. But you know, looking back on that, he couldn’t have been anymore on point with that phrase. Its been since 1999 that I have put on the pads and hit my opponents in the mouth, but I still remember the hard work I put into those years. Now, my opponent isn’t 6′3′’ 350 lbs..instead, its life and how it effects my own health..and I know I have to hit it in the mouth if I want to win (live longer).

Knowing that, I decided it was definitely time to "Get My Mind Right". By doing so, I started hitting the gym harder in the Cardio area for 2 months and lost 20 lbs. You may think that isn’t much but to a guy who has lived over half his life at 300+ lbs, breaking below that 300 mark was a major achievement. Now, with the help and motivation of a good softball buddy, I have started hitting the gym twice a day. Every morning and evening, I am doing 30-45 minutes of cardio and a workout that takes between 45-60 minutes. You can say "well that isn’t enough time" but when you are working out alone and trying to keep your heart rate up..THAT IS A LOOOOONG TIME!

I have started a new diet specific to my taste in food (i can not stand veggies lol), cell tech, and Xtreme Tren. I have heard a lot of good things about the gains in strength from XTren so I figured Id give it a try.  We’ll see where it goes. My over-all goal is to gain lean muscle, not nec get HUGE. I have been huge..it wasn’t that great in my opinion. I want to be healthy. If you aren’t healthy, then being able to bench 500 lbs dont mean shit.

As of now, my Weight is between 295 and 298 every morning and my body fat is between 30.5 and 31.5. Needless to say, that is still too damn high. But..its good motivation to help "Get Your Mind Right".

on keeping my blog up to date that is, not on losing the body fat. latest results for my contest:

Weight: 318.0

Body Fat%: 34.3

Tot Body Water: 153 lbs

Fat Free Mass: 209

Fat Mass: 109

so yeah…the body fat % is what im concerned with. Its dropping slowly but surely. Since Aug 1st,  overall 6.6 %. Im pretty stoked about that.

here is a situation that can look bad but its really good. I went to see the company dr today and stood on those grand ole scales lol. over the past 2 weeks i have been in the 316-317 lb range but today, i was a whopping 321.2 lbs. WHAT?!! now Im waiting for the reading for my body fat %……waiting……waiting…..ding ding ding. 36%. that is a 5 % drop since starting this "contest" on August 1st. DAMN i feel better now. here are the full readings:

Weight: 321.2 lbs (of pure sexiness of course!!)

BMI: 42.4

BF%: 36%

FM: 117 lbs

FFM: 204.2 lbs

TBW: 149.4 lbs (up from 138.4)

so anyway..weight wise..im going the wrong way. but health wise..im going the right way. at some point, it will all come together.

as of 08/14/08 (last weigh-in)

weight: 316

BF%: 37

FM: 118 lbs

FFM: 198 lbs

TBW: 144 lbs

still going in the right direction even though I didn’t get to make it to the gym but once so far this week due to softball and house maint.

well, i went to the company dr for my first reading since this contest began on thursday Aug 7. one word..WOW. this new mixture of cardio and reduce carb consumption has made a huge impact already. here are the readings:

BF % - 37

Fat Mass (FM): 118.2 (down from 131)

Fat Free Mass (FFM): 198.8 (up from 189.2)

Total Body Water (TBW): 145.2 (up from 138.4)

well..there are the updates..i have another weigh in thursday Aug 14. I will post results. thanks to all who have sent encouraging emails. I really appreciate it!

So I have been working out for years, mainly to gain strength, size, and stamina for football. The football part ended with my last season of college football in 99. Since then, Ive gone through stages of working out hard with weights and stages of just doing cardio. Haven’t really found what I want in the gym so I never really got major results.

Well im hoping that is changing. Recently, the company I work for has come up with a 2 and a half year Fitness Challenge. From the get go, I was on board. Basically, its broken down into 5 6-month periods. The initial period is your weight loss time. That is when you have to meet you goal (body fat% loss or weight loss). Periods 2-5 are maintenance periods. You have to keep maintain this goal in order to stay in the competition.

So anyway.. today, here I am. In early June I started lifting weights hard and heavy. When I stared i was 316 lbs with 43% body fat. Now, I am 320 lbs with 39% body fat. I’ve definately gained muscle, esp in my shoulders, traps, and arms. But its time to re-think what it is I’m doing. I belive I need to start doing what is right for my body in long-term aspects. So, with that being said, Im giving up the heavy weights and gonna start doing more cardio.

Sounds tough I know..shit, Im already having doubts. But, the end goal is a much healthier life…..AND $3,000 or more (depending on how many people are left at the end of the competition to split the pot). Can you say MOTIVATION???  To help myself, Im gonna do my best to remember to keep up with my progress on here. The charts really help. Any tips on helping me accomplish my goals will be more than welcome .