The Best Shape of My Life!

I have rebooted my workout program again. I had been working out just whenever I could find the time in the afternoons or evenings, but that wasn’t working too well. I would be too tired and would just skip the workout. Or I would have something going on in the evenings and not be able to do one.

So I’m going back to my morning routines. Yeah, they’re early, but I enjoy them, and they put me in a good mood for the day. I’ve been doing them for a little over a week now, so the habit is beginning to settle in. Sure, there will be days when I have an early morning meeting or something and will have to miss a workout, but overall, planning for them is so much easier now!

We’ll see if I can make some kind of difference with my body with this new consistency. Hopefully, I can still get to my 12% bodyfat goal by the end of the year.

I got a free health screening this week, and here are the results…

Weight: 195 lbs
Waist Circumference: 35 inches
BF%: 17.9 (used a handheld, not a pinch test)
BMI: 27

Total Chol: 153
HDL Chol: 36

Blood Pressure: 120/84
Glucose: 96

Overall, the results are pretty good. The nurse specifically said that the bodyfat percent was "great"! I looked at her critically…it’s the personal trainer in me, sorry, can’t help it. But at least it did put some things in perspective. From a health standpoint, I’m still in great shape. My blood pressure is the highest it’s ever been, but it’s still within the quite healthy range. The nurse told me that it was probably a bit over the mark (lower number higher than 80) because she had just pricked me to get the blood test, and I hate needles and prickings. Oh well….Life goes on. Total cholesterol level is amazing! I was thinking it would be much higher than that with the diet I’ve had lately. And the stress of my life! Whew, don’t even get me started there. But I’m doing better than I thought. There are a few things, though, that I plan to address pretty quickly.
1. Lowering overall bodyfat. Biggest key here is diet. I know….just hard to implement.

2. Increasing HDL Cholesterol: eat more plants, perform more cardio.

3. Decrease waist circumference: eat more plants, eat less food overall, perform more cardio.

See a trend? LOL!

First, a correction. In my last blog, I noted that I had logged 160 minutes of exercise last week. But I didnt log Sunday’s workout, and I count Sunday as the last day of the week (Monday starts a new work week for me). With everything logged for last week, I completed 185 minutes of total exercise. That’s a huge improvement over what I had been doing during the summer! So if I can keep that going well into the school year, I think I’m going to see some really good changes.

Now, for the mid-week review. The second day of the new school year is over, and already I’m totally wiped out!  I forget over the summer how exhausting and completely draining teaching really is. Probably a good thing, because if my memory held out all summer long, I probably wouldn’t still be teaching. Ok, not really. I love my job, but there are moments when all I want to do is SLEEP!

So far I have logged only 65 minutes of exercise, but there are 4 days of the work week remaining, and I’m planning on doing something every one of those days. I did nothing today, so that was disappointing. When I woke up, I couldn’t even get myself to do the 20 minute workout that I am holding so dear to my life right now. That may have been why my day was pretty lousy, and why I had a headache for a good portion of it. So I’m hoping to get myself in gear and do the 20 minute deal in the mornings for both Thursday and Friday. I’m also planning on hitting the weights Thursday, swimming on Friday, and yoga on Saturday. I should be able to hit my week goal of 250 minutes or more of exercise.

At any rate, I’m doing much more than I had been. My body (and mind, to a degree) are rebelling like crazy, but I feel really good about it. One step at a time!

That’s the number of minutes I spent exercising this week. And it felt GREAT! Here’s what the week looked like as far as workouts are concerned.

Tuesday: 20 minutes AM, 20 minutes PM (bodyweight, home workouts)
Wednesday: 20 minutes AM (bodyweight, home workout)
Thursday: 20 minutes AM (bodyweight, home), 40-45 minutes PM (weights, gym)
Saturday: 40-45 minutes AM (yoga, gym)

I love fitness! Over the summer I got lazy and lathargic and never wanted to really give my body what it needed. Now that I’m back onto my school/work routine, I have a schedule where I can force myself to get back into it. Funny, it is, how I always end up enjoying the workouts only after I force myself to get into them.

Yoga this morning was AMAZING! I hadn’t done yoga in a couple months, and it was just an awesome experience! I feel much more relaxed, stretched, and flexible after just one workout. The instructor conducts the class a bit differently than previous ones I’ve had, but it was great. The way we worked our bodies was just exhilerating and breath-taking. I am planning on returning.

Next week, my goal is to get in more exercise sessions. I’m trying to set a schedule for simple 20 minute workouts in the early morning when I wake up. Nothing overly profound, heavy, intense, etc. Just enough to get my body going for the day and to last me till I get in a good workout in the evening. Those 20 minutes I know will add up over time, and add the other stuff that I hopefully will do (classes, weights, etc), and I hope to see some nice differences in my body by mid-September. I’ve already dropped about 6-7 pounds (depending on the scale and when I measure), measuring only 193 lbs instead of the 200 (for all those who use SI, that’s about 87.7 kg instead of 91 kg).

I have to be able to keep wearing the jeans/pants that I have. The nice thing about the weight gain is that I have been filling out my shirts better. But the extra fat isn’t exactly what I wanted, so I’ll probably lose some of the nice upper body "filling" when I start dropping some bodyfat. Oh well. To be lean is always the better, healthier option than just being big. Size only matters in a race against a train at a crossing.

Well, where did the summer go?

School starts back up next week (well, teacher work days do), which is exciting. I’m ready to get back into what I do best. And along with the job comes the daily routine, which I really like to have! So I’m hoping to find a pattern that works well for me this year. Besides work, I’ll be completing a master’s thesis, so that will consume a good amount of my time, too. But I’m pushing for shorter, intense workouts, hopefully multiple times throughout the day. And having a fairly solid, predictable schedule will really help reinforce that.

Right now I’m still aiming for 12% bodyfat by the end of the year. I’m working on making subtle changes to my diet, but that is going to take some time. Bad habits are hard to overcome, especially when they involved sweet things (junk foods). Little by little, I’m making some positive changes, and I know those changes over time will influence my bodyfat percent a lot. Add that with a routine for fitness and I think I’ll start to be in much better shape.

To start on a good note:

I have consistently been logging nutritional and activity information since May 21, 2009. I tend to go in phases of logging and then not logging. I was looking through my fitness files the other day and thought about that. I am really happy about the notebook I’ve been using, and I actually feel good about logging things, even if it’s not the healthiest thing in the world. So, I’m hoping that this logging system will last.

Now onto my goals:

I originally set a 12% bodyfat goal for 1 August 2009. That was near the beginning of June. My rationale was (though I knew 12% from 16% in two months was a stretch) was that I could make some pretty substantial changes in my diet. Those have NOT occurred.  Though I am getting better about eating fruits and veggies, and I’m making better overall choices as far as food is concerned, I’m not getting to the point where I can really make a substantial dent in bodyfat.

In the past, I have dropped weight and bodyfat in the summertime because I’ve been more active. But it seems like this year I haven’t had the motivation to get out and do things. My daughter is old enough now that she wants to play and do things, but of course, those activities are a great workout for her…not for me. And I have a hard time justifying a personal workout when it takes time away from my family. So I’ve been trying to do my workouts either late in the evening or in the morning (while they’re still asleep). With my sleep schedule all thrown off, that even has been difficult.

And then add to that my thesis, which I’m really getting into. This is my academic priority at this point in my life. Not just because I need to finish it, but because I want to do it, and I want to do a very good job on it. I’m in training to be a researcher, so I want to take care to do this well. Gathering the preliminary research has already proven to be somewhat difficult, and I’m hitting some roadblocks in the early stages of my research. But I’ll overcome them, as I always do. It just might take time away from other things.

Readjustment of Priorities:

Every now and then it’s good for a guy (and girl) to reexamine his/her priorities in life. Just 8-10 years ago, I would give you a completely different set of priorities. But now, at 28 and with a family, I have to look very carefully at my priority order. So after some deep thought (and a spiritual and psychological renewal thanks to God and a very close friend of mine), I’ve reconsidered my priorities.

1. To be a better servant of God Almighty.

I have been lazy about this lately, and it’s time I get back to it. God has called me for a purpose, and He has been faithful and patient with me. Now I need to pick up the slack. My fitness had, at times, consumed me to the point of complete vanity. Now God is calling me back to what I need to get done, and that is something other than the perfect physique. There are some who are called to have 6-pack abs and chiseled bodies, and then there are some who are called for other things. I have not been called to be a model. Bummer for me, I guess. But realizing that there is so much more to life than having chiseled abs or a bulging chest has actually be exhonorating for me, and I feel much better about my life than I had. After chasing a 6-pack set of abs and an 8% bodyfat goal for years, I’m finally starting to see myself more for who I really am. And more importantly, who I’m supposed to be.

2. To be a better husband and father.

Family is everything. Without it, you have nothing. Married or not, with kids or not, everyone has a family. Unfortunately, some are disconnected from it, and that’s a shame. Family is what pulls us through. I’m beginning to feel more connected to my family (both immediate and extended), and that’s a great thing. Specifically, I’m aiming to devote more of my energies to my wife and daughter. Sure, I’ve always loved them, and I’ll continue to love them. But sometimes they’ve gotten the shaft as I have pursued other priorities. Time to put them back where they belong. Right underneath God.

3. To obtain my M.S. and then continue with my doctoral studies.

This, I believe, is my biggest calling in life. It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to do, and what I would be good at. The story is actually pretty interesting how I ended up where I did and in what degree program. If you want to know, I’ll tell you. But for now, know this. I feel deeply passionate about my graduate studies, and they have already begun to make me a better person, teacher, friend, and husband/father. I know, it sounds weird maybe. How can going to graduate school help with personal issues? Well, with me, it’s because I have had to manage my time more wisely and cut out the things that aren’t that important. To me, things serve a purpose and a function. If that purpose isn’t necessary, I try to eliminate it.

4. Everything else.

Because, if I focus on the above three items, everything else will be taken care of. I’ll be a better teacher because of my professional development and relationship to friends and family. Again, it might seem weird how everything may be connected, but I’m tell you, everything is connected. If I can help myself with one thing, I will also be helping myself with other things. And then, if I can help myself, I can help others more effectively. And that’s what I live for.

NEW GOALS:

1. Renew myself spiritually every day. Learn to walk more with God, not with the world.
2. Continue to modify diet. Aiming for >3 veggies and >72 oz of water per day.
3. Aim for 12% bodyfat by December 31, 2009.

After spending the past couple weeks out of town, it’s crunch time again. It’s so hard to be healthy when you’re on a trip, especially in a city that is absolutely HORRIBLE. But please, spare me the digression into the detest I feel towards Birmingham, and let me focus for now on the more personal issue: weight.

I weighed myself tonight, and I have officially broken 200 pounds! Part of me is excited, and part of me is incredibly worried. For quite a while, I have been wanting to weigh 200, but I never thought I’d actually get to that point. And now that I do weigh 200, it’s not exactly the type of weight I want. Being a personal trainer, I know how to conduct the bodyfat tests, which are an important measure of overall health and fitness. Currently, I’m just above 16%. So what does that mean? It means that approximately 16% of the 200 pounds, or roughly 32 pounds, is fat weight. If you were to take it out, I would be ripped and lean at a mere 168. That is partly disturbing since when I weighed 180 a while back with 10% bodyfat, I was only carrying around 18 pounds of the stuff with 172 pounds of lean body mass. I’ve dropped the lean stuff and added the fat stuff since then. I’m NOT happy.

But I can only blame myself. On my quest to get bigger (and finally be able to fit into large-sized t-shirts), I have been pretty careless with my diet. No one’s fault but mine, and I’m not wanting to sound like I’m complaining here. I’ve never had a real weight problem, and if anything, I’ve always been rather under weight. Well, let me explain. According to the "Ideal" bodyweight charts, I’m only supposed to weight 140-160 pounds at 6′ tall. To be quite honest, I disagree heavily with this. I used to be 160, and I was so skinny a lot of people thought I was somewhat anorexic. So I’m not wanting to go down that far. Forget about the charts (published by INSURANCE COMPANIES, by the way…not by health professionals), but I do think that if nothing else, the bodyfat issue needs to be taken more seriously.

So this week, it’s back to the drawing board. Intense dieting and intense exercising…well see how it goes. With any good fortune (and a lot of dedication), I’ll be able to start making a dent in the 32 pounds of badness that I do not want hanging around. If I drop back down to 180 or so, fine. I’d rather be smaller and lean than larger and unhealthy. But beyond that, as long as I keep feeling good, and can see some positive results, I’ll be satisfied.

Okay, so I’m happy that I have finally reached 195 lbs (88.6 kg). But, I have reached it with quite a bit of fat. The pinch test and scale are telling me that I have about 16% bodyfat! Sure, by no means am I "fat" or grossly overweight, but…..it’s not 10%, which is my long-term goal.

One step at a time. My adjusted plan now is to try for 200 lbs (91 kg), and then to modify. I’m still working on trying to get the fats limited in my diet. Thats’ my major problem at this point. Using the caloriecount.com website, my analysis is pretty consistent with a daily intake around 40-50% fats in a day. GGGGRRRRRR!

So, by my 28th b-day, which is just a month away, I’m hoping to make some changes in my diet and restructure my training a bit to include just a tad more cardio/bootcamp style training (to zap at some of the bodyfat). In four weeks, I’m not planning on achieving the 10% bodayfat mark, but if I could pull in the 200 lbs with 13% or less, that would be significant progress. If nothing else, I’d like to maintain the 195 lbs and lower the bf to 12%.

I plan to conduct all the new measurements on 1 June or shortly thereafter.

It seems like after a long while of not gaining or losing, I’m finally making some gains. I’m increasing my weight and size of the measurements that I want to increase. My abdomen is also increasing slightly, but I can monitor that. I’m happy with my weight increase to about 195, and for once, I’ve been able to hold it pretty steady there. My chest and shoulders have increased quite a bit, which make me feel really good about what I’ve been doing lately.

My waist and abdomen haven’t increased so much as to give me a horrible bodyfat percentage or a waist/hip ratio. All my health indicators are still good. My goal is to be 200 lbs with 12% bodyfat or less. My desired chest size would be about 45 inches, and I’d like to have my waist at 34" or smaller. But as long as I can continue to fit into 34" jeans/pants, I’m a happy man. I do want to be FORCED to wear large sized t-shirts. Even at 43.5 inches for my chest, I don’t have the complete shoulder width yet to get rid of some of my mediums. But I’m working on it!

Tomorrow morning, my goal is to complete the strength test and see how I’ve done since last summer. I’ve been wanting to do it for a while, but just haven’t. So hopefully, if everything goes well, I’ll have some new numbers for squat, bench press, rows, deadlift, and shoulder press. I don’t do the bicep curl strength test since there isn’t an equivalent on here for the triceps (bummer actually, as the triceps are the more powerful and bigger muscles). Hopefully, I’ve made some gains. I know I can feel myself gaining in overall strength. Let’s see if the 1RM numbers support my feelings.

I finally broke the barrier! Over Easter weekend, I gained about 6 pounds! Granted, it was probably half/half muscle and fat (if not a bit more fat), but I can always work with that later. I’ve been wanting to get above 190 for a while, and would eventually like to be 200. But only if I can keep my bodyfat under control.

Using the caloriecount.com website for logging food and weight daily (or about daily), I’m looking at the calorie content I’m eating, the breakdown into percentages of fats, proteins, and carbs, as well as the overall quality of the food I take in. On most accounts, I’m eating fairly healthy, but I’m still working to improve. The biggest issue I have is with the fats percentage, and the amount of saturated fats I eat. For some reason, that seems to be the biggest issue for me. And fat free foods just taste nasty, so that’s not an option. 

Right now I’m at 192 and holding. I’ve been hitting the gym consistently for a while, so I’m hoping to turn some of this new weight into muscle….which then might also help me "gain" weight. We’ll see.

Another hard thing for me to grasp is that this will not happen overnight. It will take a lot of time, energy, and probably money. But I’m determined to change something about me, and since I’ve tried to lose the weight and that didn’t work, I’m going to try once again to push myself upwards and see what I can do. As long as I can fit into 34" waist jeans/pants, I’m happy with it.

Later!