bigjeff0065’s BodyBlog

I will be taking tonight off as I’ve got a dinner date, but will probably do some cardio and abs if I get home early enough.  I haven’t been sleeping well lately and I’ve got to get rested as my top priority.

So, for July I wound up having performed 11,975 jumping jacks, and 20 workouts on 19 days of work.  That’s a few more off days than normal, but I did have the first 3 days of the month on vacation plus a two extra days to recover from weekday dates that went way too far into the early morning.  All in all it was a good month, with cardio lacking at the beginning and middle, but I made it a priority towards the end.  Adding reps and/or weights on most exercises and changing it up pretty good.  Diet is spot on, probably need to relax it and have a refeed a little more often, but progress is good.  I like what i am eating and am pretty much dialed in.  Progress in loss of BF is slow but steady and I can speed it by hitting cardio with more regularity.  Seems like I always slow up a little in July, but just being aware of it has helped me push through.  Must be a summer thing because I’ve read about some others lacking motivation this time of year.

Anyway, July was a good month and August will be even better.

The scent of fresh cut grass becomes more noticeable this time of year.  After waking, I typically take my dog "Catfish" outside and enjoy the sunrise with a steaming cup of coffee.  The smell takes me back twenty years to two-a-day football practices.  My motivation kicks up a gear and the drive to get better picks up.  No, I do not look upon those days fondly.  They were awful, painful, sweaty days guaranteed to push me to my limits. 

With these thoughts in mind, I planned my Sunday workout.  Time for a changeup.  Today I decided was going to be Cardio Sunday.  With my son at the beach with his mom, I have a free weekend.  I decided that part of my Cardio Sunday would be the treadmill for my bout of HIT, but needed something different.  My town has some great parks with walking trails which I never take advantage of because I like to walk through my hood and see my neighbors.  Sure, they are a bunch of old farts, but I really like old people and they take care of their yards.  Maybe we are kindred spirits…

Anyway, got prepared to head for the park.  Since it is July in GA, it is only in the 90s with some pretty good humidity, so I layered my clothing to keep from getting frostbite.  Ok, I really just decided to throw on some UA Heatgear under my BB.com Tshirt.  Figured I’d test out their claims about wicking away moisture and such.  I made sure to time my arrival to 2:30pm, so it would be hot and nasty.  Figure if I’m going to do cardio, might as well make it as nasty as possible.  So, I decided to take the 3.1 mile Orange trail.  I went about 1/2 mile at a brisk walk for warmup, then stopped at the football fields for some sprints.  I always feel stupid sprint training because here I am a 35 year old man, but I still get down in a 3 point stance to start sprints.  It just doesn’t feel right to do it any other way.  As I am sprinting the 40 yds, I can still hear my old coaches in my head pushing us harder, trying to get the best out of us.  10 sprints and then it’s back to the trail.  I alternated walking and jogging the rest of the way to the 1/2 way point, where you turn around and head back.  Jogged it to the field again and hit 5 more sprints.  I’m sure the people watching thought I was nuts, but who cares?  Then a brisk jog back to the start where I was checked out by a stunningly healthy young lady.  Go me!  I was sweaty and exhausted, but when she took off running, I swear I felt like I could do it again.  Then common sense returned and I headed home to catch some rest and a shower.

Going to hit the treadmill soon and do my HIT, then take old Catfish for a walk around the hood.  Cardio Sunday has been fun (and by fun I mean painful) and will be repeated in the near future.

Ok, to continue from yesterday, when the #s didn’t make sense with my results, here is an update.  Trixter provided a link in the comments which cleared things up quite a bit.  My average rmr is 2,041.  So a 2300 cal diet is a surplus on rest days or 259 cals.  I have 3 of those currently, so I am getting a 777 surplus for the week..  My deficit on exercise days is @ 400 cals.  I exercise 4x a week (i know this isn’t completely accurate), so that leaves a 1600 cal deficit for the week.  That leaves a grand difference for the week of -823 for the week.  That means that on an average day, I will be 117.57142 cals under maintenance.  That should be enough to continue to slowly lose fat. 

My macros are 46-33-21 (P-C-F).  I need to study this subject  more as I have a vague knowledge.  I never paid much attention to Carbs, except to ensure that I get the good slow ones.  My protein is a little over 1.5 g per lb, so that’s about right where I want to be.  At least now I can research and test carb cycling and such.  Should be fun.

BTW- Thanks Trixter! 

Ok, I never really check my calories or macros too much, but today was weird.  Of course this is all based upon generic formulas from the web, but it makes no sense.  I am supposedly burning 3800 cals a day on workout days.  I am taking in 2300 calories.  That seems to be a big difference.  I should be losing weight like crazy, but I’m pretty steady.  So I can only assume that my calories burned is less than 3800.  It would be around 2500 to account for the rate of fat loss.  Anybody really know if that looks way out of whack?

Ok, I never really check my calories or macros too much, but today was weird.  Of course this is all based upon generic formulas from the web, but it makes no sense.  I am supposedly burning 3800 cals a day on workout days.  I am taking in 2300 calories.  That seems to be a big difference.  I should be losing weight like crazy, but I’m pretty steady.  So I can only assume that my calories burned is less than 3800.  It would be around 2500 to account for the rate of fat loss.  Anybody really know if that looks way out of whack?

Last night it got late before I knew it.  Playing Indiana Jones Legos on PS3, avoiding the phone and waiting until after the boy was tucked in to hit my workout.  Well, by the time he was toes up under the sheets, it was later than I had thought.  Well, and off day wouldn’t hurt ran briefly through my mind as I let out a yawn.  Need some sleep.  Got a date for Wed. night and those have been going into the early hours of the morning, so Wed. and probably Thurs. are off days.  One more won’t hurt.  So, I laced ‘em up and went and hit legs.  Why?  Fear.  Fear of regressing.  The irrational fear that one missed workout will make my belly poke out again.  I know this is not possible with my nutrition, but I don’t reinforce the facts here.  I use that fear as my motivation.  For every "I just don’t have time" I hear, I reply that I don’t really either, but as a dad I need to show my son that health is important, and how can I do that by being fat?  People don’t like that response.  Other times I point out that I’m a single dad, so I do all the household chores as well, while they have a loving spouse to assist them.  There is time.  Everyone on this site already knows this.  You make time for things that you hold dear.  So, I made time last night and had a great leg workout.  I feel better today than if I’d had the extra 45 minutes of sleep that I could have gotten. 

My barbershop was all excited about talking about getting in shape when I went last Saturday.  They asked how I did it (hadn’t been there in a while), but when I told them to quit eating McDonald’s biscuits and burgers and to eat 6 small meals a day, all I heard was how they hated to eat, or couldn’t give up this or that.  Since I didn’t want a bad haircut, I bit my lip and smiled.  I hate cardio, but I do it because I have to in order to reach my goals.  Until someone is sick and tired of doing the same things over and over and failing, they won’t make the time. 

I hear the same excuses everyday.  Somehow people need to justify their lack of fitness to me.  I guess I look as though I might care?  And I do, a little…

But I get so tired of excuses!  It’s Bush’s fault!  I can’t do this!  I can’t afford that!  Quite frankly, the mortgage fiasco is everyone’s fault.  The cowboys who ran around making bad loans for the commissions, the banks who profitted from the bad loans and general fraud of an ARM, the politicians who should have been regulating the banks, the people who knew they could barely afford their homes and had to know that interest rates would be going up, then took out loans against equity and spent it on big screens and cars they couldn’t afford either.  Everyone is to blame, but no one wants to admit that they screwed up.  It’s always someone else’s fault.  It is the same whether it’s weight loss, finance, politics, the job, whatever.  Nothing will change until people start taking responsibility for their actions and their lives.  If you want to be fit and lean, take responsibility.  It is your problem, not McDonald’s, not your neighbor’s, and not your family’s.  If you want money, save your money.  Don’t spend it unnecessarily.  If getting rich were as easy as making more money, everyone would do it.  You have to spend less than you make and save.  Plan for emergencies.  Cash is king in economics, if you’ve got it, you are in a position of power.  Fitness is king in life, if you’ve got it, you can enjoy life just a little more.  You have more opportunity to do things because you are healthy enough to actually do things.  When the shit hits the fan, what’s your reaction?  Action is better than inaction.  If you accept responsibility, you can act to change things.  If you blame, helplessness slips in the door and despair isn’t far behind. 

So in order to be physically and financially fit, humans must accept responsibility for their actions.  Refusal to accept reality results in living second hand in an altered reality.  Fake living in a fake existence.  This causes unhappiness.  No pinch hitter can live your life.  If you want to be fit, there are no excuses that are acceptable.  If you create a Bodyspace profile, you have made a promise to yourself.  You must keep it.  You must be impeccable with your word.  If you cannot keep a promise to yourself, what good are you to the world?  You owe yourself first. 

Ok, today was hot here in the Peach State.  Humid too.  Seems to suck the energy right out of you.  Fortunately, being a native, it is routine now.  I have noticed by reviewing my workout journal (i did not want to say reviewing my log, some of you guys are perverts), I realized that I have taken more off days this month and done less cardio. 

I started keeping track of my jumping jacks last month, but don’t have a full month’s data.  To date this month I have done 7,625 jumping jacks, which doesn’t mean a thing.  I think I an hit 10,000 for the month fairly easily.  If you are unaware, I fill my time between sets by doing 50 jj’s.  It is not intended to replace cardio, nor does it burn an excessive amount of calories, but I have noticed that my calves have some more definition than before I started, so that is enough reason to continue even if the other benefits are relatively minor. 

I’ve been doing ab work everyday.  Not tremendous amounts, but one exercise for 3 sets.  Thinking of going to an ab only day instead to see the difference in results and to change it up some more.  Anybody have an opinion on working abs?

Well, I did measure my bodyfat upon my arrival home.  I have to admit I was scared due to being only 2 weeks removed from vacation where I ate 3 meals a day and had too many fast carbs and not enough fast women . 

The results were all over the board with measurements having a wider range than usual.  I do 5 measurements and take the average.  End result I was at 7.14 %.  Now I don’t think that I look like someone with 7% bf, and maybe I’m not doing it completely right, but hey all results are under 8.2%, so even if I’m wrong it’s still pretty good.  As long as I’m consistent with how I measure I can use it to show progress.

 This latest progress is not great, but I’ll take it.  Especially since I was scared that there would be no progress or even a little gain.  I have been doing my HIIT cardio, but not as often as I used to, so that’s making a comeback. 

Hope y’all have a great weekend!

Ok, I was on vacation at the beginning of the month, and trying to play catch up at work ever since, but part of my workout program this month is the same as the title of this blog.  To honor the 4th of July this month I will be/have been doing 21s.  I have done barbell and dumbell so far with two to figure out. 

My lats are still too high, still working on bringing them down some.  My hamstrings are okay, but my quads aren’t growing.  I remember deep canyons running down my quads.  Never should have let those go. 

Well, I’ve put it off long enough I suppose.  I was sched. to measure bf last Fri, but did not.  I was a week removed from vacation.  I will measure tonight… maybe.

I’ve gotten compliments from people throughout my whole life.  On my athletic prowess and boyish good looks when I was younger, on my great sense of humor when I was a fatty fat fatso, and a whole bunch more now that I’m fit, but never have I been as flattered as I was last night.

Sure, I get some really great compliments from the site members and you guys rule! However for some reason an in person compliment seems to be different somehow.  What happened was totally unexpected and inadvertent on her part, but I heard it.  So, here’s the story…

There I was, throwing darts with a friend way too late on a Monday night at a sports bar, drinking alchoholic beverages after a fantastic dinner of Bamboo steamed Chilean Sea Bass and Pecan Encrusted Trout.  We were discussing old times (we went to high school together) and what people we know are up to these days.  It was my turn to throw, so I went up to the line and she was going to make a quick call to another girl we went to school with to verify what someone else was up to (don’t ask me, i"m a guy… I suck at gossip).  Well, no call is ever really that short is it?  I decided to go to the men’s room.  Now, her back was to the restrooms and the darts are right there at the entrance, so I didn’t have far to go.  Well as I was coming back to the table, I couldn’t help but overhear her conversation.  She was talking about how great dinner was and that she was really having a good time.  Then she said the words that have me suffering from a permanent grin today…"Jeff looks even better than he did in school!  I LOVE his body!"  And she had only seen me with clothes on, so I was incredibly flattered by the statement.

As it grew later (yes, she whooped me at darts) we decided to go back to my place and watch Talladega Nights.  Well, long story short, we stayed up way too late talking and I got maybe 2 hours of sleep.  I feel fantastic though, as everytime I start to feel some fatigue, I just remember that compliment and a sly grin comes to my face and a little jolt of energy shoots up my spine. 

I am not nearly done with this stubborn body of mine, but I cannot tell you how awesome I felt hearing that.  I hope that one day someone else here is the recipient of their best compliment ever.  That is a natural high.