my 1 rep max!                     

(7-03-12)

1 rep bench = 201lbs
95%=191

90% = 181 

85% = 171  

80% = 161

75% = 151

70% =141

65%= 131

60%= 121

55%=111

50%=100

45%=90

(7-06-12) 1)
1 rep squats = 246 lbs
95% = 234                    
90% = 221                  
85% = 209         

80% =197

75% =184 

70% = 172

65% =160

60% = 148

55% = 135

50% = 123

45% = 111

(7-07-12)

1 rep straight bar bicep curl max =86 lbs
95%= 82
90%= 77
85%= 73
80%= 69
75%= 64
70%= 60
65%= 56
60%= 52
55%= 47
50%= 43
45%= 39

i tried to start phase 1 of the atkins diet yesterday (april,17 2012) and what do i do,cheat! not that bad though
i had about 4 cups of coffee threw out the day with splenda rather then coffee w/sugar and also about 50 oz of water as well. the cheating started when my wife bought me a basket of breaded shrimp, then later on i had a small bowl of mac and cheese! everything i'm not suppose to eat.. then today(april 18,th) i ordered a cup of coffee light and sweet the normal way i'm use to, forgetting to ask for splenda.
the beginning of the atkins diet (phase 1)will take a little getting use to.the first two weeks of the diet is mainly a cleansing of carbs in the body to turn it into a full fledged fat burning machine! so in all fairness i really did not prep myself properly. and what i mean by prep is getting my foods that i'm gonna be eating daily like my main dishes...chicken,steaks,eggs bacon salad etc. this week when i go shopping i will make sure i include all my cheeses,salad dressings cold cuts etc. on atkins i can eat all that and as much as i want when ever i want. for me personally,my battle is with sugar in liquids like soda and coffee. i really do not eat that much but you would not think so looking at me @ 244lbs. for a list of foods on phase 1 of the atkins diet check out the link i provided. it's practically unlimited accept for the basic culprits loaded with carbs...also the main web sight has great info and helpful tools to get you going if you think atkins might be for you . i know it works in spite what you may have heard threw out the years of this diet becoming popular. this is anything but a popular diet. it has 4 phases and will become a way of life if you understand and follow all 4 phases correctly.
my main goal for this week is to get into the gym and get use to my basic routine of getting on that elliptical for a good 15 minutes on the Kilimanjaro program. anything after that is a bonus like the past two days i have walked on the treadmill on the weight loss program set for 60 min. i couldn't believe i walked that much but i did it so i might keep doing this as well. and i also do 4 sets of dips. 1st set with just my natural weight,then 3 sets with the assist bar set on 90lbs.when i get all these carbs burnt off my body will use nothing but fat for energy and the pounds will shred off.
also splenda is not the best thing to use.it has asparatin that was found unhealthy.but i have half a box left and i will use the rest of it then make the switch to stevia which is a all natural sweetener.

http://www.atkins.com/Program/Phase-1/What-You-Can-Eat-in-this-Phase.aspx

http://www.atkins.com/Home.aspx

http://www.sweetleaf.com/

since i lost my 40 lbs i set out for in june,i had no idea i would do it in less than two months.

so this past holiday weekend(easter) i went on a small binge and ate pizza, burgers with the bun,hot dogs with the bun, soda etc. all the things i've managed to avoid to lose the weight i basically ate. only over the weekend but man did i feel guilty! i realized i'd like to lose another 10 even 20 lbs! that would put me @ 190/180lbs. i asked some friends what they thought and they said i would look to skinny and there probably right. my thinking here is if i do lose an extra 10/20 lbs now,over the summer i can put it back on without becoming fat and i might be able to see some muscle in my abs. i'm not sure maybe i should just start weight lifting more in the gym now and stay @ 200lbs. friends are starting to say i look great and i got so thin etc but my gut still seems to be rounded though beneath my chest now.(lol)

some people are asking me how did i do it? what are you eating? do you exercise? so i think just so i can keep better track of what i'm putting into my body i'm gonna log everything in a journal then post it up here or in a new blog...my daily intake.i'll try to include my lunch,dinner recipes(but dont expect much lol) and snacks a long the way. until next time...wish me luck!

wow it's been 2 weeks since i made my last post but i have awesome news,i made 200lbs!

i cant believe i did it so fast. though i still have a little flab on the belly i feel great! i'm doing 45 min on the elliptical now and dropped the assistance  on the dip tower to 64lbs.i started doing close grip bench instead of push ups and even starting to use the sit up machine.

the atkins diet really worked well and now it's time to go onto phase2 or 3 and start adding carbs back into my meals.i got my 2nd oldest son to get in there with me and it's pretty cool working out and spending more time together.

heres a few pics of me in February and a recent shot of me today. a few people told me there was a big difference and i have to agree. i'm on my last hole on my belt as well.now i just have to focus and tone up. though i doubt i can get a six pack by june i would love it if i can see a hint of muscle in my abs but mostly want to tighten up my chest,shoulders and arms.

that's it for today! wish me luck!

well, it's been more than a few days that i was off my diet. yup cheated again.don't know why figured i wanted a tast of this or that and turn into one more day of this and that and before i knew it i didn't make it to the gym for a few days. i worked today(sun) and i was kinda tired when i got home. i had a couple of hours  of sunlight left and it was really nice out,i didn't wanna waste it so i got the gas filled back up for the bbq and while i was there i pushed myself to go back to the gym even if it was to get on the elliptical for 30 min so i did. then i said to myself(self) your doin good, i feel like i can do another 5 so i did,than another 5 and another! for the first time ever i was on that machine for 45 minutes straight! for me that is a big accomplishment. when i started i could only do 15/20....so i was pretty happy. i was sweating  really good and said i did my job but i'm not done but i was pressed for time so i got on the tower and did my four sets of dips and even used less assist than i did before(64lbs) so that was it but it felt good to be back in the gym and doin what i set out to do even though i wasn't feeling it that much. after i was done i felt a lot better and was thinking summer is just around the corner and i might not be able to get a six pack by then but at least i can still be able to take my shirt off. sit ups and push up are a real drag for me to do but i gotta start to get them done fast in order to flatten out this gut.

my first workout last week throwing up the weights and didn't feel as sore as i thought i would but gonna keep it 1 day a week for the next cpl of weeks to ease into it. by then i should be showing some muscle tone  and push myself a little harder.im suppose to do it tomorrow but have my wing chun class and would probably drain me after work so i think i'm gonna save it for tues! that about wraps it all up for me...i got my focus back and know what i wanna do it's time to get back to doing it.

wish me luck!

well cheating on my diet last week visiting my in laws didn't do a thing for me but halt my weight loss!
but hey i lost 30 lbs in like 3.5 weeks so i cant complain.gotta start going back to what i was doing and the rest will follow.
went to my wing chun class and did some nice drills.i love how this system uses the arms and hands for really quick entry into the opponent. i need a lot of practice though in order to be effective.i can see how this would be though with enough time put in. very direct,no flowery moves. my teacher made a video of the class today so i'm gonna try to get it up soon. tomorrow it's back to the gym and gonna start to throw up the weights so that's about it for today.i', still @ 210lbs but my gut is still sticking out a little so gotta pay more attention to the abs and hopefully i can look decent by june.
wish me luck!

wow so i finally made up my mind to go to the gym(one of those days) and by the time i got there they were closing in a half hour so i go to walmart to look at some cheap scales and found one open on the floor,i couldn't resist so i get on it and it says 210lbs! wow! i feel awesome! i can't believe i'm losing weight so easy. so what do i do? i go to a pizza place and order a slice and a meatball hero with a bottle of coke. felt kinda bad while i was eating eat too but hell i've been a good boy. and i'm ready to hit the weights today.so while i probably have to start over and get the sugar out of my body again it shouldn't take to long and am confident i will be down to 200lbs before i know it. maybe by next week!
funny though while i did slime down my gut is still past my chest. a little confused about this but hopefully as i'm starting to lift weights and do sit ups etc it will start to pull under my chest! but time will tell...
that all i got for today i'm off to the gym to start my weight lifting program so i'll post how that goes later.

wish me luck!

went to planet fitness the other day to do the free consultation and found out i'm only @ 25.9% bodyfat. that's not bad for a person who hasn't worked out or hasn't even eaten healthy. so joe is asking me my fitness goals as were talking and i tell him i'm basically i'm trying to lose 40 lbs and tone up. come to find out he's on a low carb diet as well! so i get weighed and i find out the scale at my wing chun class was in fact accurate,i even lost an extra pound from the night before so it reads 221lbs,cool! he said good job and was somewhat surprised as i was when i told him when i started.i told him i'm tracking everthing i do on bodybuilder.com and he told me he uses it as well! nice! so he sets me up with a small workout program to tone up the upper body area that i'm looking for.chest,shoulders,back,arms...this is what he suggested.

1)machine rows 3x12
2)dumbbell incline bench 3x12
3) machine press 3x12
4)standing press 3x12
5)single arm press 3x12

might be too much for a beginning workout program but i'll give it a shot.
i dont know how much i can lift so i'll take it slow.i'm not weak but just dont know if 15 total sets is something i can even handle.anyway joe was in pretty good shape so i thought id just follow his advise. i was thinking of going today(sat)but i'm not sure.gonna weigh in again on monday unless i break down and buy a scale myself.
i'm pretty curious how much i lost since last time!i kinda forgot to ask him to measure all my body parts so i'm gonna do that myself soon.
last night i went to the gym and started on the elliptical,i kinda wasn't looking forward to it but the first 5 min in i started getting warmed up i look down and my speed is @ 9.2! i'm usually around 8.0/8.5 and 7.0/7,5 on a sluggish day. so i was into it and just went with it for a cpl of min then brought it down to 8.0 then before i knew it i was back to 9.0! so i guess i'm doing pretty good. i am missing my rice,potato pizza,pasta,bread but i'm feeling pretty good about myself and what i've done so far.
i noticed my gut slimming down a little and can wait till my gut is BENEATH my chest! lol...
anyway that's all i got for today!
wish me luck!

well so far i'm very happy i lost 18 lbs since i started the last week of February.i get my free consultation-from planet fitness today so maybe i can get measurements of my chest,arms waist etc,and get started on a small weightlifting program.i think i have to use the elliptical with some tension now though but i think im gonna start that next week. i think the dips are getting a little easy as well so i'm gonna use less assist on the tower.
i've been slacking on the push-ups.i have a strained shoulder and the pain goes down to my elbow. guess it doesn't help to move furniture for a living. but i need to tone up as you can tell from my progress pictures. they were taken only a week apart. i never took a picture when i started until i found bodybuilding.com. i'm enjoying keeping track of what i'm doing and trying to keep it up.
my wing chun class went pretty well. learned some new drills and found out i'm gonna get tested on the names of all the names of the drills in Chinese.there's a 3hour class coming up this sunday open to all that wanna be introduced to the wing chun system or progress there skills further.they will have advanced students and beginners alike.it's a great class. to find out more info about it go to http://www.ctwingchun.com/ and click on classes.the class is located at.
Practical Self Defense Training Center
847 Hamilton Ave.
Waterbury Connecticut 06706
Phone: 203-596-9073
well that's it for today! only 22 lbs to go!

wish me luck! charlie_g68

got my workout in Saturday and felt better.i did four sets of dips instead of the normal three and got my sit ups in.had to cut it short though because i had to make a trip to ny. i brought my big screen tv to my mother in laws house and though she loved it, while i was back in ny i had a small hiccup. i cheated on my diet!i haven't been in ny in some time and had to visit my favorite pizza place for dinner.had the chicken cutlet parm dinner w/ a side of stuffed shells!i felt bad but it tasted good and was good to be back in my home town again.
as far as my atkins(phase1)diet,i have to start over.(no problem) as far as drinking goes witch is my biggest weakness(soda)i'm going with a coffee in the morning sweetened with stevia.stevia is a natural sweetener that to me,taste as good,if not better than sugar but does have a small after taste and to me that's a small sacrifice.than after coffee 2/3 8oz servings of water. that's easy because i move furniture for a living so i can throw that down no problem. than around dinner time i'll use 1/2 servings crystal light.
so for the next two weeks i gotta be firm and make sure i don't intake any carbs and no sugar in any form at all and i should be burning nothing but fat from that point on!
monday i gotta stop by the gym for a consultation from planet fitness! maybe i can get measurements of my arms,chest etc. then i can watch with more accuracy if i make the necessary changes or not.
i also going into my second week of wing chun classes and i can weigh myself for the fist time since i started going to the gym the last week of February so i cant wait to see if i dropped any weight at all! (keeping my fingers crossed)
well that's all i got. hope everybody had a great weekend. talk to you all soon.
charlie_g

i started my wing chun class on monday and it felt really good! i'm going two times a week,trying to stay active and this is a great way to do it!

my sifu andrew diguiseppi was happy to see me return to class and we started by doing stretching ,footwork,chain punching and ended with our first form.it dosen't sound like a lot but the footwork alone is very hard because of the stance we use to train,it develops the quads,hamstrings,calves and even the hip flexors.i thought i had some strength in my legs but i found out quickly i need a lot of work to be done.but for a better understanding of wing chun please visit my sifu(teacher's)web sight.

http://www.ctwingchun.com/index.html

going to the gym on a regular basis now and starting to feel like i'm getting something done though i haven't weighed myself yet, i got up to 30 minutes on the elliptical machine and 30 minutes on the tread mill.i did my basic workout tues even though i was tired from work and had a massive headache! after the sweat & tears i was glad i got in there and just did it!

out of all this,i'm trying to start the atkins diet! i miss my wife's cooking because she makes really good spanish rice & beans,beef stew etc. but i have to cut the carbs at least until i get down to the weight i want. soda was the biggest culprit of my weight gain though so i have to cut that out as well and drink a lot of water. or a good substitute instead of water(because i hate water)is cristal light or wyler's light. wyler's is a little cheaper but they both come in good flavors and my kids even like it so it's a win win there! eatting steak or chicken with a good salad mixed with roasted peppers and cheese for dinner and eggs,beacon & sausage for breakfast. nothing with carbs like pasta,bread,potatos, drinks with carbs but for info go to the atkins web sight and learn what it is really about(not what most people tell you)theres so many negitive story's iv'e heard about this diet and it is simple not true.here is the link to find out more about a really great diet that finally works!
http://www.atkins.com/Homepage.aspx

well i'm going to the gym tonight! tryin to keep it going. june will be here before i know it and i want to get down to 200 lbs! that's a lot to do in such a short time but i think i can do it between going to the gym/wing chun class and the atkins diet i should have no problem but time will tell!

wish me luck!  charlie-g