The Journey

A few days ago I went to a veterans day celebration at my Wife’s workplace, a nursing home.  It was just a quick drop off before hitting the gym, but I wanted to show my support for my fellow veterans and say hello to the Wifey.  Later, when she got home she said that one of her coworkers referred to me as "That big guy".  It really was a shock to me, because… as we all do.. you never realize what progress you have made until someone else slaps you in the face with it.  That really made me smile and put things in perspective.  I’ve done a lot so far, and with a little more pushing I can make my dreams a reality.

I’ve altered my routine a bit, moved back to the 3 sets of 12 standard for a while.  And it’s been crazy.  My body really got used to the 666 thing, because going back was much harder than I thought.  I’m rotating the workouts as well, changing the order of the different exercises and will be throwing in a few curve balls as well to keep my body guessing.  I’ve definitely plateaued and I really want to get things moving again.

I hope to start taking a fat burner soon, just to give myself that extra boost to cut.  I’ve bulked up a good bit, but there are areas that are remaining stubborn and just won’t burn off.  I’m still doing 4 miles of cardio a day, 5 days a week… but it’s not going away.  I was off the hardcore diet for a few weeks while my Wife was having her issues, comfort food to keep me sane… but I am back on the gold standard again, eating clean.  So maybe with a fat burner, lots of water, and clean dieting… I can get these last stubborn areas cleaned up and crisp.

Well, I hope the holidays treat you all well.  Don’t let the cold weather or the loads of food deter you from your goals.  Just stick to it, keep pumping…  I know I will.

Well, I lost a month or so of progress due to life… Yeah, it’s sounds like the standard excuse… But it’s not.  My Wife had a seizure and was put on meds to get her healthy again, but the meds barred her from being able to drive for a month.  So I was her official driver for that period of time, and on top of my normal schedule…which was tight already.

So I was forced to get in maybe a day or two a week of workouts, basically just maintaining my shape.  But here I am, last week was the last one I had to worry about… so I am back.  Next week I start back on my normal 5 day schedule, and will keep pushing my body forward.

At least I didn’t gain anything, that’s a plus.  I did do a lot of stress induced eating that probably wasn’t too good.  lol

I hit a small plateau, and my workout was getting stale.  It was about 9 weeks in, so it was to be expected.  I decided I was going to tackle the new 666 routine that the Scivation guys have been so excited about, and man does it NOT disappoint.  The first week was brutal, I was sore every day.  My muscles were shocked into growth and my body responded by shredding fat as fast as possible.  Here I am at the beginning of week 2 and my body is visibly different, at least to me.  The gut is nearly gone and my chest is starting to show a little bit.  The only snag I really hit was last leg day, I think my knees were really being hit hard by the squats and leg presses.  So I am going to wrap them this week, just to keep me from getting injured.  All in all though, the new routine helps keep my workouts intense and quick.  And I feel like a beast in the gym, it’s been a fantastic ride.  I should have some new progress pics up soon, so stay tuned!

The change in my diet worked like a charm, I’m now losing pounds again.  Usually about 1-2 a week, slowly but surely.  I ran out of Superpump AND out of my primary Whey, so that sucks.  But I still have my backup, less expensive Whey… so I can use that.  And I have a buttload of samples from BB.com for pre-workout, so I think I can manage until I get paid again.

This week was my first full week that included Squats and Deadlifts, and I have to say that I absolutely LOVE Deadlifts.  Such a great workout, makes the whole body feel wrecked a few days later.  Squats are nice as well, but excruciating.  But including them both at last seems to have helped my gains, I feel like I’m making outstanding progress in just this week alone.  It’s been 9 weeks so far,  21 lbs dropped… feeling great.

I’m looking forward to week 10, another great set of workouts.. maybe work in some supersets early in the week.  I am going to try to increase my cardio from 30 to 40 mins, and continue on this journey to a new body.

This week I changed my diet a bit, as my weight has plateaued as of late.  Gave myself a bit more clean calories, good protein and more carbs in the morning.  Also starting taking Casein last night, to help keep the body processing nutrients for as long as possible.  It seems to be working out, I woke up this morning not nearly as starved as usual.

The Casein was chalky and hard to swallow, but it does the trick.  Today I also tackled Squats for the first time.  Don’t laugh, but I was afraid of that workout for a while… just always intimidated me.  I don’t have a spotter or a partner, so I get a little nervous doing a workout that could very well end in a bad injury or a fainting incident.  lol

But I did it on the Smith machine, to help with my form and balance.  It was new, and hard to do at first.  But I think I got the hang of it, and found how much I should be pushing.  I finished the rest of my leg day with a lot of good exercises and pushed as heavy as I could.  I did 6 sets instead of 3 for my calves as well, I want to add more bulk there if I can.  I did 3 with my toes in and 3 with my toes out.  My gym doesn’t have anything except for the seated calf raise machine, so it’s all I got.  I did my cardio on an elliptical with the ramp really high, just to get another good calf workout in.

I also took another round of shots today, which gave me great motivation.  My front deltoids are growing a lot, and my rear deltoids are starting to show more as well.  So my focus work on that area seems to have paid off.  My Biceps are responding well too, as is my chest.  The love handles and extra fat on my torso still stubbornly hang on, but it’s starting to melt off slowly.

I know I have a long way to go, but the pics have really helped keep me motivated and pushing.  We will see if my diet is working the way I want it to in the coming weeks.  I’m still keeping my balance at 45/30/25 for Protein/fats/carbs, and keeping the calories right at 2000 or a little bit higher… so I hope it does.  It’s been a great 7 weeks, looking forward to week 8!

Josh

Today was pretty epic, I spend my standard 20 mins on the treadmill and then somehow I clocked 2 hrs on weight training.  I was focusing on my rear deltoids and biceps/forearms.  But somehow time got away from me, I just lost myself in the process.  The Superpump 250 has been helping me out immensely, I don’t get as tired by the end as I used to.  I was able to get everything done that I wanted to.

I’m really proud of how far I have come in such a short time, and even more devoted to the new lifestyle I’ve adopted.  I just want to keep pushing, I’m not looking to satisfy a goal and then just go back to my old habits.  I want to continue on, as long as I can physically handle it.  It just feels so good to have a habit that is actually good for me.  lol

Today I hit the weights hard, and it was crazy how good I felt.  My muscles, especially my arms and chest… are really responding.  My triceps are popping and my man boobs are dwindling.  I am really having a great time, it’s done amazing things for my confidence and emotions.  I feel like a new man in every sense of the word.

I really hope that it continues to be this fast moving, I am upping my protein now and will be starting a few supplements this week that will hopefully give me the boost I need.  I’m also going to be varying my routine a bit, to change things up and keep my muscles guessing.  I’ve been on the same workout routine for 5 weeks now, and it might be a good time to do that.

I’m moving biceps/shoulder days to Mon/Thurs and Chest/Back/tris to Tues and Fri.  I will also be doing a few different workouts, and shuffling the order a bit of the others.  I’m hoping to up the weight as well, try some supersets, etc.  Just to shake things up.

We will see if all this has any effect or not, but we will see.  More info as I get there.

Well, here I am one month after starting and I am already well on my way to my goal weight.  I’m continuing to push hard, staying healthy and moving forward. This weekend was hard for me, it was my Birthday and some friends came over with cake and soda, which was very hard to resist.  I had a small sliver of cake and abstained on the soda, but now I have a half a cake in my house and I just want to throw it out the window.  lol

It was very sweet of them to do that for me, but it’s temptation I don’t need right now.  I wish I had neighbors, I would give them the leftovers.

To top off the weekend, my Wife came home Sunday with Pizza.  Yeah.  Pizza.  So instead of one cheat day, I had two.  And I ate a leftover piece this morning instead of my breakfast.  So it was a complete bust all weekend.  I felt horrible and bloated.

Lesson learned though, now I will try to impress on my friends and Wife how important my diet and training regiment is to me.  I want to remain focused, and I can’t have any setbacks like that.  It’s ok every now and again, but not all together.

Anyway, I went to the gym and busted my ass today to make up for it.  I did not gain any weight, so we are all good.  But it was a worrisome couple of days.

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