Devin’s BodyBlog

Well, I’ve been out of the picture for a bit, but just to let you guys know I’m still here.  I’m down to 205 now (8lbs less than feb).  I’m hoping to keep the weight loss coming.  Once I break the 200 barrier, I’ll be lighter than I’ve been since I stopped growing vertically.

Stay happy!

So my trainer is going on holidays for the next three weeks, and I hit the gym yesterday and killed my shoulders and arms, with a nod to my back and abs.  It was awesome to feel that I could push myself hard without someone looking over my shoulder and poking me with sticks (no really, he would poke me with sticks if I wasn’t fast enough).  I did 3 sets of sit-ups and three sets of back raises, followed by a pyramid style shoulder raises at 8lbs/20 reps, 10lbs/15 reps and 15lbs/10 reps; three sets of that was pretty killer, but I followed through with some pull-downs for my back/lats to give my shoulders a little break.  Next I did a pyramid for my triceps in a 5/20, 10/15, 15/10 setup, and a bicep pyramid at 10/20, 15/15, 20/10.  I ended my workout with 45 minutes on the elliptical to get that acid out of my muscles, and now I only feel a little soreness today.

It felt so good to get a good workout, and that I was able to successfully do it myself was a great bonus, too.  Wednesday will be a leg day, with Saturday a chest/back day.

Wish me luck,

Well, this has been quite the week; I have been floored with all the physical improvements that seem to have popped out of "nowhere".  This week I’ve done things I never expected I was capable of.  Last week was just the tip of the iceburg.

Monday was another cardio/no weight day; did my meal plan very well.

Tuesday was an upper body day.  Push-ups and sit-ups and shoulder presses and rows.  It was exhausting and wonderful at the same time.  Lets just say I was happy to do cardio/rest for an hour afterwards.  Did you know that cardio after a weight workout gets the acid out of your muscles and almost completely removes the unusable downtime.  Cardio has become a form of relaxation for me.  I have officially become a freak… <.<

Wednesday another cardio day.

Thursday I thought was gonna be a leg day turned into another upper-body near full-body workout, and my body was up to it.  My trainer always seems to try to kill me, but my lunges are getting easier, and I’m starting to get down on my knees with each lunge, something I wasn’t able to do before.  I also don’t fall down way as much as before.

Friday was a cardio day

Saturday was a full body suicide.  I found out afterwards that my trainer’s previous appointment canceled before he found out, so there was a possibility he took some of it out on me :S  He had me do five sets of lunges then duck-walks then push-up/chin-ups.  What surprised me most of this workout was I was able to do the duck walk and the chin-ups the first time, then the realization that I was able to do all of that for five sets totally floored me.  It was awesome!!!!!

This week I lost 2 lbs from last week and expect more weight loss over the next week as I up the cardio.  More calorie burn + same food consumption = calorie deficit = weight loss = Happy me!

So things are going great for my body.  My dressy pants that were starting to get snug (I’d just bought them this year) are finally fitting perfectly again; actually, that’s a lie; they’re getting a little loose, so I’ll have to get them pulled in.  All this great news and I’m starting to not look forward to my wardrobe bill once my weight loss levels out.  What will my end waist measurements be, I wonder…?  Well, that’s neither here nor there, yet; I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.

I’ll let you guys in on a secret: none of my friends back home know I’m doing this, and my family only knows that I’m working out.  I haven’t sent any updated pics, and I don’t plan to do it until this summer when I’ll floor them with my drastic transformation (at least to them it’ll be drastic, some days it feels like a snail’s pace).  It’s a little spice that I’m adding to my goal.

Anywho, I think that’s all for now; I’ll keep you posted on news as it develops.  Thanks for reading

Kudos!

So I think I’ve gotten out of my personal funk this week.  And things are looking pretty good.  I’ve broken past 216lbs, and anticipate a little more drastic weight loss.  It’s helping that I’ve gotten onto a new, healthier diet; I swear most of the weight loss is a result of that diet, and I’ve only seriously been on it almost two days.  So, on to the weekly report:

Monday was a dud.  I was still funky from last week and didn’t put much priority into working out.

Tuesday was legs day.  I did lunges and squats and leg presses and step ups.  It was pretty intense, though I noticed that I was a little more capable than on previous leg days; things were just a little easier, so I did more of them.

Wednesday was a cardio day.  Ran on the elliptical for 40 minutes.  Very sweaty stuff, but I got through it.

Thursday was an upper body day.  It was so intense.  I did burpees, inclined bench presses, bent over rows.  My trainer even had me do a round of wheelbarrow exercises.  Y’know, where you’re held by your feet and you propel yourself ahead with your hands.  I was to do 3 push ups at every post we reached.  After the first two, I kept collapsing at each post for the next 3 posts.  It was quite the spectacle.  I really hate wheelbarrows.  We had to quit when the cold sweat and nausea started, which was perfectly timed for the end of the workout.  Didn’t do any cardio that day because I was still swirling in my stomach; didn’t want to overdo it.

Friday was another 40 minute cardio.  Went very well on the elliptical.

Today was another leg day.  More lunges and step ups and squats.  I also started a little workout with picking up a weighted air-ball, the ones gyms normally have for sit ups or whatever, that was pretty good for my obliques.  Oh, before I forget; at the beginning of my workout, I did 50 sit ups.  50 SIT UPS!!!!!!  I haven’t done a single normal sit up since I can remember; but with all the ab work I’ve done this past month, my lower abs have gained sufficient strength to actually do sit ups.  I’m still bubbly from this revelation of my increased strength and ability.  I’m so excited to see where else I can go from here.

So yeah; it wasn’t a perfect week, but I’ve gotten past my funk and been re motivated by my sit up episode to continue to work hard to get a more fit, healthy body

Well, I’m starting the next phase of my body transformation: implementing a healthier, cleaner diet.  So far I’ve been eating what I thought was good and decent (with a few exceptions, on occasion); but now I’m tightening the buckles and getting ready to kick some fat outta ma bella.  So here’s my daily meal plan, starting today.

Breakfast: 2/3 cup oatmeal; 2 hard boiled egg whites

Midmorning snack: 1 small apple; 1/2 cup cottage cheese

Lunch: 4-6 oz boneless, skinless chicken; 1/4 cup brown rice; 2 cups salad

Pre-workout: 1 small can tuna; 1 piece of bread

Post-workout: low-carb protein shake

Supper: 4-6 oz boneless, skinless chicken; 3 cups salad

Bedtime snack: low carb protein shake

So this’ll be my daily regiment for the next ten days, and in the meantime I’m going to read up on some dieting books so that I can be better informed about what to put in my belly and what should stay out of there.

Ready… GO!

Well, this was a pretty sad week; workout and otherwise.  I’ll go into some detail later, but just know that it was pretty disappointing and I’m planning on getting back on track this week

Monday was good; i had my water and my meals and got my 40 minutes on the elliptical, so a good day was had.

Tuesday, not so good.  The meals and water were good until after work, than after work I got some bad news that kinda, well more than kinda, derailed my workout for that day.  So I missed out on an upper body day, stayed home that night and had a little dose of self-pity.

Wednesday was decent.  I got some meals in and tried to get all my water, but missed a few fill-up sessions.  Fortunately it was a Trainer day, so I had to go to the gym, which was good for me.  We did legs again.  Man, legs seriously kill.  By the end of the training, my legs were jelly.  My trainer had me do some cardio afterwards (I hadn’t been doing cardio on weight days).  An interesting thing occurred.  I found that after 30 minutes of cardio on the elliptical, my legs were back to their non-jelly state.  I felt really good after my cardio.  I had never felt better after running before, so this was a nice little experience to increase my appreciation in cardio exercise.

Thursday, I was still in a slump and mis-managed my time, and didnt make any for the gym.  Another little bad day.

Friday was arms and shoulders, the first real arms and shoulders.  Ouch.  I did burpees and pyramid workouts for my shoulders, biceps and triceps.  I was only working with 5-30 lbs, but it was killer.  The pyramid workouts were 25, 20, 15 and the weights were pretty light, at first.  I really liked them, though, with all the fatigue I had even.  I did another cardio after that and my arms didn’t have the "pump" anymore, and their normal flexibility was restored.  It was a very good workout, though even today, my shoulders are a little sore.

Saturday I did manage to get a good independent workout in. Since it was a cardio day it wasn’t too tough, and it felt good to get a workout in on my own steam again since Monday.   Another 40 minutes on the elliptical and it was a good workout.  Now to get my water intake up on weekends to weekday standards and I’ll be good.

So, I let myself fall apart a bit this week.  Now the goal for next week is to pick myself back up and get back in the game.  I’m getting a bit more strength already, and my calves are really developing, I’m just hoping that my midsection will start catching up with the rest of my body.  So, sorry for the poor performance this week, and I’ll do better this coming week.

~Kudos

Man, this was a killer week, mostly for good reasons.  Monday through Wednesday I’ve already covered in a previous blog, so I won’t waste time repeating myself, so I’ll pick up on Thursday.  I did pretty good with getting all my meals in, as well as the 2-3 glasses every two hours for sixteen waking hours.  So I’m pretty hosed down if I say so.  Anyway…

Thursday’s workout was pretty intense.  It was leg day with my trainer and he worked me hard.  I did lunges and squats and step-ups and weighted lunges and off balance lunges.  So… lots of lunges.  He even had me do five calf raises for every stair in the staircase at the gym (thirteen stairs); my calves began cramping, and I felt parts I’d never felt before (or at least in a loooong time).  My legs felt pretty much like jelly after that.  Nice thing is that my trainer and I left at the same time that night, so he even offered to drive me almost to my door (dropped me off at the bottom of a hill, he said later it was to help get circulation in my legs so they would be usable the next day); that was a good night, though the last stretch home was very tiring.

Friday was a cardio day.  I’ve started using the elliptical machine; I find that I work my arms and legs more and that I can more easily maintain a higher heart rate on it than with just a treadmill.  So forty minutes of that and I was done like dinner.  I’m thinking I may get back to the rower machine again next week, but we’ll see; the elliptical is pretty intense right now.

Today (Saturday) was supposed to be an arms/shoulder day, but my trainer forgot and put me through another round of chest and back exercises.  He even helped warm me up today, which was pretty intense.  I did step-ups, leg raises/crunches and that exercise where you hold a weight to your chest while your legs are up a big and you twist your torso and legs in opposite directions.  Those were tight.  We than did some bench presses and back exercises, and me being ignorant thought that was our shoulder/arm workout, lol.  Well, we’ll get to that next week, then.

Weight-wise I was a little scared this week.  About mid-week I "unofficially" weighed myself and found I was 221, than the next morning I weighed in at 219.4.  I was scared and discouraged because of all the hard work I’d put in, I hoped that I would have at least maintained my current weight.  Fortunately, when I officially weighed in this morning (every saturday) I was back at 216.4 exactly.  So overall this week, I maintained, with occasional fluctuations.  My trainer says that this week my body had been going through a sort of "survival mode", trying to adapt to the suddenly harsher treatment it has gotten this past week, and so it was holding onto weight (water and perhaps otherwise) in an attempt to stabilize and adjust itself to this new situation.  So hopefully now that my body’s had it’s little tantrum, it’ll be a good body and start shucking the pounds more generously.

I went grocery shopping today, as well.  Stocked up on some meat, eggs, fruits and veggies and a bit more bread for lunchtime sandwiches.  I know my diet isn’t perfect right now (I’m still "indulging" on occasion [I’m not going for Mr. Canada right now]), but I’m slowly working in more and more healthful foods while I get rid of the less desirables overall.  So I’m satisfied that I’m doing a good job right now.

Okay, well that sounds like it about wraps up my update for now.  I’ve still got 100 pushups to do tonight; so I’m gonna sign off and do them before bed.  Until next I write!

Kudos!

Well, this has been an invigorating last couple ‘o days.  I met with my trainer on Saturday and was totally killed by the full body workout.  Once the nausea wore off, I was feeling pretty good.

Sunday I rested.

Monday was a cardio day where i ran for only 20 minutes, I had to get my sister.  But my left heel was sore, so I just walked briskly for most of it.

Tuesday was a pretty intense upper body workout.  I did 3 sets of 15 reps of inclined bench presses, rows, pull-downs.  I also did push-ups and sit-ups.  I had to do 100 push-ups later that night before bed because i really didn’t get many done at the gym.  It took quite a while.  My abs and arms were very fatigued, so I could only do them in groups of ten.  No nausea this time, and I got an awesome pump; shame it had faded a bit by the time I got home.  I also felt my "wings" for the first time in a long while.  It was weird, but in a good way

Today was another cardio day; I spent forty minutes at the… uhm, I forgot what it’s called; it’s like the treadmill but your feet don’t leave it’s surface and you can go forwards or backwards, and the handles pump with the foot part.  If you know what I’m talking about, you’re a genius.  But it worked my heart pretty good and gave my legs a great workout.

Now my chest and lats are a little sore, but tomorrow’s a leg day, and Saturday will be a shoulder and arm day.  I’m pretty excited

Well, this week has been quite different from last week; I’ve done a big 180 on my exercise.  Doing cardio for 45 minutes every day has been a big change.  Last week helped me maintain my weight, but after a week of full cardio, I lost abt 3 lbs.  Not bad, not bad at all.  So I met my trainer and signed up for 24 sessions + 2 complementary sessions + 1 startup complementary session; so I’m pretty stoked.  It was funny on thursday he had me do some squats and stair raises and calf workouts, then yesterday before my workout he asked how my legs felt, if they felt stiff.  I told him not really and he gave me a look of "now you’re in for it" and told me that he’s gonna have to push me harder.  So I’m meeting him tonight for my last workout of the week and we’re gonna do a lot of upper body work, so maybe next week we’ll see a bit more definition in my upper body at my week end 3 progress pic.

I’m really pleased with my weight loss this week.  down 2.6 lbs this week.  I was getting worried because in the middle of the week, I snuck a peek, and there wasn’t much change; but it must’ve crept on over the last few days. If this keeps up, I may reach my goal sooner than I thought; that’d be very nice, because than I could move on to goal 2: muscle definition.

I’ve been doing great with my water intake.  I drink 3 glasses (small) every 2 hours awake (usually over 16 hours).  I missed one or two, but for the most part I’m doing great, and my system is adjusting nicely.  I’m getting fairly regular, too :O

My diet’s been getting better.  I’ve increased the number of times I eat while decreasing how much I eat each time.  I usually get in about 5 meals a day; I’m trying to get up to 6 meals, but the evenings are pretty full and it’s hard to fit anything in, let alone that last meal.  I’m gonna keep looking for a way to introduce that meal, but for now I’m just happy I’ve got that far.

With all the running Ii did this week, I have increased my run speed to 5.6 for 5 minute intervals and my walk speed at 3.9 for 2 minute intervals.  I’m gonna try to increase the time intervals for my run speed to hopefully have a consistent run speed throughout the full run, but my body still needs to work up to that.  Too many changes at once can overwhelm the changing process, so I’m not afraid of playing on the side of caution, but my body’s drawing near the end of the adaptation phase and should soon be ready for some intense change.
Overall, I’m pretty happy with how this week’s gone.  I’m looking forward to reintroducing some strength training into the mix, to continue with the muscle development, but it wasn’t a bad week.

More updates on the horizon.  Until then!

Kudos!

Well, today I did what my trainer said I should.  I ran on the treadmill for 40 minutes, peaking and dipping so as to keep my heart rate up without wiping out too early in the exercise.  At first go, my legs felt like I had shin splints (I’ve dealt with them before, not fun), but as they warmed up and got into the rhythm of the motion, they stopped hurting, and stayed at the steady ache of legs that are not used to being used so strenuously for such a long period of time (sad, I know).  Afterwards, I got on the rower and pumped that thing for five minutes, which was about all i could take.  That thing’s killer.  Afterwards, I felt the effects in my outer pelvis, my biceps and triceps, my back and my lower and mid abs, my gluts, my hamstrings, my shins and calves.  It was five minutes of intense resistance training for my whole body.  I caught my trainer afterwards and told him about it, and that I wasn’t as sore as I thought I’d be.  He said that’s good, because he wants to push me harder, joking that he only wants to be my bud at the start.  I’m excited to see what the future will bring, exercise-wise.  I’m really stoked about the progress pics I’m gonna shoot out this weekend, because after two days of this (and yesterday was only a partial getting-to-know-you-day) I’m already starting to feel… more, is that the word.  My body is making me more aware of it, if you get what I’m saying, I don’t know how else to say it.  And starting this morning I have been doing hamstring stretches.  It’s not at all comfortable, but already I’m beginning to feel the effects of it.

well, that’s all for tonight!

Kudos!