jsfmt99’s BodyBlog

I have been nursing a sore shoulder for over a week so I’ve concentrated on my cardio and a lot of legwork.  I have remained good with my diet and am determined to lose these last 20 pounds and get down to my goal weight of 170 pounds.  Today was weigh day at the gym but unfortunately the scale was broken.  I’ve noticed how many of my bb.com friends have faded away over the months.  No more entries into their profiles and no idea of how they are progressing. Their intentions started out good but they faded away with time. It is a shame that things like this happen for whatever reason. In addition, there are a few members in my family who believe that I have gotten too thin and that I should stop losing weight.  They keep asking me when am I going to stop. What I am losing is fat and what I am going to put on later is muscle.  They don’t seem to understand that but they will when I make it happen.

Tonight I did 90 minutes of spin class (ass kicking cardio) followed by 20 minutes on the step machine and worked abs and calves. Had fat free cottage cheese for dinner and a few boiled egg whites.  I am gonna get my body fat down one-way or another.  Tomorrow I will work legs and abs.  Will not lift for upper body until my shoulder heals.

I am completely enjoying this lifestyle change and it has benefited me in every way possible.  It is more than a physical change, it has been a psychological and emotional uplift and put me in a great direction after my long recovery from my broken back and ruptured disk.

As I continued to lose weight things started happening for the better. I landed a dream job, bought an awesome new car and a wardrobe 10 sizes smaller to go along with it. No more medications, no chronic pain, no insomnia.  I feel empowered, focused and in control.  I have accomplished a lot in the past 9 months and am looking forward to hitting future goals in the upcoming months.  It can only get better.

To date I am down 80 pounds with 20 more to go.  Ten months ago when I weighed 270 pounds, I had my doubts but I just stayed focused and kept reaching for the goal, and it only got better and better.

 This has been an awesome journey in every way possible and a life changing experience.  I am in my 6^th week of Body For Life and am on my 5^th belt and am currently a 34 waist and am well on my way to a 32.  I have increased my cardio to three 90-minute spin classes each week. This is the only way that I am going to drop the last remaining 20 pounds that are sticking to me like glue.  I have been working hard on getting more toned and dropping my body fat.  I started all of this on December 14^th and can’t wait to take another progress photo this upcoming December. It is going to be one hell of an AFTER photo!   Trust me.

 
Each day is a victory!

I hit a major milestone today in my weight loss.  I began at 270 pounds and am now down to 190 pounds with 80 pounds gone.  Good riddance!
All of this has done wonders for me in every way possible. This is more than a body transformation.  I went down from a 44 waist to a 34 waist and am on my 5^th belt.  My back doesn’t bother me at all anymore and it is hard to believe that I used to have a severe back problem.  People who haven’t seen me in a while don’t even recognize me.  The shocked looks on their faces are priceless.
I have remained consistent in my diet and my Body For Life weight lifting routine.  I have increased my cardio and the 5 spin classes I have done this week helped me drop more weight. Those spin classes are NO JOKE.  45 minutes of non-stop cardio and they are awesome and I’m hooked on them. 
I am only 20 pounds away from my goal weight of 170 pounds. I’m hoping to hit that mark on or before December.
I owe much of my success to this site and to all of the great people here who have helped to motivate me and to keep me focused in achieving my goals.
20 pounds to go.  I’m gonna do it.
 
 
 

After being stuck at 194 for a couple of weeks, I finally dropped some more weight. I am happy that I got my payoff.

Down 78 pounds and made it to 192 pounds-finally.

I started taking spin classes and I gotta tell ya that they are NO JOKE!   Better than expected. 45 minutes of grueling intense non-stop cardio - Awesome.

I am 22 pounds away from my goal weight of 170.  I’m gonna do it!

Each day is a victory!

I hit a big plateau and cant drop any more weight and this week will be my 5th week of Body For Life. I have stuck to my diet and doubled up on the cardio but still no drop in weight.  However, I did buy a new smaller belt today and this is my 5th belt since I started out all of this in December 2007, so something is happening.

People who haven’t seen me in awhile do not recognize me. They are shocked and tell me how different I look since losing all of this weight-amazing.  

One of the trainers at Ballys told me that my body has completely acclimated to everything that I am doing -thats why my weight will not drop. I believe this is the case.

I decided to go back to the basics.  I am going to stop taking all supplements including no explode, muscle milk and cell mass.  I am going to change my cardio step and treadmill routine in exchange for an hour long high intensity spin class 3 times each week along with lifting every other day.

I am going to stick to the diet because it has worked well for me and got me down 76 pounds so far.

Presently I am feeling discouraged and bummed out but I know that I will eventually will plow through this plateau. It sucks putting in all this effort and not getting a payoff at the end of the week.

During my 76 pound weight loss I have hit several plateaus before but not for this long.  These last 24 pounds have been hell to lose but I know I will get there.  When I weighed 270 pounds, the 200 pound mark seemed so far away but I got there and passed that.  Now my sights are focused on 170.  It is a realistic goal.

24 more pounds. It can be done and I’m gonna get there.  Once I put my mind to something I stick with it no mattter what. I am cetrtain that in a few weeks, I can look back and read this post and realize that I was just in a temporary slump. 

It can only get better from here.

Tomorrow begins my 4th week on the B4L program.  I haven’t weighed myself in a while but can definately feel and see the changes.  At last weigh in, I was down 76 pounds at 194 pounds down from 270 pounds.  I think I lost some more but won’t be sure until I step on the scale. My 34 waist jeans and shorts are now getting too big.  I need to buy another belt and this will be belt #5.

Its hard to believe that there was a point in my life where I couldn’t walk or even move without pain. It made me rethink things and made me realize how I used to take everything for granted. How lucky I am to now be able to do all of this and accomplish what I have acomplished.

I like the B4L program. It keeps me focused and is a great guideline for me to follow.  I have made improvements in it and have increased the weights that I have been lifting each week as well as doing more intense cardio. I can see increased definition in my arms and chest but I still have to get my bodyfat down. Thats the key- dropping more bodyfat.

I am keeping up with my supplements faithfully and have added in BCAA’s 4 times each day.  I am eating at least 200 grams protein in my diet and have reamained consistant with it.  The musclemilk shakes are a big help.

I run a really busy schedule and sometimes i get so tired because my days start at 5:30 am, but something in me MAKES me want to go to the gym.  It has become a regular part of my daily routine and missing the gym is like missing a day at work-so I go anyway and feel better afterwards.

I still have a way to go and am keeping my goals real. Guys my height weigh around 160-170 pounds and thats the goal that I am shooting for.  To get there I need to lose  24 more pounds.  My goal is to get there on or before December. When I hit the 170 pound mark then I would have lost a total of 100 pounds. I’m gonna do it.

Today was some really intense cardio.  Tomorrow upper body. I cant wait to start my new week. Today was better than yesterday and tomorrow will be better then today.

Each day is a victory!

I now weigh 2 pounds less than my twin brother.  I never mentioned it before that I have a twin but I do. I am 10 minutes older and I’m the rebellious, stubborn twin and everyone knows it.

Now family and friends have been calling me Mike instead of Joe and a few relatives that we haven’t seen in a while have asked: “Which twin are you?”  It is fun throwing them off and a great feeling. No longer known to everyone as the “FAT” twin, I think that what I have accomplished has motivated my twin brother to start working out also. He told me that he has started doing cardio- that’s a good start. 

My goal is to get my brother into the gym so we can work out and motivate each other.  That would be so awesome. There are a lot of twins who are extremely competitive with each other but my brother and I always worked well together and supported each other.  I am not pushing the issue about the gym because sometimes doing things indirectly produces good results. It seems as though my brother is catching on to my fitness goals and wants to get involved more so I will wait and see what happens next.

Wow week number 3 already!

Monday was the holiday- I worked that day and was angry when I learned that my gym was closed early for the holiday. Missed my cardio but will make it up.  Was really angry but it subsided.  I got happy again when I went to GNC.  They had a huge sale.  Got muscle milk for only $19.99 a tub and it is usually sells for $47.99 a tub so I stocked up.

My BCAA’s should arrive this week. Can’t wait to start taking them.

The results I’ve had taking BSN No Explode and BSN Cell mass have been terrific. The no explode turns me into superman for my workouts and the Cell mass decreases lactic acid for a quick, painless recovery. At first they gave me sleeplessness but that passed after my body got used to them.

I have made some great friends here and they have been a tremendous help. One of them has educated me in supplements and safe exercises such as hack squats and stiff leg dead lifts. I also learned that there are several of my friends who have had worse back problems than I have had including surgery and spinal fusion.  They made it through and built themselves up into muscle monsters. That’s where I would eventually like to be.  From their example, guidance and support I know that it can be done. How lucky I am.

Tuesday:  Upper body- going to increase the weight lifted on all sets

Wednesday- cardio and martial arts

Thursday- Lower body going to increase the weight on all sets

Friday- cardio and weigh day and martial arts.

Saturday- Upper body work

Sunday- rest and chest day.

Hope that the numbers for the week are good.

This is the beginning of my second week on the Body For life Program. I had a long workweek but did not lose focus.  Worked a 12 hour day but still got in a my workout afterwards. This is what I need to do in order to get the results that I want.

During this time, I have lifted more weight than I’ve ever lifted before and I know that this is going to work for me because I am going to MAKE IT WORK FOR ME. . I was skeptical at first because cardio is done every other day but with greater intensity.  The new supplements that I am taking (NO EXPLODE, CELLMASS and MUSCLE MILK) are a big help. My weight loss has accelerated even with a cheat day.  I dropped another 3 pounds in only a few days and am down to 194 pounds.

 
I really need to get toned and drop more body fat.  I am working hard at achieving those goals. I am literally half the person I was 8 months ago when I started all of this at 270 pounds. 

It can only get better from here.

 
Each day is a victory!

Since December 14, 2007 Ive dropped 72 pounds. 

I held onto a pair of 34 regular cut  jeans and left the belt on them in the hope that one day that I could wear them again.

I gave them a try.  They fit great but the belt that is on them is too big and I ran out of holes in it. 

Gonna reward myself with another belt.

Here is my advice to those out there who are losing weight and wasting money buying new smaller clothes that they have to give up as they continue to lose weight.

Check out your local thrift stores.  Saved me a fortune in buying new clothes and I get the top makes such as Ralph Loren, Eddie Bauer, Armani, Pierre Cardin, Dockers…etc.

With our current ecomomy, the popularity in thrift store shopping has increased to over 30%.  

 I also got a lot of other cool stuff such as the AB roller.  At first it looked like a joke but it works great.

I also picked up a pair of solid metal 25 lb dumb bells for home use for only 5 bucks!

Check out your local thrift stores. 

They are definately worth a look.