morphos’s BodyBlog

And I’m still losing weight thank goodness.  Recently I’ve had a bad case of food poisoning or stomach flu which is really put a stop on my diet and exercise. I hope I will be well enough to get back on track by the end of the week but my stomach is still acting up so I may be restricted to liquids for another day or so. Weight wise I’m at 273 which is probably from dehydration and muscle loss more than anything else. It looks like I’ll make it to the 260’s by my birthday if everything goes well.

Today I’m at 288lbs. I just posted a pic under my progress photos and changed the pic in my avatar.

When I got on the scale this morning I almost fainted. I thought that it looked like I was losing weight but not that much. I guess that I’m finally beginning to see results. Ecstatic, I ran and slipped into my size 26/28 jeans that barely fit me a week ago.  One pair is visibly looser, which seems to be the larger of the two pairs, and it’s so loose that I can slip out  of them without unzipping. The other pair, which is more form fitting is looser but not as much as the larger pair.

I can’t wait to reach my goal of 280lbs by the end of December. Although I’ve made some progress, it still feels like I’m getting back to what I used to weigh a couple of years ago, which doesn’t feel like I’m making progress at all. Oh well at least the weight is coming off, right?

I just had a cheat day two days ago. I ate way too much pizza and now I feel like crap for doing it. Talk about guilty feelings, but it’s not the guilt that has me wanting to abolishing cheat eating for life. It’s the residual effect of wanting to eat everything that I am not supposed to. I had much better control over my eating when I didn’t cheat so I’m going to abolish cheat days/meals for good. I know that some of you might think I’m being unrealistic but I think cheating after all the progress I have made is like shooting up after a long stint in rehab. It’s just not worth it. I don’t want to worry that I’ve screwed things up, I definitely don’t want to gain the weight back, and I certainly don’t want to give up the diet that I have accomplished. So what I’m going to do now is continue working out , improve my eating and give myself some time to get over this.

With the above being said I have a new goal now and it’s to lose another 20lbs by the end of the year. I’ll probably lose closer to 15lbs but that’s ok, 15lbs is a more realistic number to lose but there is always the chance to lose more in the time given.

I’m fed up with this exercise routine. I can barely keep things consistent. So I am going back to a routine I used to do when I first started working out. I liked it and could keep up with it. I used to do cardio Sun, Tue and Thurs with weights on Wed and Sat. The only problem I foresee is that I used to do 1 set per exercise and now I do three. If I switch to working out each body part twice a week I would be doing one long workout on lifting days.

My weight loss that is. I can tell by the fact that my clothes are definitely getting looser. Ok I have to confess that I’ve been naughty. No I haven’t been loading up on sugary treats or a pizza (or 2) but I have been scale watching. Yes I have been diligently watching that little needle on the scale to see if it has gone down. I do this not just once a day but sometimes two or three times a day, especially after I pee. I think I need help.

Anyhoo I’ll be walking for my cardio today. I really don’t want to but I have to, I know.(sigh) At least my meals have been in check today. I’m sooo happy that I get to eat sooo much and still lose weight. It’s like a dream come true. I wish I had thought of this years ago.

And I feel good. My chest, shoulders and triceps all feel worked. Hopefully I’m not too sore tomorrow.

So today is workout day.  I’ve been ambivalent about what exercises I would be doing on which days. Either I will be working each part once a week or twice a week. I’m more partial to working everything twice a week. I usually do one exercise per part, three parts per workout, for 3 sets of 12-15 reps. I seem to respond well to this training with only 1 day rest every three days.

Since I have to do a bit of cardio to lose the fat I’ll be lifting only three days a week with the cardio days in between the lifting days. If I workout this way I will be hitting each part once a week. I’ll probably have to go a little heavier than usual to make up for the loss of the second day workout. I will probably need the extra days to rest anyway. I sort of like the idea of devoting one day to one activity instead of trying to do both on the same day. At least the lifting and cardio days will be on the same day each week. I guess I can always go back to my old routine if I plateau.
I used to warmup before lifting, say 5-10 minutes and then lift with about 1 minute between sets. Now I find I can really work my weaker muscles or the muscles that don’t fatigue easily if I divide the total number of reps into 20 reps for the first set, 10-15 for the second set and then whatever is left for the last set. When I do this in a circuit I keep my heart rate up and fatigue much better.  For my stronger muscles I start out with 15 reps and increase them be 5 for each set.
My list of exercises:

CHEST

flat bench fly

flat bench press

pullover

BACK

one arm row

extension

SHOULDERS

press

front raises

side raises

upright row

TRICEPS

overhead press

extension

kickback

BICEPS

curl

hammer curl
LEGS

squat

lunge

leg lift

leg extension

LOWER BACK/HAMSTRINGS/GLUTES

stiff legged deadlift

bent over knee with hamstring extension

CALVES

standing calf raises

seated calf raises

ABS

crunches

reverse crunches

Plus I hate going to the gym so I workout at home using dumbbells, maybe even barbells later on.  For cardio I bought a step bench. I think step benches are the greatest cardio invention to date. They’re cheap, portable, don’t require electricity or take up much space, versatile, and they give a pretty good workout. (that’s how I overworked my quads) I even have a book of step moves so I can make up my own routines. I also think that they are a great way to do HIIT too.

Workout schedule:

MONDAY

chest - fly  1st set 15 reps, 2nd set 20 reps, 3rd set 25 reps @8lbs

shoulders - press  1st set 20 reps, 2nd set 10 reps, 3rd set 6 reps @8lbs

triceps - overhead extension  1st set 20 reps, 2nd set 15 reps, 3rd set 10 reps @8lbs
TUESDAY

cardio (walking outside 20-30min, treadmill 20 min, or step 20 min)

WEDNESDAY

legs - squat  1st set 15 reps, 2nd set 20 reps, 3rd set  25 reps @0lbs
lo back/hams/glutes - deadlift  1st set 16 reps, 2nd set  12 reps, 3rd set 8 reps @8lbs
calves - standing raises  1st set 15 reps, 2nd set 20 reps, 3rd set 25 reps @8lbs

THURSDAY

more cardio

FRIDAY

back - one arm row  1st set 20 reps, 2nd set 15 reps, 3rd set 10 reps @8 lbs

biceps - curl  1st set 15 reps, 2nd set 20 reps, 3rd set 25 reps @8lbs

abs - crunch 1st set 12 reps, 2nd set 12 reps

I will be posting my workouts in the workout tracker if anybody is interested.

Well my goal to reach 300lbs still continues. Last time I posted, I thought I had lost 20lbs since May but really I think it was more like 16 or 17lbs. Either way I almost hit my first goal. I find it is much easier to focus on losing a smaller amount of weight than trying to lose it all at once. This way when I reach a goal it feels like instant gratification. Sort of like a mini reward.

The eating part is still tough though. I can get the clean part down but it’s very difficult getting the calories in. I’m trying to eat 1500-1600 calories a day and trust me it’s hard to do even for me and I like to eat!

Working out is a pain as well. Last Wednesday I was working my legs and I over trained them. OUCH! I still ache and its been 4 days already. My quads are killing me. They hurt much less now but yesterday I found that I still had trouble walking down stairs. I almost tripped  walking off of a curb on the side walk.  I was afraid to to cardio because I thought that it make things worse. I don’t mind the muscle soreness after a workout but this is crazy. I’m probably going to have to wait a full week before I can train them again.

Now it’s been 6 weeks and 20lbs later. I would post a pic but my internet connection is up and down so I have no idea as to when I will be able to post it.The weight has been coming off pretty quickly which makes me afraid that I might be losing muscle.I know a good chunk of my loss was water, but how long will the water loss continue?

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