Changes Beyond the Mirror

September 1st, 2009 mark’s my own personal Independence Day… not from a country but from my old way of life.

This past year I’ve seen the downside of up and everything in between. From heavy drinking($800 in one month at 1 bar), heavy smoking(more than a pack a day), and horrible diet. I made futile attempts at resurrecting myself from the ashes of what was left of me. I got out of a bad situation and stopped drinking. The smoking kept on, the poor diet kept on. Eventually I made an effort to quit smoking after more than 10 years of it. Quitting lasted more than 30 days and then I came down with shingles… that was horrible and stressful… and painful. I gave into my old crutch and began smoking again. Horrible diet continued but the diet was getting better. I made a push to lose some fat and went from 170ish lbs to low 160s. I still looked horrible and felt horrible. Diet was not on, smoking continued.

About 3 months ago I bought my first house. Poor diet, smoking… still ever strong.
About a month and a half ago I decided to quit smoking AGAIN. This time I would not fail. It’s been 45 days since my last cigarette and I know, now more than ever, that I have quit smoking for life.

A month ago I bought a weight set, and a "half-rack". I started Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength Program and have not looked back.

TODAY:

• I start my 5th week of Starting Strength
• I’ve gained just at 10lbs since I’ve started.
• I quit drinking caffeine(especially soda).
• Day 45 of not smoking(the longest I’ve gone since Basic Training).
• I feel different, better, healthier, alive.

I’ve had a lot of firsts and a lot of lasts in the past few months… I’m proud of myself. I’ve broken a barrier I never thought I’d see break. I’ve torn down standards I set for myself and I’m slowly building something new… something entirely different. Don’t expect changes, expect a revolution.

September 1st, 2009. My Independence Day. Try to stop me!
When was/is your Independence Day?

The following is only after 3 weeks and at the end of week 3 I finally found out what it was like to get psyched up for a workout and really push myself. I call this blog "Changes Beyond the Mirror" because of this very fact. I am finally EAGER to train and ready to push my limits, I’m dialing in my diet, I’ve kicked the habit of smoking for good, I’m even upset if I’m forced to miss a workout (due to injury), and my self-confidence is already improving! Let’s go, rep it out.

Week 1 Starting Weights:

Squats : 3×5 : 165 lbs
Bench : 3×5 : 95 lbs
Deadlift : 1×5 : 185 lbs
Standing Military Press : 3×5 : 60 lbs
Bentover Row : 3×5 : 95 lbs

Week 3 Ending Weights

Squats : 3×5 : 205 lbs
Bench : 3×5 : 140 lbs
Deadlift : 3×5 : 255 lbs
Military Press : 3×5 : 80 lbs
Bent Rows : 3×5 : 130 lbs

Gains:

Squat: 40lbs
Bench: 45lbs
Deadlift: 70lbs
Military Press: 20lbs (gotta up that more!)
Bent Rows: 35lbs

Okay, so I’ve been a sloth lately haven’t done much by way of working out or watching my eating or anything of that nature. Most of you will stop reading now. Anyway, I went looking for a house with my gf and we found one we liked after about 7 viewings. Well… i couldn’t sleep that night because we DIDN’T make an offer. The next morning at 8 I called up my realtor and said lets do it, he said "meet me at 10". Made an offer for them to pay closing costs and to let us keep all appliances (they countered with we’ll pay closing costs but we’re keeping our stuff). I only wanted them to pay closing in the first place anyway… so here we are. Acceptance and we get the house inspected (3.5 hour process) on Friday. After that inspection we get loan fully approved and we’ll be in the house by the end of June!

 It’s got a 2 car garage, one space will go unused by a vehicle… that’s where I will be putting my new powerrack! I just can’t wait!

This is the start of day 21 (12:16 am) out of my 30 day challenge to quit smoking. Although I already consider myself a non-smoker… I am seeing this challenge through (marking an "X") on my calendar with each day that passes.

 This challenge has given me a lot of mental strength and motivation. I smoked for a long long time and never thought I could quit successfully… now look at me, this is the longest I’ve quit since being in Basic Training!!! This tells me that if I commit 30 days to nearly anything I can get it done. My next 30 day challenge will likely involve removing Sugary drinks from my life (soda, coffee and teas (plain only))… but lets finish this 30 days first!

21/30 = 70% completion!

What are some goals you want to set for 30 days out? It could be anything!

Day 13 just started right now (it’s 12:57am and I’m at work… realizing that I have manage to actuallly quit smoking cold turkey!!!).

Earlier tonight I went out with friends to get some food and I had a beer WITHOUT craving a cigarette (previously a test I would fail over and over again). So this past  night marks the longest I have stayed quit since Basic Training!!! Go me.

I’m still going to mark it on my calendar because I like to see things through… and it’s nice going to work at midnight with another ‘X’ under my belt.

13 out of 30 here I come… more like 13 out of the rest of my life! Follow my 30 day Challenge

So as some of you know, that care to read my blog… I was previously a smoker. I say previously because I haven’t touched a cigarette in over 7 days now. After about 12 years of continued smoking… I’d say that’s pretty damn good.

I gave myself an ultimatum… either stop smoking now or never stop (stop caring). I used to be a very healthy person and very fit, and very active. Now I can’t run outside for more than 5 minutes without my lungs exploding out of my chest. This had to end. I’m only 27. I can do better.

I started a 30 day challenge. I put a giant desk calender on my freezer door and put an X through the day I decided to stop (last Thursday)… and now I’m up to 7 ‘X’s and I don’t want to break that chain. They say after about 21 days of doing something you can establish a new habit or break an old one. I’m into day 8 now and I can honestly already say I will never smoke again.

 It’s quite liberating, not being a slave to the cancer sticks, not smelling like an ashtray, not tasting like one either… it’s great… I’m already getting my heightened sense of taste back as well as a better sense of smell (smokers stink yo!). My weight has increased as expected, smokers tend to eat less (appetite suppressant)… but I’m getting that in check now. I’m still on track to be at my weight goal. So here’s to me!… and other’s quitting some bad habits.

 Follow me through my 30 Day Challenge!

I just wanted to share a program I’ve found VERY useful in diet tracking. It’s called Lose It! and if you have an iPhone or iPod Touch then this is THE app you need. I’ve been using it for about 4 or 5 days now and it’s pretty much everything I could ask for in a diet tracking aid. It’s very straight forward… after installation you input your stats, height, weight, age and it asks what your goal is (gain, maintain, or lose weight) it then calculates a basal rate for calories (which you can modify to your taste) allows you to input all your different meals per day (including custom meals). If you have an iPod Touch or iPhone it’s definately and app worth checking out.

Did i mention… it’s FREE!? Yep. Free. Enjoy. It’s also got a training tracker program as well but I haven’t messed with that much as I still rely on my notebooks for that.

Go to http://www.loseit.com/ for more information and the link to the app store page!

Well, February 7th has came and went… I started early January weighing in at about 168 lbs. My goal was 157.5 lbs or better. I weighed just over 160lbs on the 7th of this month. Is this a failure? I don’t think so. Is it a success… not quite. But it’s close.

I think I need to think positive, I think a LOT of people need to think positive. So many people give up after coming so far, but falling just short of their goals. Just because you drove 5 hours of a 10 drive and you’re tired… doesn’t mean you stop driving… you might pull over, take a rest… but you know that you just have a little further to go.

With that said; I’m setting a new goal of 152.5 lbs by March 11th. If I don’t do it, I know I’ll come close… I’ve proven at least that.

 Be well.

I have been following my diet "pretty well" I’ve had some skipped meals and cheat meals here and there my biggest downfall is Mt. Dew. Today i woke up and did some fasted cardio (45 mins) on the tread mill… i’m so out of shape and smoking is a big factor in that. I walked for 5, then ran for 5, alternating so combined I did about 20 minutes of running, 25 minutes of walking. I’m doing it again tomorrow… and the next day… and the next day… I weighed in at 161 flat the other day, I’ve got some hard days ahead of me if I want to reach 157.5 by Saturday… but I think I can do it.

I previously posted my meal plan and i mistook carbs (4 cals per gram) and fat (9 cals per gram).. i Had them backwards!

so 40/30/30 plan for awhile.

6:00 pm - Breakfast: 473 cals, 12g protein, 85g carbs, 12g fat

• 1 Cup Natural Oatmeal
• 1 Banana
• 4 caps Fish Oil

9:00 pm - Snack: 370 cals, 24g protein, 6g carbs, 26g fat

• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup Almonds

12:00 am - Lunch: 360 cals, 68g protein, 38g carbs, 1g fat

• 4 chicken pcs
• 1/2 cup lentils (plain)

3:00 am - Snack: 160 cals, 6g protein, 6g carbs, 14g fat

• 1/4 Cup Almonds

6:00 am - Dinner: 220 cals, 52g protein, 0g carbs, 1g fat

• 4 pcs Chicken (272g in weight before cooking)

9:00 am - Snack: 210 cals, 18g protein, 0g carbs, 12g fat

• 3 eggs

Totals: 1793 cals, 180g protein, 135g carbs, 66g fat

Percentages: 40% protein, 30% carbs, 30% fat

WITH THE RIGHT CALCULATIONS!!!