ohiolifter’s BodyBlog

my wife has been getting on me about buying some new jeans for quite some time now, and i just havent done it yet. i still wear my 38’s, and they are incredibly baggy, and i wear a belt, but it is now in the last hole. so i guess i will have to break down and buy some jeans pretty soon. i have started wearing my gym shorts under my jeans to help them stay up! no wonder why my wife keeps harping at me! i am hoping to get down to 34’s though, and so i hate to buy some 36’s that i will only wear for a short time. also, she says i am a tightwad and just dont want to part with the money, and i suppose she is right to a degree. i dont like to waste money, what is wrong with that? i may have to give in and buy 1 pair of 36’s though. dammit!

another friday morning weigh-in, and another 3 lbs. is gone! that puts my total loss at 57 lbs! i am definitely feeling the effects of being in the negative caloric state, i am very tired by 7 pm every night, but it is worth it in the end for the results i am achieving. you would think that after so many months of 40-50 mins. of cardio 5-6 days a week, that you would get used to it, and it would be a walk in the park. but that is not the case here, i still am exhausted after the stairstepper. i have decided to cut out the treadmill and do all my cardio on it, though. it has been a good week and i would like to say thanks again to all my friends for their support and encouragement.

no open treadmill again today, so it was 45 minutes on the stairstepper. i guess this will be my new cardio routine. i have only ever seen one other person use the stairstepper, so i guess it is pretty much my piece of equipment for the time being. i can tell you that it is very physically challenging to complete 45 minutes on it, for me anyways. i climbed 162 stories today, and i was soaked with sweat by the time i was finished. i start sweating about 10 minutes into it, and it just drips for the next 35 minutes. thats a pretty picture, isnt it? i personally dont feel that i had a good cardio session if i dont sweat alot! well, i had a good one today!

well, i did my morning cardio anyways. i did not go lift after work though, i just had no energy and wanted to lay down and rest. i will just make it up later this week, as i cant stand to miss a workout! no open treadmill this morning, so i did 45 mins. on the stairstepper! 160 stories, thats probably why i had no energy left! i am feeling a little better now that i layed down for 2 hours, but i dont expect to be fully over this cold for awhile. they always seem to linger when i am sick.

i dont really know what i am supposed to do when i am sick with a cold, but i continue to wake up at 4:40 am and go to the gym for my morning cardio, and i will probably go and do my lifting with my partner tomorrow night. some people tell me that i need to rest so that i will feel better sooner, but i just cant bear the thought of missing my cardio! i am guessing that the reason i am sick is due in part to the fact that i have been losing weight consistently for 4 1/2 months, and being in a negative caloric state for this long has probably compromised my immune system. but this is also the reason that i do not want to miss a workout, because i have been so consistent with my weight loss, i would hate to screw that up! i guess maybe my wife is right, i am addicted to the gym and working out. there are worse things that i could be addicted to, but i have not chosen those. to defend the people that say i should rest until i feel better, i must admit that this is the third time in 2 months that i have been sick with a cold, and all 3 times it has started with my youngest daughter being sick and then i get it from her. the first time was at thanksgiving, and i felt the worst on thanksgiving day(this most likely helped me lose weight that week), the second time was, you guessed it, 2 days before christmas! and this one carried over through the new year (again helped me to lose weight over those holidays), and now, less than 3 weeks later, i am sick again!! i am so tired of coughing, and listening to my kids cough, ahhhhhh!!

i accidentally hit enter after typing in the title of this post, and i cant figure out how to delete it! now i have two entries as sunday. oh well. i wish that this was a day of rest, but it is a day full of getting ready for the coming week. 3 loads of laundry to do, 5 days of meals to cook. this is not resting! i make it as easy as possible on myself as far as the cooking goes. i fry 10 egg sandwiches in olive oil, and toast a loaf of bread to take to work for the week. it doesnt really get any cheaper or easier than that. i eat one egg sandwich on toast at my first break of the day and then another one at lunch time, along with my daily multi-vitamin. for supper, i will eat whatever it is that the wife is making and i just make sure to exercise portion control. i also take another multi-vitamin with supper because i read that your body only absorbs approx. 30% of a vitamin pill. i no longer have snacks at bedtime, and i dont even have a desire to eat snacks anyways. my biggest problems used to be portion control and snacking, and i have gained control over those two aspects of my habits, so that is great! it was no problem for me in the past to go to mcdonalds and eat 4 double cheeseburgers and 2 supersize fries! i couldnt eat that much now, nor do i have the desire to. actually, i havent eaten any fast food in over 4 months! i did have some cookies from subway last night, but that should not affect me too much. i am in this for the long haul. it was nice to have a sweet treat. it has been awhile since i have treated myself to some cookies! i enjoyed them, and now i will move on into the week.  

by far, my favorite day in the gym is leg day! i always stagger out of the gym afterwards, because my legs are so sore. did leg presses first, followed with leg extensions, weighted lunges(definitely a favorite), calf raises. also did back extensions, lat pulldowns, and standing dumbell curls. i swear that i could do lunges outside in the snow, wearing only gym shorts, and still be dripping with sweat when i finished them! god i love lunges!

down to 208 lbs. now!! i feel so much better now than i did at 262 lbs., the difference is amazing. my morning cardio went great after learning that i lost 2 more lbs. i have been losing weight steadily since the second week of september, only having 2 of those weeks with no loss on the scale. a total loss of 54 lbs., wow! i am not finished yet, i have more to lose, but i am confident that i will get where i want to be. thanks for the support.

cardio this morning was excellent, i felt that i had plenty of energy and the whole session seemed to go quick. i spent all day hanging new paneling in my camper and then went to the gym for my lifting. i was a little weak on the flat bench, only getting the seventies for 8 reps. the flyes felt very easy, and i had no problem getting the forties for 2 sets of 10. i also had a good night for the seated military press, getting the fifty-fives for 9 reps! i can hardly wait for thursday night, legs, back, and biceps. i am always sure to be sore after that!