ohiolifter’s BodyBlog

At the Friday morning weigh-in, I have lost 3 more pounds! I am not trying to lose more weight, and I guess I have not been expecting to continue dropping weight without doing any cardio. I am much busier at work now than I had been in the past, so I suppose that is causing me to lose more weight. I guess I should start eating more!

Got up as usual this morning, at 4:40 a.m. Got to the gym at 5:25 a.m., as usual. The lady that works at the gym in the morning was not there. I waited around for 15 minutes, then I left and went to work early. I called the gym around 6:45 a.m., and found out that the lady who opens up in the morning was ok, it was just her alarm clock didn’t go off! I have had that happen to me before, so I totally understood. Of course, I harassed her for not being there on time, but I was glad to find out that there wasn’t any problems.

Had a pretty good weekend also, drove my Z-28 to my parents house to see if I could get my four-wheeler to start. I haven’t started since October of last year. It only took about 30 kicks, so I was happy about that! It ran really good, but I wish I could say the same about my Z-28. Every time I drive it, it seems that something else breaks on it! Gotta love old cars! This time, it’s a small pinhole in the header. Great.

That makes 85 total lost! I have not been trying to lose any more weight, but I assume it is because I have been alot more active at work this past week. I have been lifting every morning for about 35-40 minutes, no cardio. I am very much enjoying the "no cardio" part of it! I think my wife is a little upset about me losing more weight. She is trying to lose weight, and she didn’t lose any, and I am not trying to lose, and I did. I just can’t believe how much weight I have lost, and I still feel like that fat guy though. I assume that feeling will go away eventually. Anyone else experience this weird feeling?

I have maintained my new weight of 179 for 2 weeks now, I am really surprised that I didn’t gain at least a couple of pounds. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad that my weight has not gone up, but I am also a little surprised. I will just continue to follow the same eating and lifting routine for now, until I decide if I am going to go for some more weight loss or not. This weeks lifting has been going ok, nothing great happening. I am definitely not cut out for lifting in the mornings, but that is still the only time I have available right now. So I guess I will just keep on going, and make the big decision on what to do now at a later date.

The weather has finally been great here in northest Ohio. Spent the whole weekend outside, sat around the fire Friday night, washed the cars, cooked on the grill, went for a bike ride with the wife and kids, went to a father/daughter dance with my oldest for Girl Scouts. Busy, busy, busy. No workouts were planned for the weekend, so I got to enjoy the outdoors all weekend long, guilt-free! Hope everyone else had a fabulous weekend!

Well, I am a little nervous about the weigh-in tomorrow morning. I have not done any cardio this week, I have only been lifting. I have also been eating a little more than I had been previously. I do expect some weight gain, but I am hoping that it won’t be too much. The workouts have been good, I am really enjoying the lifting and not having to do cardio!

Wow, I haven’t been in 32’s since high school! What an amazing feeling it is. Hopefully, I can be in these for awhile. I intend to try to gain some muscle, so I don’t know if I will need to go back up to the 34’s in the future or not. We’ll see.

I did legs and shoulders today. Started with 5 minutes on the stepper, then moved to leg press machine, 5 sets of 10. Also did 5 sets of 10 on the leg extension machine. For shoulders, I did 5 sets of 10 on the shoulder press machine, 5 sets of 10 dumbell shrugs, and 5 sets of 10 lat raises to the side and to the front. The workout felt pretty good, but this week is the first time I have done lifting in the morning. Previously, I have always lifted in the evening, before dinner. I feel a little weaker in the morning, but I still feel the burn and soreness in my muscles. I will have to continue the morning lifting until my partner gets off of second shift. Tomorrow is back and biceps.

I was sort of lost at the gym this morning. After spending 7 months doing cardio, wasn’t sure where to start. I did 10 mins. on the stepper to warm up, and then hit the chest press machine. I did 5 sets of 10 on that, then did 5 sets of 10 incline bench with the dumbells. After completing those, I did 5 sets of 10 dumbell flyes. I chose to also do triceps, so I did 5 sets of 10 cable pushdowns and 5 sets of 10 seated dips. That was all I had time for. It ate up my 45 mins.

I will admit that it was nice to not have to do the cardio, but in some ways I sort of missed it. It had become a staple of my morning visit to the gym, just like a hot cup of coffee in the morning. Oh, who am I kidding, I hated the cardio.

I am not sure where to go from here. I will still be going to the gym every morning, but now i can focus on lifting weights and gaining muscle, as opposed to focusing on cardio and weight loss. I can easily split my training, as i will have 5 sessions at the gym every week. I will also still be lifting one day a week with my partner, using free weights, since I will have a spotter. I know I will be doing the bench press and deadlifts with my partner once a week. We intend to go heavy weights with low reps. So I plan to do lower weight with higher reps at the gym, using a mix of free weights (mainly dumbells) and the machines. I could still do some cardio either 1-2 times a week for 45 mins., or every morning after lifting. If I do it every morning after lifting, I could probably do 15 mins. or so. If anyone has any advice or recommendations, I am all ears. I would like to get the most bang for my buck, if you know what I mean. I have wasted too much time in the past, doing things wrong.

Again, I would like to thank all those who have visited my page and offered support and advice. You have all truly helped me along the way, and kept me focused and motivated to continue and never give up and throw in the towel. Thank you.

thank god, i am so freakin tired of cardio! now i can turn my focus to gaining some muscle. i am stuck with some loose skin on my abs, and i hate it. but i have to realize how much healthier i am now. i also feel so much better. i must give many thanks for the support! thanks to mrdawnmarie, heatherAC, stachedwalker for helping to keep me motivated by racing me to 180. thanks to ntrllftr for giving me advice on my eating and cardio. you guys helped me sooo much! thanks alot!

i will try to post some pics and get my new measurements logged in later tonight. they probably didnt change too much though, as i entered them when i weighed 186. i also need to go get some new pants again. my 34’s are loose! i started in 38’s and 40’s and now i will be in 32’s! woo-hoo, and thanks again to all those who helped and supported me! i will be watching to see all of you achieve your goals also. good luck!