Troy’s BodyBlog

It has been so windy here in Pocatello.  Last night it kept me awake to the point where, at 11:50 I got up, walked over to my alarm, and almost changed it from 3:45 to 5:45.  Almost.  As I got there I thought "What am I doing?"  Every time that a past transformation has failed, it was because I didn’t stay consistent.  Yeah, hitting the gym on three hours sleep does sound pretty foolish, if I made a habit of it.  In the past, unfortunately, I would make a habit of letting any irregularity disrupt my workout (and eating) schedule.  So, here I am in the middle of a weight loss plateau, worrying that it might last another week, and I was going to go back to the old habit of skipping one, then two, and then possibly three workouts?  Heck no!  So, I finally fell asleep sometime after 12:30, the alarm went off at 3:45, and I walked around like a zombie for fifteen minutes; BUT I got to the gym 10 minutes early (4:20 a.m.) and got started right on the Abs Diet exercise plan.  I busted it!  Three full circuits, and I went up on weight on the last two circuits with perfect form.  YES!!  As I was leading my class today, I was very greateful to myself that I did get up and do it - I had the energy to get through the day, I didn’t get grumpy (which happens on days that I don’t hit it, or if I had to stay in that day), and I got more compliments on my weightloss.  One teacher said that I "literally" look like a different person.  When I challenged him on his use of the word "literally" (I’m an English teacher), he informed me that it was exactly what he meant.  I think it’s time to take another progress picture. 

I had to take a "sick" day for tomorrow.  I hate being away from school, so I scheduled two different "procedures" for one day - two root canals and an, errr, more "invasive" procedure.  Hey, I could offer those pictures on my blog.  Too bad I didn’t have an unhealthy "before" picture of my colon.

A few days ago, one of the teachers at my school, who had also lost quite a bit of weight in the past, gave me a brand new shirt and sweater - an XL.  This is huge for me, because I haven’t fit into an XL in over 15 years.  Before, my goal was to just not go into an XXXL.  This was so nice, so thoughtful.  I can’t wait until I can get into an L. 

I just completed an awesome workout with three circuits instead of two, and going up in weight on all of my lifts.  Something else that I had never done - taken "before" and "progress" pictures, let alone posting them online.  This is such a huge step for me, going so far out of my comfort zone and showing myself at my most vulnerable.  It can only go up from here.

Today, I didn’t take any supplements prior to the workout; that’s what I attribute to my being able to complete it without getting sick to my tum.  Of course, as soon as I got home I pumped down 69 grams of protein and a simple carb.  I guess I’m on my way.

So, I’m feeling good about most areas of my life.  My daughter is getting much better, I’m coming up with creative ideas for my students, and I’ve been able to divide up 2100 calories over 6 meals, and sticking with it!  This has been hard to do, because each meal’s carbs are coming from the creatine blend that I’m taking, and I’m assuming that dextrose is a simple carb, since its purpose is to get the creatine into my system quickly.  I’m also in a loading phase - my first week using it - and wondering if the few who wrote that loading wasn’t necessary was right.  Next time that I need to load, I’m going to just use pure creatine and add it to my smooties, yogurt, etc.  In fact, I don’t think that I’ll re-buy this blend.  So, here’s the point of this post’s title:

I’ve started supplementing this week using Lipo 6x, creatine blend, and protein powder.  I still have quite a bit of fat to lose, so I had been going to the gym on an empty stomach (at 4:30 a.m.).  This had been working great - my energy levels were up, fat was coming off (8 inches off the belly!), and I could usually get down some oatmeal and eggwhites before leaving for the carpool to school.  I was starting to plateau, so I saved up enough to buy 2 months of Lipo and the rest of the supplements.  Well, now I’ve been taking the Lipo as soon as I get up (3:50 a.m.), some creatine about 25 minutes later, and then start working out shortly after that.  The problem is, I’m getting really nauseated, completing only 2 circuits before having to quit and hitting the showers.  I can work through tired.  I can work through discouraged.  I can’t work through a yucky tummy.  So, my workout suffers, I haven’t fully fatigued my muscles, and I get a bit more discouraged.  So, this is what I think I’ll do:

I’ll wake up at 3:50, work out for a full hour, and then take the first two Lipo’s and creatine blend with my smoothie.  I know that it’s good to eat pre-workout, and to take creatine pre-workout, but if it’s hampering my performace so that I don’t get a good pump, it can’t be helping me that much, right?  I need to find some "friends" on this site.  I think I’ll find out how to do that.

We got our daughter home from the hospital yesterday afternoon.  My wife and I have had a total of four hours sleep in the last three days, so you’d think that we’d be dragging.  I might be running on adrenaline or something, because I was awake at 2:30 this morning, and just laid there until my alarm went off at 3:45.  My principal, God bless him, gave me the day off so that I could help take care of my daughter and provide my wife with all the help she could get.  I could’ve gone back to sleep, but I got right up and went to the gym, anyway.  A great workout - 2 circuits through and some cardio time, since I missed cardio yesterday (still at the hospital, no sleep all night, etc.).  Yesterday, I finally bought some extra protein powder (the 2nd "e" in ‘abs diet powEr) and some creatine.  Initially, this might boost my scale weight, especially since the creatine comes with simple carbs, 150 calories per serving, and I’m loading (5-6 servings a day - a whopping 600 calories), but I’ll watch everything else really closely, and I won’t step on the scale for two weeks.  Really, I know that I shouldn’t even use the scale, other than for the Fat % reading, but I have the thing going with my students to get below 215.  If I didn’t have that going, I’d probably just use pictures and my clothes to gauge how I was doing, and check my BF every two weeks or so.  My whole life I’ve been tied to the numbers on the scale (thanks alot, mom), and I want to break that habit - focusing on my health and fitness instead.  I was planning on just using something like Slimfast to get me to the 215 mark in a hurry, without adding any muscle.  However, I realized that I would just be a smaller version of me - just a fat smaller guy.  This feels so much better, and I now realize how important it is to gain muscle to burn fat. 

This hasn’t been the most stellar weekend.  I was really looking forward to some great workouts to kick off my first day of The Abs Diet and Lipo 6X, as well as the great eating strategy.  I got the great workout this morning - REALLY GREAT - and my Lipo 6X was in the mailbox when I got home.  My daughter, though, got sick enough that we had to take her back to the hospital (she was in the ER yesterday) where she will have to stay for a couple of days.  My wife is staying with her right now while I’m taking care of our other two.  Like I said, I had a great workout and I took the supplements as directed, but I didn’t get in the six healthy meals.  I’m feeling guilty for not being with my daughter and wife, and guilty for having most of my calories at 5:40 tonight. 

One of the teachers at my school sent me some pictures from our trip to Houston for a Middle School conference last November.  Even though I had lost 20 lbs. by the time that picture was taken, I’ll probably use it as my "before" picture, since it was two days after this trip that I joined a gym.  I look pretty bad in it - a lot worse than I thought I would (pictures don’t lie, do they?).  I actually thought that some of the teachers were flirting with me - rather flattering despite my devotion to my family - but, after looking at the picture, I highly doubt it.  Well, I am pretty friendly and charming; maybe they saw that, instead. Once again, I highly doubt it.