Troy’s BodyBlog

Woke up feeling great this morning - everyone’s reply to my last post made me feel much better about getting only 6 hours of sleep; I really thought that I was alone in this. 

2 months ago, I called my wife from the gym to tell her that I "ran" an entire mile (it was at a measly 4.3 mph).  I was so stoked, because I hadn’t run a mile since 8th grade - the same grade that I’m teaching now.  Well, last week I did two miles without stopping at 4.8 mph, and last night I did 3 miles without stopping at 5.2 mph!  I know that this is jogging to most everyone else, but that didn’t take away from my sheer joy.  I almost treated myself to a new Red Sox hat, but I just didn’t have the spare cash.  Next payday.  Then, this morning, I weighed 225 (and I’ve been drinking more than 1-1/2 gallons of water a day) which puts me 10 lbs. away from my initial goal that I made with my students.  Some of my students showed me some pictures that they took from the beginning of the year - we went on a field-trip to Craters of the Moon and did an overnighter at Crystal Park, digging up crystals with the Science Teacher, my best friend Gary (who has been just as supportive as my wife, kids, and students). They have been so encouraging - actually thrilled everytime I update my DREAM BIG bulletin board.  I have, literally, never been this proud of myself - even on our wedding night

I know, I know, I KNOW!!  We have to sleep so that our bodies will repair themselves, fat can get dissolved, and Dream Gnomes will stay employed.  I get up at 3:45 to hit the gym before carpooling to school, which means that I should be asleep by 8:00 every night.  I should be wiped out, beat, exhausted, but I lie awake, every night, with so much energy that I want to go back to the gym.  Every night!!!   I thought that I was getting too much caffeine with Lipo-6X, so I take the first one upon waking and the second one before 10:30 a.m., plus I get a super workout - sometimes twice a day - and I don’t feel tired at night.  Before I started working out and losing weight, I would get home from school at 4:00 and be ready for bed, or at least a nap.  If this was a relatively new problem, I wouldn’t be too worried, but this has been happening for 2 months now.  I usually only get 6 hours of sleep, and my energy during the day is through the roof.  I used to drink 2 pots of coffee a day, now I drink none.  I took 1 "P.M" sleep aid last night, but I woke up feeling totally hungover - I haven’t had a drink in 11-1/2 months.  Maybe I should start writing that book that’s been going through my head.

Today I thought that I’d try something new: cardio only in the morning, and weight training after school.  I’m not sure that I’m going to stick with that.  What I HAD been doing was:

• Monday A.M. - Weight Circuit Training / Monday P.M. - Cardio (1 hr. w/ Tonya, trying to average 5.5 mph)
• Tuesday A.m. - Cardio (1 hr.) / Tuesday P.M. - light cardio (still an hour, but at only 4.0 mph average)
• Wednesday A.M. - Same as Monday
• Thursday - Same as Tuesday
• Friday - Same as Monday and Wednesday
• Saturday - Same as, well, you get the picture.

 Well, this morning I felt o.k. - did 750 calories on the treadmill, and then met Tonya at the gym for weights while she did cardio - I was wiped out after two circuits - and that was WITH Mudvayne, Static X, and Fear Factory on the MP3!  Totally wiped.  I lift harder, heavier, and more intense at 4:30 a.m.  Of course, after weights I jumped on the treadmill next to Tonya and was able to punch out 400 more calories with nary a stutter.  I know that we need to mix routines up every six weeks or so, but I think I’ll simply mix up my lifting routine, starting with the BFL routine this next Monday, but keep it in the A.M. where I feel so good about it.    OOOH. Tonya just sneaked up on me and started rubbing my back.  I can’t pass this up!! 

Well, my weight has stayed consistent at 229, but my fat % keeps going down.  I should be thrilled, because it means that I’m burning fat and gaining muscle - pant sizes way down! - but I get so hung up on the scale weight.  I had made a promise to my students that I would get down to 215 (from 269) by the end of the school year, but I really wanted to do it by Spring Break, which is in five weeks.  I want to get there quickly so that I never have to worry about scale weight again, and just focus on fat loss, muscle growth, and my image in the mirror.  I feel incredibly bad that my "Dream Big - Percentage ’till my Goal" bulletin board hasn’t moved in weeks.  They’re 8th graders; they don’t really care about weight loss vs. fat loss.  I really want to inspire them to work toward their goals, no matter what they are.  The other day, I put up my ‘before’ picture and they were really amazed.  I feel, however, that if I don’t reach that goal weight of 215 this whole illustration will be meaningless.  I read somewhere, I think it was the "Abs Diet" book, that we have set-points, where our bodies just won’t get any smaller.  This couldn’t be my set-point, could it?  I do know that I have to refine my diet (my exercise routine is great - I’m changing it up consistantly and challenging growth) but I do get a little lazy with my diet.  I really know that, from here on out, my diet will be my focus (since getting to the gym is so easy for me), to the point where I plan every meal (6 small - 300 calories each), every gram of protein, every gram of fiber.  I have to stick to it religiously; I can’t waver, even if it’s a piece of cheese.  Get ready to see a new round of changes.

My wife took me shopping this weekend - something I used to HATE to do.  I could never find anything that looked good that was in XXL - besides that, if I did find something, I would have to pay $2.00 extra per article because they were considered Big Men!  No more, baby!!  I didn’t just go down to XL, I am now officially Large.  Me, without the X!  I couldn’t believe it!  My pants used to be 44 waist - today I bought three pair with a 36 waist.  I know that sizes are bigger today because Americans are bigger, but I’m still stoked that the number on my waist is the same number that I had in 8th grade.  Hey, I’m an 8th grade teacher - is that the Universe working for me, or what?  My wife has now been bitten by the fitness bug, and she bought 4 pair of sweats and is going to meet me at the gym every day after school - I’m still going at 4:30 a.m, I’m going to be doing 2-a-days just like High School football for the next six weeks so that I can reach the weight goal that I made with my students and can finally throw the scale away and just monitor bodyfat.  I can’t wait to get dressed tomorrow after workout, my bag’s already packed.

SO worth $6.99 (my M&F subscription hasn’t kicked in yet, might get double issues)! I’ve also been asked to pose for a Muscle and Fitness add - it was for the "before" picture for something called "Magna RX+"  I’m not really sure what it’s used for, but the tagline says "Does size really matter to your lover?  More that you can possibly imagine!"  Hmm, I wonder if their talking about my car.  I don’t know why they’d want a before picture.  I haven’t pimped it out or anything.  Maybe I’ll check their websi….Oh NO!!! 

What exactly would constitute "overtraining?"  I’ve seen some fantastic transformations where someone will say "Dude, you don’t need to go beyond 45 min. of cardio - it’ll zap your muscles" and I’ve some beautifully fit people who do cardio 2X a day.  If my initial goal is to get 15-20 more lbs. off (putting me at 210) to get the goal I made with my students out of the way, could I go up to full-body weights 3X a week and Cardio 6X a week?  I haven’t felt fatigued, depressed, discouraged, or starving, but I HAVE been stuck on a plateau for the last 3 weeks.

Great things today - 1) I was able to get back into the gym after a bout of bronchitis, 2) I got home from the gym to find out that school was canceled due to a snow-day, 3) my wife found some "before" pictures of me that demonstrate that I really AM making changes (funny how you don’t really notice it without pictures), and 4) my wife is going to go to the gym with me this afternoon to sign up.  Hmm, maybe part of "the secret" really IS thinking positively

I mean, here I am, feelin’ a bit down because flu-like symptoms have kept me out of the gym, wondering (as I’m packing my gym bag) if this thing is going to go beyond the initial 40 lbs., and I read these beautiful posts of support (and see the jaw-dropping pics), and you, inadvertantly, totally psyche up an early-middle-aged teacher to hit it harder than ever at 4:30 a.m. tomorrow.  My gods, I’m glad you’re here.

I’ve had to take five days off from the gym because of a severe, flu-like cold (I’m a teacher, so there are A LOT of germs around).  However, a couple of amazing observances became apparent.  One - simple Nighttime and Daytime cold medicine made me feel horrible - almost worse than the symptoms, themselves.  I mean, I was feeling both drunk and hungover at the same time.  I quit drinking last March, with plans of a complete transformation forming in my head and heart, so it’s been a while since I’ve felt like that.  I can’t believe that I used to pay $$ and look forward to the weekends to feel that way.  Could it be that, since the last 50 times that I’ve taken cold medicine I weighed 40 lbs. more, that this dose became more "concentrated" in my body?  I have to tell you, it honestly felt like an out-of-body experience, and I didn’t have a fever high enough to cause that.  I stayed hydrated, made sure I was taking in enough calories (but DIDN’T resort to comfort food), and got plenty of rest.  In fact, last Friday was a snow-day, and today (Monday) is snow-day, too (funny side-note, as I was typing in "snow-day," I first accidently typed in "snoT-day;" pretty appropriate, no?).

Another observance - in my "past life," I would actually look forward to getting sick, as that meant that I got to take it a little easy - taking a day off of work and looking forward to sleeping in.  This time, I absolutely HATED being sick.  Even on those days that I felt my worst, I still got up early - not 3:45, my normal time, but not 8:00, either - still showered, shaved, wore clean clothes, and tried to convince myself that I was getting better.  I didn’t ask for Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream (I think that I saw some protein powder out there that was mint chocolate - I might try that) or rent movies.  I wanted to think like a fit person, and I think that I actually did.  This was my first "dry" Superbowl in 16 years, and the first in 14 without Lil’ Smokies.  No cheese dip, no Doritos, and I held myself to 12 oz. of soda.  Despite a cough every 2-3 minutes, I feel great today.  Thank Gods for BB.com - what a great support community.