Operation "Fit In 2008"

I'm a blog slacker.

2008-05-16T15:02:00.002-04:00

Looks like I made some promises on my last post that I have not kept. I've forgot the results of my April body fat percentage but I did manage to have it read yesterday and 14.9% was my number. I now weigh in at 155lbs. I'll try to post some progress pics later today if I find the time. That is all I can write for now, i'm at work so more later.

2008-04-07T07:27:00.002-04:00

It's about a month since I've posted. I've had a few changes to make over the last month. I changed jobs a couple weeks ago and since then it has been hard for me to get back into a routine, but i'm working on it. I've been doing ok with my fitness goals and since I have not posted in forever I'm going to do something next month that I've been dreading! I'm going to post some progress pics...I think.Maybe. haha it's a scary thought. I woke up this morning at 4:30ish to start off the week with a bang. Worked legs and abs and ran on the tread mill for 30 min(2.66 miles). After my shower I weighed in at 160 lbs! I also ran into my trainer this morning and will be meeting him on Thursday mornings at 6:30 a.m. I will do the handheld body fat counter on thursday also. I promise to post the results.

Time to get the work week started! Bye.

Hydrostatic Test #1

2008-03-04T07:47:00.003-05:00

I went to the gym yesterday and did both the hand held fat reader and hydrostatic weight analysis. The hand held said 16.3% body fat which is 1% less than last month, and the hydrostatic measured me at 19.5%. I also weighed in at 169 lbs. I loved doing the hydrostatic and can hardly wait to do it again in June. They have the equipment in the back of a truck, similar to a moving truck. It had two small changing rooms a big tub and some computer equipment. I was instructed to climb into the tub and get into "push up" position, then the technician placed a weight belt across my back and was told to submerge my entire body underwater and expel all the air in my lungs and wait for him to knock on the tub before I came back up. I did this a total of three times then he averages the three results for the final numbers. He said my numbers were spot on all three times. For some reason I thought the water would be cool and slightly uncomfortable but to my surprise it was nice and warm and I couldn't help but imagine it was because the other people before me had peed in it. lol, yeah I know there is something wrong with me, so I had to take a shower at the gym before I came home. The test showed that I have 136.75Lbs. of lean mass and 33.25Lbs. of fat. Now I have 3 months to see how much I can change those numbers. I'm going to do the hydrostatic every three months, the hand held every month and weigh in every week just to gauge my progress.

2008-02-25T08:44:00.002-05:00

Last week I went to the gym during lunch and had some really good workouts. I was expecting to be in the 160's for my Friday weigh-in. I guess the brownies, fudge and soda finally caught up on me cause I had gained a pound. As of last Friday I weighted 173 lbs. I meet with my trainer on Friday's at 3:00 now and I think this arrangement will work the best since I only work until 12:30 on Friday's at my full time job, then I go in at 5:00 for my part time job. I'm not sure if i mentioned this in my last post, Mika has suggested that I modify my meals so I'm eating most of my carbs in the morning and not so many carbs before bed and trying to eat more protein. I think I've done really well with this over the past week (including the weekend). Last night I was making lunches and trying to make room in the refrigerator and there was a lonely slice of pepperoni pizza(my fav.) in the fridge and I had the struggle of a life time trying to decide whether i should throw it out or just eat it, it took me a good minute of looking at the microwave and trash can before I threw it away, then for a split second I wanted to reach back in to the trash and pull it out, lol, pathetic huh. I'm excited to see what this Friday holds for me, I jumped on the bathroom scale this morning and it was reading low 160's but that scale is 5-6 lbs off. Here is what the trainer would like me to eat:

Breakfast: Oatmeal, 2 hard boiled eggs, 1 banana, 1cup skim milk

Snack: Smoothie w/ fat burner additive

Lunch: 6-80z of Chicken or Tuna, salad, small sweet potato

Snack: Yogurt or cottage cheese with fruit

Dinner: 6-8oz of Lean beef, chicken, turkey or fish, veggies and a salad.

I tried oatmeal last week, smelled great, but eww gross, no thanks! I'll have to try to find some sort of replacement for that I guess.

I better go get some work done so I can go work out during lunch.

More next week!

Forgive me blogger for I have not been posting...

2008-02-18T08:18:00.003-05:00

...It's been four days since my last post and the reason for that, well it's quite simple, I have not gone to the gym. I failed my 13 week challenge. So that is in the past and i'm not going to dwell on it. I did go to the gym sunday morning and this morning. I was afraid to get on the scale this morning because while i was not going to the gym I did consume many soda's, fudge, and brownies (thanks mom, happy valentines day)! haha I was quite suprised when I had still lost a couple pounds. As of this morning I weigh 172 lbs. I'm probably not going to be able to blog on a daily basis anymore, we are starting to get really busy here at work, but i'll make sure to blog at least every friday for a weekly update.

2008-02-12T15:37:00.000-05:00

Eleven of the thirteen weeks left, what was i thinking!! I met with the trainer this past Saturday. I did half hour of cardio and worked back and biceps.

Yesterday was not a good day, I hardly got through my morning routine and when it was time for lunch I just couldn't do it. I started to develop a pretty bad headache halfway through my morning routine. I thought I was probably a little dehydrated so I made sure to go heavy on the water but it just seem to get worse through out the day so i decided to just go home and sleep it off. So much for no excuses, huh. I'm not going to let it get me down because I did go in Saturday!!

5:15 Breakfast - P.B. Toast

6:15 Gym - Treadmill-25 min, Eliptical-15 min

8:45 Snack - Banana

12:00 Lunch - (Subway) 6" Turkey on wheat, lettuce, tomato, pickle, cucumber, green pepper, mustard. Yummy!

2:00 - 5:30 SLEEP!

5:45 Dinner - Chicken wrap

2008-02-08T08:16:00.000-05:00

Friday Update:

I've lost 2 lbs. since last friday, my weight now stands at 177. It seems as if my trainer doesn't want to "quit me"( I think that is a line from Brokeback Mountain, haha). So we are going to meet on Saturday's now. I don't see the Saturday thing lasting very long! I read an artical online about how working out more than 3-4 times a week can be counter productive because your body doesn't have time to recover/rebuild. So I'm going to talk to the trainer about this and let him know about 13 week challenge and see what he has to say, of course you can't believe everthing you read on the internet, apparently there is a small group of people that still believe the world is flat and have scientific evidence to prove so...wow!

Yesterday's Info:

5:30 Breakfast - P.B. Toast, water

6:10 Gym - Treadmill-25 min, Bike-5 min

8:00 Snack - Celery w/ P.B.

ll:30 Snack - Fig Newtons

12:15 Gym - Legs, Abs

1:30 Lunch - P.B.J., water

3:15 Snack - Banana

5:30 Snack - Yogurt

9:30 Dinner - Pizza slice

2008-02-07T09:27:00.000-05:00

5:40 Breakfast - P.B. Toast, water

6:30 Gym - Treadmill - 25 min.

9:00 Snack - Celery with P.B.

11:30 Snack - Fig Newtons

12:15 Gym - Back, Biceps

1:30 Lunch - P.B.J., Yogurt, Water

5:30 Dinner - Tuna Sandwich, Water

2008-02-06T08:12:00.000-05:00

Yesterday:

6:15 Gym - treadmill - 15 min, bike - 15 min

7:10 Breakfast - Breakfast casserole

12:00 Gym - Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, Treadmill 2miles

1:00 Lunch - P.B.J. sandwich, veggie sticks, water

1:45 Snack - Banana, water

3:30 Snack - Yogurt, water

7:00 Dinner - Slice of Pizza, water

2008-02-05T07:53:00.000-05:00

Quick post, nothing exciting yesterday.

6:15 Gym - Treadmill-15 min, Bike- 15 min

7:15 Breakfast casserole

11:30 Veggie sticks

12:15 Legs, Abs

1:45 P.B.J sandwich, salad, veggie sticks, water

4:45 Fig newtons

6:45 Breakfast casserole, gatorade, banana

Much thanks to wifey for washing my dirty gym clothes and packing new clothes for me while I was asleep. Love ya!

2008-02-01T09:20:00.000-05:00

I was feeling really sorry for myself yesterday and decided that I would just ride the bike for a while. I hop on the bike and about 5 min into the workout I feel a breeze on the back of my neck, accompanied by a coffee mixed with shit smell. My first thought is, ok someone farted and coffee breath is fanning it my way. I tried to forget about it hoping it would go away, but after a few more minutes I’m still being pounded by it. I know I could of just got up and moved to another bike but then I would have to remember where I stopped on that machine and add those numbers to the other machine and well It was way too early in the morning for that! In effort to get some relief I start to lean my body to the right. I probably rode like that for 10 minutes or so, it was really uncomfortable and I the smell of his toxic poo breath was starting to give me a headache. At this point I’m starting to think, ok he has got to be done soon, he was a pretty big guy and he was working really hard on the elliptical machine. I decide to just stick it out a little longer cause I’ve only got 25 minutes to go, well 20 minutes later Mr. Stink was finally done. *Sigh* Talk about a breath of fresh air!

Here was yesterday’s routine:

6:10 Gym – Bike-35 minutes (8+miles)

7:30 Breakfast – breakfast casserole, Gatorade

9:30 Snack – Veggie sticks

12:30 Gym – Shoulders, Triceps, Abs

1:45 Lunch – PBJ sandwich, banana, water

4:30 Snack – yogurt

7:00 Dinner – slice of pizza, ice tea

I sound like a broken record at this point, but it’s been soooooooo hard to get out of bed especially the past couple of mornings because I’ve had to deliver pizzas until about 10:00 so the earliest I can get to bed is 11:00/11:30. I’m proud of myself for going all week, now I have 12 more weeks to go! HA!

I got my body fat % read this morning. But before I give the results I want to share a little dilemma I’m having. The trainer I was set up with works at the Morehead City gym in the morning and New Bern(my gym) in the afternoon. With a part time job in the afternoon I’ve had to miss a couple sessions with him so I’m thinking I need to just get a trainer that will be there when I’m there, makes sense, right. (I’m going to try and sound as least gay as possible) I really like the trainer I have now and I’m not sure how to go about telling him, everything I rehearse in my head reminds me of when I was in high school trying to break up with a girlfriend. Lol, hold on it gets better(gayer). I’d like to catch him in the gym so I can tell him face to face but just can’t seem to get there when he is there so I’m guessing I’m going to have to do it over the phone. Here is what I’ve rehearsed in my head:

*ring, ring, ring*

Mika – Hello?

Joey – Hey Mika it’s Joey.

Mika – joey,joey…

Joey – Joey Mitchell…New Bern.

Mika – yeah, Joey, how’s it goin?

Joey – Good, good. Do you have a few minutes to talk?

Mika – um actually I’m in the middle of a set right now, can I call you back?
Or
Mika – yeah, what’s up?

Joey – I’m not sure how to say this…

Mika – just say it.

Joey – I think I need to see another trainer.

Mika – was it something I did?...or didn’t do?

Joey – no, it’s me, not you. You have been great. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for you.

There you go. I’ll stop there and give you this month’s results. I started at the Gym January 4, 2008, weighing 197 lbs. with a body fat % of 23.7. I now weigh 179 lbs. with a body fat % of 17.3. Yay me!

The machine they use to measure body fat is a hand held machine and can be a little off and I was thinking I would love to be able to go somewhere that could give me a more accurate reading but usually only big colleges have the equipment. I got to work and checked my yahoo and had an email from the gym telling me about the Mobile Testing Clinic they had coming out next month, they do hydrostatic body fat test , the most accurate test there is, so I’m all kinds of excited about that.

That’s it until next week! I have to go make that phone call now... :)

2008-01-31T09:37:00.000-05:00

I was doing a little research online yesterday and found the you can burn up to 3x more fat if you don’t eat breakfast before you workout. I was kind of skeptical about it so I decided to give it a try. I was thinking I wouldn’t have the energy to get through my morning routine, but I felt great during the workout. Now when I sat down to eat breakfast about 45 minutes later I felt pretty beat up and sick like. I think I may incorporate this into my routine 2x a week; no way could I do that every day.

I was really happy with yesterday’s workout. It was time to do legs; I think I dislike doing legs the most. The first time I did legs with the trainer he worked me so hard that I could not stand up for 5-6 hours, just complete muscle fatigue! The second time I worked legs by myself and had the same results; I couldn’t stand up for 5-6 hours. Well, I say I couldn’t stand up, that isn’t entirely true, I could stand up if I pulled myself up using my arms and as long as I kept my knees locked I could somewhat walk around, but as soon as I bent the knees I was falling on the ground like a sack of potatoes. So anyway I did legs yesterday and I felt fine afterwards, no falling all over the place.

Here was yesterday’s routine:

6:10 Gym - Treadmill-25 min, Bike 10 min

7:20 Breakfast - “Breakfast casserole” (eggs, turkey sausage, skim milk, cheese, stove top stuffing mix)

9:00 Snack – Veggie sticks

12:15 Gym – Legs, biceps

1:20 Lunch – PBJ sandwich, yogurt, Gatorade

3:30 Snack – Fig Newton

6:15 Dinner – Tuna sandwich, Gatorade, Ice-Tea

It has been progressively harder and harder each morning to get out of bed; I wanted to cry this morning! I only have one more morning to finish out week one!! Then I’ll use Saturday and Sunday to let my body rest/recover. Tomorrow I will tell you about my nauseous work out with stink breath!

2008-01-30T08:20:00.000-05:00

Tuesday went well.

5:15 Breakfast - P.B. Toast, cheerios and Fruit Juice

6:10 Gym - Treadmill-25min, Bike-15min

7:30 Snack - Veggie sticks

9:00 Snack - Fig Newton, String cheese

12:15 Snack - Banana

12:50 Gym - Back, Bicepts, Abs

1:45 Lunch - P.B.J. sandwich, yogurt, Gatorade

6:30 Dinner - Salad with turkey, mashed potato, water

8:30 Snack - Breakfast casserole

This morning was even tougher to get up. I hit the snooze at least once this morning but still managed to get to the gym on time. I made a slight change to my morning routine and I'll fill you in on my next post.

2008-01-29T08:33:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the first day of my little challenge. I set my alarm clock for 5:00 a.m. but somehow woke up at 4:50 so I got out of bed fairly easy and started the day. Here was my routine:

5:15 Breakfast-Cheerios with milk, Peanut Butter on toast

6:10 Gym-Treadmill, 2miles, 25minutes

7:00 Snack-Veggie sticks

8:30 Snack-Banana

10:30 Snack-Fig Newton (2)

12:10 Gym-Chest, Shoulder, Triceps and Abs

1:15 Lunch-PBJ Sandwich, Yogurt, Gatorade

5:30 Snack-Fig Newton (2)

7:30 Dinner-Salad with Turkey

8:30 Snack-Banana Smoothie

As you can seen my goal is not to starve myself, I couldn’t if I wanted to because I LOVE food! I’m just trying to eat smarter. I was lovingly asked by my wife last night what pills I was taking because there is “no way you can lose 17 lbs in such a short amount of time”. I have not and will not use pills to lose weight. One of the contributing factors that I failed to mention for me to lose weight is because I was sick of taking my blood pressure pills. I found this quote a couple days ago: “A persons health can be judged by which they take two at a time – pills or stairs.” I choose stairs.

This morning was a little bit tougher to get out of bed because of the soreness. I still woke up 10-15 minutes before the alarm but I just laid there until I had to hit the alarm. It’s been a good start for the day.

I think I’m going to post my weight on a weekly basis, probably Fridays. I also think I get my body fat % read this Friday.

Fast Forward to January 28

2008-01-28T08:44:00.001-05:00

It was about mid April last year that I decided that I wanted to lose weight. I was pretty close to 210 lbs. The first goal for me was to stop over eating. Every time I sat down to eat a meal I would eat until I was overstuffed and wash it all down with a soda/beer or two. Then I would follow eating such a large meal with a nice cigar (Black & Mild). After cutting back how much I ate/drank I dropped 10 lbs fairly easy within two months or so. My weight continued to rise and fall for the next couple months and then came the holidays. I did ok during this time but I’m sure I could have done better. I had been thinking about joining a gym sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas but we all know that isn’t the best time to add to the monthly bills. I’m not going to say it was a New Year’s resolution just because most people don’t seem to take them serious or at least I usually don’t. I got a membership at Gold’s Gym around the 4th of January and I have been going habitually for the last couple weeks. They also sold me on having a personal trainer 2x a month. My first day I weighed in at 197 lbs, with a body fat percentage of 23.7%. This morning I weighed 181 lbs. I’m really excited about that and I’ve challenged myself to a 13 week, no excuses challenge. For the next 13 weeks I want to hit the gym and do cardio before work and then go back during lunch and lift weights. I plan to post everyday on what I did that day at the gym and what I ate during the day. I should be getting another body fat reading in a couple days so I’ll post that when I find out.

In the Beginning...

2008-01-25T10:00:00.000-05:00

A little back ground information about me: When I was a child I was not happy unless I was outside playing shirtless and barefoot. I loved to build forts in the woods, swim, bike, and participate in sports. I do remember having a Nintendo but we (four brothers) were only allowed 30 minutes on the game system. Sounds pretty crazy now but I should really thank my parents for that. I've always been in pretty good shape and never struggled with any weight issues. In high school I played football, soccer, wrestling and was on the weight lifting team. I was happy with my physique. After high school I got a job, moved out of my parents house and ate out just about every night and it's been down hill since then. I probably weighed 155 lbs when I was in the best shape. 10 years later I was close to 210 lbs. I've been hitting the gym pretty hard the past couple weeks and i'm now down to 181 lbs. I'll share what I have been doing up to this point in my next post and then continue to update my results from there and I probably will get aroud to posting picture of my progression. That's it for now, I have to get back to work!

"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keep you going."
- Jim Ryun

My First Post EVER!

2008-01-24T16:45:00.000-05:00

So i'm new to the whole blogging world. I'm not exatly sure why i'm doing this. I think mainly to be able to look back on the previous year. I guess we will see how it goes. I'll try to be a little more exciting on future posts, I'm kinda using this as a test post.