Saturday Weigh In - Definitely made the right choice

I weighed in at 186 for the 3rd week in a row. The fact that I have stabilized the weight for now is actually working perfectly. I have seen major changes in the structure of my body. All of the mass I built up is now being refined.

I took this point to sorta reset the board and clean up the phase 1 of muscle building. At first I wasn't sure if I made the right decision then I started to see the 6 pack (without any sort of straining or sucking in my tummy) It has started to show with me at rest. I have also noticed sculpting in the arms and shoulders more than I have.

I will continue this way for a while and then start adding protein and more activity. It will become somewhat of a cycle. Add mass -> refine mass -> repeat. I set a very high bar for my goal for the year. I fully intend to get there in a sustainable manner. By my 40th birthday I should look roughly like a marvel superhero. (just not the hulk, although I like green alot there is such a thing as too much of a good thing).

I am doing this slowly to allow my metabolism to be relatively stabalized throughout. There is no point quickly adding the bulk without also tempering my body's natural response to it. In the end I want to be able to maintain the new body without a regiment that involves 3-4 hours a day in a gym and eating like a member of a viking horde mid plunder.

So far so good, pleased with how it is going. And happy valentines day to my wonderful wife, I couldn't do any of this without you.

Weekly Weigh-in and Reflection

Well here we are again, Saturday and time for my weekly weigh-in.

So here we go, as of today I am down 136 pound.  Down a pound this week.  Yay!

I still don't think the scale is fully reflecting the changes I have seen but there are many factors for that this week.  I made a few changes this week to try and react to what my body and the scale are doing.  I added 5 more minutes of cardio to my routine so I am now getting up at 5:00 am every day and doing an hour and two minutes of exercising.  Crazy.

The other thing I changed this week was adding an ounce and a half of cashews to my breakfast.  I did this for many reasons.  Lately I have been focusing so much on food and the stuff I'm not having and dreaming of having an all out f-it day.  I was finding I was waking up hungry and my stomach was growling through my workout.  I've also been finding that I get freezing cold at my desk.  The scale also hasn't been showing the changes that I am seeing in the mirror.  The added cashews have really helped.  I'm not as hungry.  I'm not as cold at my desk.  I'm not obsessing about food and wanting the foods I know I shouldn't have.

This just illustrates how important it is to listen to your body and adjust and fix as you go.  Obviously my body has changed significantly with the 136 pound weight loss and I need to eat for the body I have now, not the one I had before.  

That's about it for the week that just passed.  Coming up is Valentine's Day.  That will mean treats of all kinds out at work but I feel more prepared to pass them up now.  I know what Munkee and I will do for the day will fit in with our new lifestyle, the bigger concern for me is what I'll be seeing at work.  I have survived many holiday temptations and this one will be no different.

Weekly Weigh In - Sometimes status quo is deceptive.

I stayed the same weight this week at 186. This is an interesting thing. If I were only to pay attention to the scale nothing has changed. I know that isn't the case however, due to my new tendency to check myself out in mirrors. I have seen changes over the week particularly in my arms and abdomen. I can feel muscles have alot more density. In the abdomen I can more clearly see that defined 6 pack of abs than ever before.

The adjustment I made to my training is working. I am starting to see clearer definition, which was the goal of this change. Its more of a stop in gaining mass to sculpt what is there and refine it. Then I will work on more mass, then switch back to define that.

I am visualizing the process somewhat the same as rings on a tree, building the muscle layer by layer and perfecting each layer as I go. I never thought that would be an aim of mine. I have said before that I am more of a sit and watch movies, sit and play videogames, guitar, or program a computer type of guy. I like less physical activities.

I still hate working out, I think the difference is I have come to accept it as part of my morning. I haven't minded the food we are eating in the slightest so that hasn't been a problem. I do not like the sweating and strain of exercise as a first choice. It was a big challenge coming to realize that it was a completely necessary part of a balanced lifestyle. I have met that challenge, I can accept that it is needed, and do it every day without fail.

Weekly Weigh-in and Reflection

So it's that time of week again, time for the weekly weigh-in and reflection.

So here goes....

I'm down 135 pounds, still.  Yep stayed the same.

I know there are changes that aren't being reflected they way I would like them to be on the scale.  My clothes are looser, I am seeing noticeable changes when looking in the mirror and I am getting comments from my new coworkers asking if I've lost weight.  I know that my body has changed even if the scale doesn't show what I want it to.  I have to be patient, trust the process and know that I am doing the right thing and continue down the path I started 17 months ago.  I will succeed and I will get to the finish line.  I will not give up.

I'm sure as Munkee reads this he'll smile as this was not my attitude this morning.  I would love to be losing 2 pounds a week steady but it's not going to be that way. I do get moody when the scale isn't showing what I'm seeing in the mirror.  Munkee does his best to try and calm me but I'm not always open in the moment to his words.  It takes me time to process and move on.

I have been struggling lately with urges to have a cheat day, have an "f-it" day and just not care for a day.  In my weaker moments I would love to sleep in, not work out, not weigh and measure my food and not care about what I'm eating.  In my head I think I could do that for one day and then the next day be right back at it.  In reality I know this wouldn't be the case.  In my past attempts I have allowed myself cheat days and I started to find more and more excuses to have them more and more often.  As I have said it's a slippery slope with me and the path I have chosen isn't always the easiest but it has been so worth it.

I went shopping with my sister today and bought a size smaller in clothes figuring they would fit soon and have them as something to work towards.  I tried them on when I got home and to my surprise, they fit.  Yep, it's working.  Just have to stay the course, adjust the workout when necessary, add the weights the vest when it's time and keep tracking and monitoring my food.

The jube-jues lasted almost the entire week at work and then someone added a box of Pot of Gold to the cabinet.  This did not help my struggles.  The little voice said "you can just have one" but I know the next time I walked by I would think the same thing regardless of whether or not I ate one before.  I think that's something that bothers me the most is that I resist temptation regularly and feel the scale should reward me and when it doesn't I get cheesed off.  Resisting should be reward enough, as I've said many times, I'm a work in progress not with just my weight but my mental thinking as well.

This coming week should be pretty uneventful.  Stay the course and I will make it to the end and move on to maintenance.  I will do it.

Weekly weigh in - All According to plan

This week I weighed in down 1 pound to 186. I did some reading on the internet and decided to change things up slightly this week and give a small cut to my daily protein intake. I am at the moment working on a bit of a metabolic cycle test. Trying to take the mass I have aquired and not add more, but sculpt what is there.

After some reading that is the strategy I took and I can already see a bit of a change in the definition. After a few weeks of this routine I will go and add more protein in again. From what I have read I have to keep my body guessing a little bit, so that it continues to view itself in a state of "challenge". So the plan is to toggle between metabolic maintenance and adding muscle mass, so that I get the best definition of what is there.

I am aiming to be sculpted and defined and its definitely starting to be the case. I am still increasing my intensity every week. I also shifted the day which I do that. One of the more interesting facets of the human body is its tendency to adapt to activity. So I am throwing a few monkey wrenches into the mix and trying to inject a little chaos.

One thing is for sure there is no stopping this now. The train is rolling and I like the results.

Saturday Weigh In - Steady Progress, personal weirdness

My weigh in yesterday was 187 pounds.  I know this is 5 pounds below the top of the mark for a normal BMI for my height. I also know that BMI doesn't factor in muscle mass. What I am finding interesting is I almost have an anxiety about going above 192 pounds. I have maintained my normal BMI status for over a year and although I am aiming for more muscle, and logically I know that could mean I am over the normal BMI range. It still makes me feel slightly odd.

Muscular people are more often then not over that range, I know this to be true logically. I think its just a comfortable head space I have developed being there. I know I am still wearing medium t-shirts and still have a 34" waistline so really all of this is in my head. Its just a strange feeling.

It doesn't mean I am going to stop, or go on some goofy crash diet to cut weight. I fully intend to reach my goal of a better body. I think I just have to adjust my thinking when it comes to BMI. I really have to re-enforce the fact that muscular people are very often slightly into what it would consider to be overweight.

Perhaps the solution is to find a better scale, or just start to spend a bit more time looking in the mirror and realizing how much better I look. I am sure I will get there. its just a slight period of personal weirdness.

Weekly Weigh-in and Reflection

Well it's that time of the week again, time for the weekly weigh-in.  So with no further ado here we go.....

This week I am down 2 pounds making my total weight loss 135 pounds!  That's another 5 pound sticker for my success board.

I am happy to see the scale finally showing what I've been seeing in the mirror and in my clothes.  The new weighted vest is definitely working!  My shirt is soaked by the time I'm done my 57 minutes!  I have a game plan to get me to the end with the vest, 2 weights every 3 pounds lost.  I may still need to change up my workout routines to keep pushing myself to the end.  I can see the end coming and am starting to get a bit excited.  It will happen when it's supposed to.

This week was challenging because it was a very busy week.  Had errands or appointments every day after work this week.  That meant for later dinners and less time relax and recover from the day at work.  I typically like to eat dinner between 5:00 pm and 5:30 pm but when I have stuff after work it get to be 6:00 pm or 6:30 pm before we sit down to eat and eating too close to going to bed isn't the best thing.  I'm hoping this week coming will be quieter after work and I am able to have dinner at a better time.

The other challenge this week was the tub of jube-jues someone brought into the office.  They use to be one of my weaknesses.  It was difficult to walk by them and ignore them calling to me.  They were unfortunately on my route to the bathroom and passed them many times thanks to all the water I drink in a day!  I am happy to say that I was able to resist  the call of the jube-jues and feel better for not having given in.

This week coming should be much better for my routine.  I have not appointments after work and other than regular grocery shopping stuff.  No lunches or dinner outs this week.  A nice quiet and boring week in store.  I think I'm going to like it!