Afterburn, week 15, day 2

I don’t want to jinx myself but these runs are getting easier and easier. The first four sprints and jogs are nothing. The last two made me breathe heavy but nothing out of the ordinary. No one who saw me on the treadmill would worry about my safety. They might have about 5 weeks ago.

9.0/6.0/3.5

NROL, Strength III, workout 3C

Deadlifts today. I dropped the weight down and didn’t have any back trouble. Ironically I started feeling some back pain on the good mornings and hanging leg raises. Crazy. Oh well. Nothing too serious. 

Here are the stats.

Deadlift – 3×185, 2×195, 1×205, 3×190, 2×200, 1×210

(I feel OK with dropping the weight on these. It’s good when you don’t hurt yourself. Maybe I can start back to building the numbers from here.)

Rack deadlift – 2×225, 2×245, 2×275

(I finally figured these things out. The bar sat right above my knee. It’s amazing how much I can lift when I actually get to use my weight! The first set of 225 was way too easy. I wanted to be careful so I only added 20 pounds for the next set. It was too easy too. The last set of 275 was tough but I can do more.)

Snatch grip deadlift off box – 6×165, 12×135

(Same numbers as last time. These are still incredibly awkward. I don’t like them.)

Zercher good morning – 4×95, 4×95

(Same weight here too. I felt a little pain in my back during the middle. Nothing serious but it was noticable. Not sure what that was about.)

Hanging leg raise – 4xBW, 4xBW, 4xBW, 4xBW

(My grip is getting a little better. The back hurt here too. Not too big of an issue though.)

Afterburn, week 15, day 1

Another run down. This one was pretty good.

They’ve all been really good lately. I’m feeling good now. Sometimes I get a little tired but at this point I never have any issues breathing. That’s really the only problem with sprints. If you run too fast then you have a hard time breathing and that makes it even more difficult to go on. Now that I’ve reached the point where I can handle all the sprints it’s only a matter of pushing through tired legs.

Nine more to go.

9.0/6.0/3.5

NROL, Strength III, workout 2B

Today was bench day and I didn’t have a spot so I went pretty light.

I’m going to be halfway through with strength III at the end of the week. I’m really looking forward to ending it to be honest. I’m still struggling between deciding on moving on to hypertrophy or going back to fat loss. On one hand I think something new like hypertrophy will be good for making progress. On the other hand I really miss the feeling of being totally spent at the end of workout. Fat Loss definitely did that for me. I am growing to despise the super long rest periods I’m currently using. The thirty second breaks of fat loss are extremely tough to do but I think I’m getting close to the point where I’m capable of getting it done now.

I’m a little bummed that I’m sitting here planning and my ultimate decision won’t come for at least a month.

Here are today’s stats.

Barbell bench press – 3×185, 2×190, 1×195, 3×185, 2×190, 1×195

(Gotta start somewhere I guess. Last week I went way too high and couldn’t get these done. I picked weights that I can do. Next time I’ll get 200 and maybe 205 on the last one.)

Barbell bent over row – 4×135, 4×135, 8×95

(Last time 135 was too easy so I started wtih 155. On the first rep I felt a little twinge in my back. I immediately racked it and dropped it back to 135. They were tough but most importantly I didn’t feel any pain. The last set wasn’t too difficult but again, I’m trying to make sure I don’t hurt myself.)

Barbell push press – 4×135, 4×135, 8×95

(Finally pushed the weight up to 135 and I feel good about that.)

Woodchop – 8×120, 8×120, 8×120

(Last time I finished with 120 so I did all three with that weight this time. Really tough movement. Not as hard as the reverse woodchop but still really hard. I sweat like a pig when I do these. I also get really tired. I kind of like that.)

I’ve finally found my calorie number

I feel so damn dumb right now. After dropping my calories down to the 2000-2600 range I’m finally starting to lose weight. I started with around 3000 calories two months ago. I don’t even remember the reason I went so high. I think I was worried about feeding the muscle or something like that. I remember reading somewhere that you’re supposed to eat even more to lose weight. I actually saw someone say that a 260 pound guy should eat 3500 calories!

I guess I’m glad that went through all of this anyway if only because I have a better understanding of what that much food does to my body. Basically 3000 calories keeps me at about the same weight. If I wanted to weigh 260 pounds for the rest of my life I would stick with that number. I don’t, so I dropped it, and I’m seeing results. Trial and error is pretty much the only way to go with pretty much anything fitness wise. Whether it’s a lifting plan or an eating plan, if you don’t try it you’ll never know if it works or not. Now I have a better understanding of what works.

It’s a little ironic that today on Alwyn Cosgrove’s blog he pretty much laid out what I should do. He got an email from someone who weighed 260 and was looking to lose weight. The interesting part of it for me was that Alwyn recommended 2600 calories. I assume he chose that number based on the 10x your bodyweight formula I recently learned. Should a 250 pound guy eat 2500? Does 240lbs = 2400 cals? I can only assume that’s right. Maybe I’ll email him or something.

He also recommended high protein and more vegetables along with reducing starchy carbs. That’s what I’m doing right now. I’m actually eating green stuff with my meals now. I’ve also drastically reduced my bread intake. A loaf of bread lasts me 3-4 weeks now. It used to be gone in less then one.

The point of all this is that I was a little worried that my calorie numbers were off and I was sacrificing muscle to lose weight. I want to do things the right way. I guess my recent horrible lift got me thinking. Any doubts I had are now gone. I’m officially sold on 2600 calories. Any stupid worries about losing muscle or anything like that are gone. At this point, I’m buying whatever Alwyn’s selling. I know I bitched and moaned about my lack of weight loss recently but the plain truth is that my body has transformed significantly over the past six months. My stomach doesn’t hang over my belt. I’ve also lost the man boobs. In fact, I’m actually starting to see muscles in my body. Huge stuff. Even without losing a single pound. It’s all thanks to New Rules of Lifting and Afterburn.

Now I feel like I’m right where I need to be calorie wise. I just wish Alwyn had posted that entry two months ago.

1-28-08 weight

Sunday weigh in

280.0

Not bad. That’s 3.2 pounds lost this week.

I have a great shot at hitting a new low this week. Only one pound away. If I can lose 1.2 pounds I can update my chart after over six months. I’m very excited about this.

Afterburn, week 14, day 5

Another good run.

Not much to say. I feel pretty good about where I’m at right now.

Two more “weeks” left. Ten more runs total.

9.0/6.0/3.5

Clean eating, fitness cartoons, meeting guys at the gym and more!

Never let it be said that I don’t give the people what they want. Long ago I promised myself that I wouldn’t do what everybody else seems to do when they suck at the gym or life in general and post some motivational crap. I can’t sleep because I’m still thinking about things, though, so I figured I’d do something constructive.

Like every one else on WordPress I routinely check my little blog stats thing and I’ve noticed that I get a ton of hits from searches on a few things. Here’s some more about what you seem to be interested in.

1) Clean eating

Wow. I did this post two weeks ago and it’s already one of my most viewed ever. While this is cool it’s also pretty sad. This is my third year of blogging! A lot of people are searching for information on clean eating. Diet posts in general are by far the most popular but wow. Just wow. My statcounter has blown up since then so I hear you loud and clear. More posts on clean eating. If I ever figure out what that is. Read this post from the Men’s Health forums and tell me what you think. I’m not at the point where I’m deciding between low and high GI carbs yet but it’s… interesting, I guess.

I suggest you read the entire essential reading thread if you’re totally new to weight loss and more specifically weight lifting. Lots of stuff to think about.

2) Fitness cartoons 

I love fitness cartoons and apparently you do too. I posted this link I got from Straight to the Bar back in May and that post is still very popular here.

A few more I’ve discovered along the way are Brawn’s Gym and Guido and Luigi. They’re geared more toward weight lifting specifically which in my mind makes them even more awesome.

3) Meeting guys at the gym

I don’t know why this search term is so popular. It’s interesting I guess. I don’t know that there is a blogger out there who is tackling this subject. If you ever decide to do so I’m pretty sure there’s an audience for it. My experience in the gym tell me that these are not women doing these searches. If, by chance, they are though, it’s pretty simple for a women to meet guys at a gym. Three step process. 1) Be attractive, 2) make eye contact 3) smile. That’s pretty much it. For the guys….I don’t know. Same thing?

The whole idea of meeting people in the gym kind of creeps me out. I’m married and met my wife long before my gym days but I feel like the gym is kind of like work. It’s a “you don’t want to shit where you eat” kind of thing. The last thing you need is drama when you’re getting your workout on. That’s just my two cents.

Thanks for stopping by anyway.

4) How to make a weight loss journal

This one started popping up quite frequently around the beginning of the year. I guess they would find me when “weight loss journal” is in my url.

I don’t know. Do your thing is all I can tell you. People want to see the numbers so go with that. I’m really partial to the little weight loss box on the right side here. Feel free to steal it if you want to. I think you can right click/view source to get the source code. Put that stuff in a text widget if you’re using WordPress.

I assume people want to know how to make a popular weight loss blog. I can’t really tell you. I think it’s a combination of an interesting writing style and a commitment to being a part of the weight loss blogging community. That means making comments on every elses blog. I imagine that those things combined with a lot of success in losing weight would complete the trifecta. Oh yeah, and post often. Don’t bail when you have a few bad weeks. That’s lame. So, I just gave you four. What’s the word for that? Quadfecta?

I wish there was some central source to find all the weight loss bloggers. Maybe they could divide them between women and men, people who need to lose 100+ and people who need to lose less then 50lbs, etc. You could register your blog there or something like that. That would be awesome. Maybe a wiki? Somebody did that for my first blog’s subject matter. I get an email one day and they’re like, you’re in the wiki dude. Next thing I know my hits exploded. Seriously, why doesn’t someone get on that? Everyone could do a post about it. It could be huge. Maybe there already is one and I’m just not cool enough to be invited. You never know.

Until then I guess I’ll just check everyone’s blogroll.

Finding the right calorie number

Since I’m still a little bummed out about the last lift I figured I should mention something positive.

I weighed 258.8 for the second day in a row this morning. That’s the second time this week that I weighed exactly the same thing two days in a row. Weird. The big positive is that according to Fitday my average weight this week is 259.6. That’s pretty sweet.

I think cutting my calories to between 2000 and 2600 over the past week has to be the difference. I wonder if this is going to have a huge impact on my strength in the weight room. Maybe that has something to do with today’s thing. Who knows.

Whatever. My main goal is weight loss. 3000 calories wasn’t working. 2800 calories wasn’t working. This range is working. I’m gonna ride it out and hopefully sneak in a new low in a week or two.

NROL, Strength III, workout 2A

Sometimes it’s best to take some time off before you blog 

I wrote two different entries earlier today. In the first one I was incredibly angry and in the second one I was incredibly depressed. This one, I hope, will be a little more level headed.

Today was squat day and it was an unquestionable failure. Probably my worst day of lifting ever.

After 4 warm up sets I put up 225 to start squatting. I felt pain in my lower back coming up from the second one. I somehow managed to get a third rep done. The next set was a joke. I did 235 but they were quarter squats at best. The last set was 245 and I knew I had no chance. After breaking it back down for another set of 3 at 225 I finally hit the wall. I went down on the first rep and couldn’t get up. The back pain was too much. The bar hit the safety supports and made a loud noise that the whole gym could hear.

I didn’t even attempt quarter squats. I tried to do my second group of squats but I could only manage 3 reps of 135. Not the 6 or 12 like I was supposed to do. It just hurt too much. I later played around with 95 and that too was too uncomfortable.

I went through the rest of the program with the same weights as last time. For some reason, my back wasn’t an issue for any of them.

I don’t know what to do. My back doesn’t hurt now. It didn’t hurt for most of the time in the gym. It only hurt at the bottom of my squats. I felt like my form was good. My chest was out, my abs were tight, my head was up. No clue.

I’m not going to quit. This was only one day. Tomorrow will be better. I’m just going to chalk this up to one of those days and try to forget about it.

Afterburn, week 14, day 4

Decent run breathing wise but I had some new pains this time.

I had an actual stomach ache. Not my sides hurting when I’ve run too much but a rumbling in my stomach. It was pretty painful but luckily it only happened twice and both times it was in the middle of my jogs. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to finish because of them. That made me a little angry because that’s a stupid reason to not get this done. I’m finally at the point where I can handle the runs without hyperventillating and this pops up.

Both times I just decided that, come hell or high water, I was going to sprint when the time came. If I couldn’t go on then I would deal with it. Both of the sprints came and the stomach pain went away. Amazing how things work out when you don’t give yourself an excuse to quit.

I’m pretty proud of myself for finishing this one.

9.0/6.0/3.5

Weight update

After two days of weighing exactly 260.0 I weighed in at 259.6 this morning!

I’ve dropped my calories to between 2000 and 2600 this week. I think I’ve been eating too much, especially on cardio days. There’s no need to eat a meal an hour before and then have a post workout shake. From now on, on cardio days, I’ll have something before I run and then eat 3 or 4 hours later when I’m supposed to. I’m still going to do the shakes immediately pre and post workout on lifting days. Those things are over 600 calories but I believe that they’re worth it. 

On days when I don’t go to the gym (Sunday) I’m going to work really hard to stay below 2000 calories.

All this seems to be working so I’m gonna stick to it for a while.

NROL, Strength III, workout 1D

So I’ve went around the horn on the final strength phase. This one is a lot tougher then it looks on paper. To be honest I thought it might be pretty easy. It was pull up day and if I had done lat pulldowns it might have been easier. I didn’t though so I had to struggle. That’s a good thing. Maybe I’ll get a real pull up one day.

Close grip pull up – 3x(-)105, 2x(-)90, 1x(-)75, 3x(-)105, 2x(-)90, 1x(-)75

(I used the pull up assist machine here. It was pretty difficult. It feels like I used entirely different muscles then I’m used to. I’m really sore. I can only do a pull up with 75 pounds of assistance. That’s pathetic. The lowest you can go is 30 so I’d like to get to at least that point by workout 4D. Not sure if that’s possible but I’ll give it a shot.)

Barbell shoulder press – 4×95, 4×115, 8×95

(First rep was too light. 115 is about right here.)

Cable seated row – 4×210, 4×195, 8×180

(The first rep was too heavy. It’s rare that I overestimate on anything but I did. My form was horrible. Back at 195 everything was smooth.)

Reverse woodchop – 8×90, 8×100, 8×100

(I did the first two sets with the rope and they hurt like hell. Did the last rep with a handle. It felt a little better. I was sweating like a pig. Doing the reverse woodchopper is a lot harder then the regular woodchopper.)

Afterburn, week 14, day 3

I had a great run today.

No breathing problems at all. I kept waiting for it but it never came. I’m still having trouble believing this.

Awesome. Just awesome.

9.0/6.0/3.5

NROL, Strength III, workout 1C

I had back worries since today was deadlift day. It was a little touch and go but I managed to get all the lifts in.

Here are the stats.

Deadlift – 3×225, 2×235, 1×245, 3×230, 2×240, 1×250

(I can barely deadlift more than I squat. The only thing that is really holding me back is my back. Today I did a lot of warmups just like on squat day. Even with that I remained cautious. You never know. I had some pain after the first work set but it wasn’t enough to keep me from going on. I think the long rest breaks were what enabled me to do it.)

Rack deadlift – 2×245, 2×245, 2×245

(I don’t have a clue what I’m doing here. In theory these numbers should be higher then my deadlifts. They’re supposed to allow me to lift higher weight. I just can’t. I tried a few times going a little heavier and I had no shot. I got down to 245 before I was able to move the bar. I put the safety pins on their lowest rung so it lines up with my knees. Maybe that’s too low. I’m going to make them a little higher next time and see what happens. I scraped my knees something awful on all three sets. Somethings got to give.)

Snatch grip deadlift off box – 6×165, 12×135

(My trouble with my second round of squats last time convinced me to go lower then I thought I could here. That was a good decision. Using the snatch grip and standing on the box added a lot of difficulty. The first set was difficult. The second set was easier but I felt my legs burning for every rep. Definitely got me sweating.)

Zercher good morning – 4×95, 4×95

This is an awkward movement. You put the bar in the crook of your arms and do the good morning. I went with 95 which is what I used for my normal good mornings. It went OK. I think I could do more but, again, it’s awkward. Once I get to where I can keep the bar straight consistently I can move the weight up. That’s all assuming my back continues to hold up, of course. I’ll also have to deal with increased pain from the friction on my forearms. That’s no biggie though. I’m used to constantly getting bumps and bruises by now.)

Hanging leg raise – 4xBW, 4xBW, 4xBW, 4xBW

(Not sure how I could add weight here. Not that I could handle it if I ever figure that out. I like the extra sets and shorter rest periods. If nothing else it’s making me better at hanging on to the bar. That’s gonna be huge whenever I get strong enough to do chin ups. Since it was only four reps a set I never really doubted I could hang on. I had the chance to slow down and stabalize myself after every crunch. It felt good. This exercise doesn’t hurt my shoulders anymore. That’s a huge relief.)

Sunday weigh in

261.2

That’s about a half pound lost since last Sunday. Yeah, it sucks but considering I weighed as much as 263 at times this week I’ll take it. I had three consecutive days of gaining at the beginning of the week. I’d like to avoid that this week and maybe have a shot at 259 next Sunday. Only one pound. You’d think I’d be able to get that.

Afterburn, week 14, day 2

Best run in a long time.

My breath was good throughout. Even the last run was decent.

9.0/6.0/3.5

NROL, Strength III, workout 1B

I suck at the bench press.

I had dreams of pushing 225 at the end of this phase but all those hopes are dead now. I have a lot of work to do.

Here are the stats.

Barbell bench press – 3×185, 2×195, 1×205, 3×190, 1×200, Fx200

(I tried 195 for the first set of three and quickly realized I had no shot. Dropped it down to 185 and got the first three sets done. I asked my wife spot me at 205 but she never had to touch the bar. Three reps at 190 was no problem. The problem came on the fifth set when I couldn’t get that second rep at 200. I got stuck inches above my chest. That’s like the worst feeling in the world. You’re trapped until someone saves you. Luckily my wife did that. I tried 200 for my last set and had the exact same thing happen. What a nightmare. I hate the bench press.)

Barbell bent over row – 4×135, 4×155, 8×135

(My form was pretty good today. 135 is too low for 4 reps. 155 is too high. Gotta find a middle ground.)

Barbell push press – 4×130, 4×130, 8×95

(I should do 135 here soon. It didn’t hurt my wrist at all this time.)

Woodchop – 8×100, 8×110, 8×120

(I haven’t done these things in over a year. I missed them. It’s a pretty cool movement.)

Afterburn, week 14, day 1

Today I’m completely spent. I felt like I gave all I could. My legs and abs were extremely sore from lifting yesterday. Haven’t felt like that in a while. I never seriously considered skipping the gym but I was grumpy during my whole walk. Navigating my way through all the slush from the snow this morning didn’t make me feel any better.

This thing is all mental. I’m ready to stop before I even get halfway through. I have to keep telling myself to just do one more sprint. It’s usually not a big deal until the end. The last round today hurt just as much as usual. My breathing is getting respectable but I’m still weezing toward the end.

Walking home I felt really good. It was a mix of endorphins combined with the satisfaction at a job well done. I don’t get that feeling everyday but when I do I’m grateful for it. It makes me feel like everything I just went through was worth it.

9.0/6.0/3.5

NROL, Strength III, workout 1A

The final phase of the strength portion of NROL started today. It’s tough as hell. Totally different then what I’m used to. There’s going to be a lot of small rep sets this time. The rest for that first group of squats was 4 minutes. I’m usually annoyed with long rest periods but I was more then happy this time. I would have been happy with 5 or more to tell you the truth. My legs are burning right now.

This lift took around 75 minutes because of all the rest periods. I’m gonna have to get used to spending more time in the gym this month.

Squat – 3×220, 2×230, 1×240, 3×225, 2×235, 1×245

(I did a ton of warm up sets this time. Didn’t really care if it tired me out. I did 4 or 5 reps with 45, 95, 135 and 185. It wasn’t until that last warm up set that I felt ready. I’m shocked that I was able to squat 245. That’s pretty sweet. I was probably more shocked that I was able to do 225 for 3 reps. Crazy. It wasn’t long ago that I was dreaming of squatting that much. It was one of my lightest sets today!)

Quarter Squat – 2×265, 2×265, 2×265

(I could probably do more but I’m still unsure of my form here. Not sure how low I should go. I basically touched the safety pin that I set up right above my hip. These quarter squats were still miles better then any I’ve ever done.)

Squat – 6×200, 4×175

(I guess these were what you call “back down” squats. That first set was extremely difficult. It took all I had. The second set was supposed to be 12 reps but I had no chance. It felt like I just hit a wall. I greatly overestimated what I could do. Probably might need to bump that down to 135 or so. I think all those warm up sets might have caught up with me here but I don’t care. I needed every one to get that first group of squats.)

Seated good morning – 6×95, 6×95

(These were awkward. The range of motion is limited by design. It’s also hard to set up here. I basically picked the bar off of the squat rack and walked it to the end of the bench. I’ll go up in weight soon.)

Swiss ball crunch with medicine ball throw – 4×30, 4×30, 4×30, 4×30

(I didn’t feel comfortable throwing a medicine ball here. The walls in my gym don’t look like the most sturdy in the world. I decided to use a dumbbell and simulate the motion. I’m sure it did the trick. It was tough keeping my balance but I did these without hitting my head too many times.)

Six months with no weight loss

I mentioned in my last post that it has been six months since I last lost weight. On July 16, 2007 I hit 257.2 pounds. My lowest weight to date.

This little anniversary is incredibly depressing. I’ll get over it, I guess. Sometimes I just feel so hopeless. My life has been consumed with the thought of getting back to that damn number and finally surpassing it. Whenever I feel like I’ve got this whole weight loss thing figured out I get days like the past few I’ve had.

I wonder how much longer I can go on living this way. I wonder if it’s all worth it. Why am I coming home from the gym spent every night when I don’t get any progress. Why am I spending all this time worrying about the calorie intake of everything I put in my mouth when it really doesn’t seem to matter?

If I stop all this I have no doubt that I will gain weight rapidly. I feel like I’m on some damn eternal treadmill just waiting to crash back to 300+pounds. I’m treading water right now. Delaying the inevitable. That’s all I’m doing.

If I could just see 256 on my scale. Just 256 pounds! Is that asking too much? That would be enough to make me feel better. Enough to convince me that I’m on the right track. How much longer can I bust my ass all the while still weighing in the 260’s? Nine months? A year? Something’s gotta change.

Oh well. Gotta suck it up. Tomorrow’s a new day. Blah, blah, blah. There are billions of people in this world who have much more difficult problems then this. I’ll be OK. No matter what happens.

Trying hard not to freak out

I just weighed in at 263.4 this morning.

That’s a gain of 2 pounds since four days ago. I am trying my hardest not to freak out.

Everything was going great until I had that 2000 calorie day. I gained weight the next morning. I followed that day up with the highest calorie day I’ve had in forever. Gained wieght the next day. I can accept this. Whatever. It’s just two days.

Now, two days later, after eating within my calorie limit and going to the gym twice I’ve managed to gain another pound. I’m going the wrong way and I don’t know how to stop it.

I’m trying to be cool. I’m going to stick to between 2500 and 2800 calories for the rest of the week and hope for the best.

I guess I’m just a little on edge since I’ve been hovering over my all time low for so damn long. I just want to get back there. It was exactly six months ago today that I hit that number. Since I started counting calories last month my weight finally started dropping steadily and now this. Incredibly frustrating.

It’s going to work out. Gotta breathe. It’s going to work out. I’m gonna be laughing about this in a week or two. Hopefully.

Afterburn, week 13, day 5

Great run!

I was surprised to say the least. I was expecting the worst after taking the weekend off.

Absolutely zero physical issues. No pain in my feets, legs, back, stomach, NOTHING. Breathing was great for the first 5 rounds. The last sprint and jog were tough but I think they’ll always be tough.

I just feel really good today. I might actually finish this thing!

NROL, Strength II, workout 4D

Not much to say today. Average lift at best.

Last one of Strength II and I”m glad. Might start Strength III later this week. 

Here are today’s stats.

Barbell Push Press – 4×130, 4×130, 8×120, 12×105

Wide Grip Lat Pulldown – 4×165, 4×165, 8×150, 12×135

Dumbbell Incline Bench Press – 4×65, 4×65, 12×55

Cable Seated Row – 4×195, 4×195, 12×165

Dumbbell Upper Body Russian Twist – 6×30, 6×30

Insomnia and weight loss (or lack thereof)

This morning I weighed 261.8.

That’s a 0.4 pound loss from last Sundays’ weigh in. It’s a pound more then my lowest this week. Sigh.

Here’s the thing. I haven’t been sleeping. All week I’ve been getting around 5-6 hours.

Yesterday, I had the lowest calorie day I’ve ever had since I started counting on Dec. 3 (2000 cals). This was because I was so tired that I just went to bed after eating only 4 meals. I was probably awake only 12 hours yesterday. I wasn’t trying to limit calories I just ran out of time. So I go to sleep and I wake up 5 hours later STARVING. I tried to go back to sleep because I was so tired but I simply couldn’t ignore my stomach.

Unfortunately I’m not one of those people who can’t go back to sleep an hour later. I also can’t take naps. I can be frustrating sometimes. It’s usually not a problem because I’m a deep sleeper. I have actually slept through a major hurricane. When I’m up, though, I’m up for good.

I can’t help thinking that if I had forced myself to eat before I went to sleep I would have been able to sleep 8-9 hours and I would weigh 260ish right now. That got me wondering if the 200-300 calorie reduction I’ve been experimenting with this week has anything to do with my lack of sleep. If things stay like they are for another week I might go back to 3000 calories for a while just to see if it helps. I can’t imagine that the two are related but you never really know.

My future clean eating diet plan

After posting about my calories and macros I started thinking about my long term plans for cleaning up my diet.

In the future I hope to live by the maxim “If it comes in a bag or box don’t eat it.” I’m not there yet but I’m working on it. I need to eventually lose the cereal and chicken in a bag. I also probably eat too much cheese and I have developed a bad habit of eating my wife’s weight watchers ice cream fudge cups. Other then that I think I’m doing decent.

I’ve made some progress in that I’m using the old George Forman grill now. I’m making burgers and chicken (rarely) so it’s a start. My vegetable intake is FAR too low. Maybe when I start making the chicken breast on a regular basis I can add the vegetables. I don’t really hate them. In fact, I’ll eat virtually anything.

I don’t have an excuse. At first I was bothered by the packaging. Every pack I’d find had multiple servings. I really wanted something in one serving sizes. Now that I’ve been measuring the crap out of everything for a month now I’ve really got no excuse.

So, in conclusion, diet is still hard but I’m getting better.

Random thoughts about calories and macros

So after a month of counting calories I think I’ve figured out a few things about diet.

1) Calories

First, while I agree that you have to eat plenty of calories in order to lose weight, there has to be a limit. For a long time I worried about hitting some arbitrary goal of 3000. I think that was a tad too high. I’ve been around 2800 for the past week and I’ve started dropping steadily. I’m gonna reevaluate in a few weeks but for now I’m gonna try to stay in the 2600 to 2800 range. This still leaves me feeling full but occasionally I’ll get a slight feeling of hunger when I’m going to sleep. It really doesn’t bother me physically but I have this strange worry. Something like “OMG, you’re not FEEDING YOUR MUSCLES!!!!”

200 calories is not going to be the difference in letting my body know it’s not starving and keeping it from falling back into “starvation mode.”

As the pounds drop I’m gonna slowly drop my calories. With my current calculations, the lowest I will ever go is 2200-2400 calories and that’s when I get close to 200 pounds.

2) Macros

My next thing is to play around with the macros in my diet.

A) Protein

Getting enough protein is the first goal. I currently have an arbitrary goal of 200 grams of protein every day. That’s been pretty easy so far. I feel like that’s enough to keep me from feeling hungry even with all the working out I’m doing. It’s also important for keeping muscle. I think there’s some rule where you’re supposed to get 1 gram of protein for every kilo you weigh in order to preserve muscle. My 200 grams keep me well over that mark.

B) Fat

I’m not too worried about fat. I think I have a relatively low fat diet. I rarely go over 100 grams in a day. I think that’s decent but I really have no idea. To be perfectly honest I don’t really care right now. Managing fat intake is my lowest priority right now.

C) Carbs 

Carbs, and more specifically the timing of carb intake, is my major focus right now. I’m never going to go low carb. I just can’t live like that. I’m not going on a “diet.” I’m trying to build a eating plan I can live with for the long haul. I’ve been reading some things that advise loading up on the majority of your carbs in the early morning and pre and post workout. After your post workout meal you’re supposed to dramatically reduce the carb intake. This makes a lot of sense to me because you’re not as active at night so you don’t have any need for the carbs. If you’re gonna take in a lot it makes sense to take them when your body really needs them.

I’m not really sure how low carb I can go at night since I’m really relying on a lot of it for every meal. I’m thinking about almonds right now. That’s still 6 grams of carbs. Too high? I could also probably do my regular egg and canadian bacon thing. That would still be 5. Is it even possible to eat zero carbs for a meal? Does it matter? I don’t know. I need to do some research on the whole low carb deal just so I can get some ideas for my late night meals.

I’m gonna play around with all these things and see what happens. That’s really all I can do. In a few months I’ll know more.

Afterburn, week 13, day 4

My breathing was a lot better today.

I was getting nervous around the fifth sprint because it started getting tougher to breath. Things didn’t get as bad as they did last time so I’m happy. Tough but manageable. All runs should be like this.

9.0/6.0/3.4

NROL, Strength II, workout 4C

Today was good. A lot better then I expected it would be.

It was deadlift day again and I’ve come to fear deadlift day like no other. It’s an almost automatic reaction now. When I think about it my back starts hurting. Last time went well and I planned to stay smart with my weight choices but I’m not going to lie and say I still wasn’t worried.

Things went great and I had no back pain. That’s two deadlift days in a row! A few more of those and maybe I can stop being so nervous when these things roll around.

Here are the stats for today’s lift.

Deadlift – 4×215, 4×215, 4×220, 12×165

(Part of being smart here was staying with 215 for the first two lifts. My first instinct was to start at 220 so I can finish off with two big plates. I talked myself out of it and again tried to prove to myself that I could handle 215. Both went off well so I took a shot at 220. It was good too. Basically all I did was add 5 pounds to the last two sets. That is more then enough improvement for now.)

Rack deadlift – 3×225, 3×225, 3×225

(This is the most frustrating lift ever. If it came to it I probably could have actually deadlifted the amount of weight I had in the rack. It’s just a weird angle. I don’t know what’s wrong. The rack is just below my knew so I’m not sure where my legs ought to be. Maybe farther back? All I know is that each set required me taking 4 or 5 shots at it before I could get it off the rack. The funny thing is that the second and third reps were relatively easy. Never once had any trouble as soon as I got that first one up. They’re the same damn thing! I put the bar back on the rack and basically regrip every time. I made exactly zero progress on this lift after 4 lifts. Sucks.

Funny story. The gym was totally empty today except for me, my wife and some new guy. While I was doing these things I did a lot of cursing. I also banged the bar on the rack pretty loudly. After every set I walked away all pissed off because it was so hard. That guy probably thinks that I’m some asshole meathead. Maybe he thinks we have that kind of gym. He’s probably gonna be relieved when he finds out that it’s definitely not.)

Bulgarian split squat – 8×40, 8×40

(Same problems as always today. Left leg was awesome. Right leg sucked. Before that second set I was like a damned mathemetician setting up that bench. I lined it up to the freaking inch. It was perfectly straight. Right leg still sucked and my knee hurt. I thought long and hard about this problem on my walk home and I think I know what’s wrong. I’m not dropping my left knee like I do with my right knee. All of the sudden it hit me and I felt like an idiot. When I have my right knee on the bench all I’m thinking about is dropping it to the floor. I don’t even think about my left knee when I switch up. In fact most times I don’t even try to drop it. WTF? Why did I just figure this out?)

Back extension- 8×25, 8×25

(Used the 25 both times this time and I can feel the burn in my back. I’m starting to like these. I adjusted the top of the thing on the second set so I could go lower. That was a lot better.)

Hanging leg raise- 6xBW, 5xBW

(I’m incredibly proud of my first set here. I was barely holding on for that last rep but I was stable the whole time and managed to do all the moves. Last time I only got 4 on the second set so getting 5 here was an improvement. By this point my grip is shot. I lost a little stability during that second set so I had to hang a little longer in order to get back in line. At the moment I’ve only got a set amount of time before I know my grip gives out. Any rocking and I”m done for.)

Afterburn, week 13, day 3

PAIN.

No other way to describe today’s run. I was literally hyperventilating during the last sprint and jog.

I am extremely worried about my chances of getting all the way through to week 16. Today feels like an all time low.

I just have to forget about today. It was really hard but future runs will be better. They have to be. Only 17 more to go. I really want to finish this program.

9.0/6.0/3.5

NROL, Strength II, workout 4B

Not sure how to describe this lift. First instinct is to say that I sucked. That’s not totally true though. I made some progress.

My main problem was piss poor preperation.

I was really busy today and then I discovered that I was out of whey. Had to run out and get some. I got back and made a shake at around 9pm. The gym closes at 10pm so I was running extremely late. I drank half of it as soon as I could get it down and ran to the gym.  

Felt like I was behind the eight ball the rest of the way. Just felt really rushed. As a result I had to cut the rest by about 30 seconds. It made the workout a lot tougher but it was necessary in order to finish. I walked out at 10pm exactly.

Here are the stats for today’s lift.

Barbell bent over row – 4×155, 4×135, 8×120, 12×120

(My form was atrocious. There’s no other way to put it. First set blew and I dropped the weight dramatically. The second set wasn’t much better. I added 5 pounds on the last two lifts but I don’t know if it helped.

Barbell bench press – 4×185, 3×190, 8×160, 12×145

(I tried to get 190 and I did get 3 of 4 reps and that’s good. The problem is that I did 200 a while ago. Why the hell can’t I do that now? I got all 12 of the last set with the weight I could only get done 8 times last time.)

Lat pulldown (chin up simulation) – 4×210, 4×210, 12×105

(Apparently I misread my notes and went 30 pounds too low on that last set. That was dumb.)

Dumbbell shoulder press – 4×55, 3×55, 12×35

(Tough. I shouldn’t be 100% negative about the workout. This one was OK. Couldn’t get all the reps on set #2. Not from lack of trying though so I’m fine with that.)

Dumbell upper body Russian twist – 6×35, 6×35

 (I feel good about these. The movement is tough but I think I did OK.)

Afterburn, week 13, day 2

Brutal run today.

It had everything to do with my wind this time. It’s hard to keep up when you haven’t run in a while. I was sweating like nobody’s business.

The big game is tonight so I went to the gym early. I went at 6:30pm for the first time and I didn’t recognize the place. It was packed! There were well over 50 people (not counting all the people doing classes) in there. I might see 25 in the morning. There’s 5 max when I usually go late at night. The whole thing was a little tough to get used to. I got lucky and the treadmill I usually use just happened to be one of the few that was available.

9.0/6.0/3.5

Weigh in

I weighed in at 262.2 this morning.

It would be nice to weigh in the 250’s sometime soon. Maybe next week. Fingers crossed.

Football postseason>gym

The NFL owns me so there is absolutely no way I’m gonna miss any of the games to go to the gym today. Games start tomorrow at 1pm so it’s not gonna happen then either. Monday is the BCS national championship game so odds are extremely low I’ll go then either. I don’t know. I might be able to sneak a run in on Monday before the game. We’ll see.