Challenge 2, Day 37

I got up a little late this morning so I didn't have time to make it to the gym for a HIIT on the treadmill so I had to settle for 20 minutes on the Nordic Track. That was better than nothing at all. I am a little frustraed with myself becuase my alarm went off at 5:05 am and I was completely awake but I didn't get out of bed (dang it!!)

I could have done better nutrition wise as well. First I did not have a plan for today. Second I had 1/2 of a Krispy Kreme doughnut this morning (at least I didn't eat the whole thing). I did eat a chinese buffet for lunch but I tried to keep it under control, I probably ate too much fired stuff though. I have been drinking water today, I would say over 1/2 a gallon so that's not too bad.

I do resolve to do a better job with my nutrition tomorrow and go workout before work....

I can't belive that I am almost half way through this challenge. I am a little frustrated over my progress but I am not going to give up on this challenge, I am going to stick it out to the end and see if I can make some progress...

Challenge 2, Day 36

Week 5 Summary

Review of Week 5 Goals:

1. Try to make all 6 BFL workouts this week (Saturday especially) - Not done, I made my workouts on M, T, W & Th but not Friday or Saturday
2. Eat clean all day long (end the after work snacking while cooking dinner) - Did better this week but still a lot of room for improvement
3. Try to get in an additional session on the Nordic Track on my weight training days - None, Major setback this week.

Overall I need to improve my efforts. Missing my workout on Friday was because I went sailing on that day and stayed overnight on the sailboat Thursday night. Saturday, I just have no excuse for not getting my workout done...

Things I did a good job on last week were:
4 cardio sessions (both running outside and HIIT on treadmill)
Did lift weights on Monday
Drank lots of water M, T & W

Things I will do better on for Week 6 are:

Make a nutrition plan and follow it daily

Plan meals and workout daily

Make all 6 workouts

Drink plenty of water

My goals for week 6 are:

Try to get my workouts done in the morning before work instead of at lunch time to accelerate fat burning

Drink plenty of water (more than 1/2 gallon per day)

Plan workouts and meals

Monday's workout:
Ok, I didn't make these goals out until Monday afternoon so I did my LBWO during lunch. I got to the gym late so I had to skip my calves but I think their pretty big as it is and I really want to get lean, not build bulk. I did my ab work on a yoga ball again and wow does that work my abs.. I need to start doing those at home too...

Challenge 2, Day 31

I did get my cardio in yesterday (thank goodness). I did 20 minutes on the treadmill and had a pretty good time with it.

Today, I did not get workout during my lunch break so I hit the gym after work and did both an UBWO and HIIT on the treadmill. I was scheduled to do a lower body workout but I think my upperbody needs more work and since I missed my UBWO on Monday and will miss my UBWO tomorrow, I figured that was the better option.

After my workout, I then got on the treadmill and did my 20 minute HIIT. Wow, was I wiped out after that....

I did good with my nutrition until I got home from work. That has been my weak part. Instead of snacking excessively, I wound up having BBQ for dinner with some really good potato salad that had to be very high in fat topped off with a brownie for desert.

I really need to improve my eating, I think that is the key reason why my weight isn't coming down. I am 5 weeks into my second challenge and I am pretty much the same weight I was when I started this back in April. The only saving grace is that my body fat percentage is down but I want to lose weight as well. I am reading "Eating for Life" right now and will hopefully incorporate that into my BFL when I finish that book.

I'll do my HIIT tomorrow before I head up the lake tomorrow night. I will be staying on my family's sailboat overnight and going sailing on Friday. I will try to go for a run Friday morning before I get out of the marina....

Challenge 2, Day 29

Week 4 Summary
Another so so week on my BFL challenge. I did get my weight workouts done on M, W & F. I missed my HIIT/Cardio sessions on Tuesday & Thursday but I did run a little under 2 miles in my neighborhood before work on W & F. I did not get my cardio done on Saturday either, I should have gotten out of bed earlier to get it done.

I need to do better on this, I will admit I am frustrated over my lack of weight loss even though my body fat is continuing to decrease. I just don't want to have 15% body fat and still weight 245 to 250 lbs. I would be happy at less than 225 lbs at this point.

I will keep pressing because I know I am doing some good for myself and at some point, the weight will start coming off.

My goals for week #5 are:

• Try to make all 6 BFL workouts this week (Saturday especially)
• Drink plenty of water
• Eat clean all day long (end the after work snacking while cooking dinner)
• Try to get in an additional session on the Nordic Track on my weight training days

Today

I did wake up to run the short route in my neighborhood before work, I ran it 20 seconds faster than last week. However, I forgot my gym clothes when I left for work and did not realize it until I was already 1/2 way to the office. I was going to try to slip out of the office early for lunch today so I could swing by the house and pick up my gym clothes but that didn't happen, I didn't get to leave until my usual time so I would not have had time to get my clothes picked up and get my workout in. I may make it up tomorrow on the way to the office in the afternoon along with doing either the Nordic Track or running in the morning.

Challenge 2, Day 26

I did not wake up in time to get my HIIT done before I hit the road yesterday morning. I should have checked the alarm clock before I went to bed, it was set 12 hours off thanks to my 2 year old so when my alarm should have gone off at 5:45 am, the clock was saying 5:45 pm. I woke up at 6:50 and didn't have time do get any cardio done before I had to leave for work.

After spending the better part of 7 hours driving yesterday, I was just too tired to do anything last night after I got my son in bed.

However, I did get up this morning and run 1.83 miles on my short loop around my neighborhood. Combine that with heading to the gym during lunch for a LBWO and its hasn't been a bad day so far. The workout was pretty good though I didn't hit my 10's on my calves, I need to up my weight on those. I did my ab work on a yoga ball which gave me a pretty intense burn as I was doing my crunches.

Challenge 2, Day 24

Ok...I haven't posted in nearly a week, my bad. I've been a little busy at work (for a change) and at home (2 dead computers I am trying to revive....one down, one to go).

Week 3 Summary:

• I got my workouts in on Mon, Tues, Wed & Friday with additional cardio on Tuesday. I had to cut short my workout on Wednesday because I was running late.
• I need to do better on my nutrition though. I had several days in which I slid on a meal or snacked bad
• My goals for Week 4 are: (1) Make all workouts on all 6 days this week. (2) Workout on my NordicTrack to replace HIIT on Thursday since I can't get to the gym (wife is working & I've got to head to the western part of the state so no HIIT at lunch). (3) Keep a detailed log of what I eat so I can better examine my nutrition. (4) Limit my after work "bad" snacks while I am cooking dinner (probably my biggest problem area with nutrition). (5) BE POSITIVE!

Monday (Day 22)
I got in my LBWO. I was running late (again) so I skipped my calves but I did my ab work on a yoga ball. WOW! I could really feel the burn while doing crunches on those. Everything else was good. I did ok on keeping the bad snacks to a minimum at home while cooking dinner.

Tuesday (Day 23)
Did not get my HIIT in. I woke up too late to do anything before work and wound up having lunch with a friend. Ate at Larry's Pizza and had too much as usual when I eat there. Did have sushi for dinner to try to compensate but then my SIL's new boyfriend brought me a really good german beer which probably had 400 calories in it so oh well....

Today
Started the day off with a 1.8 mile run around the neighborhood. I ran it in 22:24 which is close to my normal time. On a cool note, I came across Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee out for a run this morning as well (I live about 2 blocks from the governor's mansion). He lost over a 100 pounds about 2 years ago, wrote book about it and now has a passion for fitness. It was pretty cool seeing him out and about in the neighborhood. I will try to get to the gym during lunch for my UBWO too...

***Update*** I made it to the gym for my UBWO in spite of temptations. One of my lunch buddies called right as I was getting ready to leave to go eat lunch. The tempting part was they were planning on going to a great lunch place that has a killer chicken enchiladas on Wednesdays. I am so glad I did go because I really hit it hard at the gym during lunch. Wow, I think I really hit my 10's during my workout.

On a side note, the tracker site (bodyforlife-tracker.com) is down. They say it will be up around midnight tonight but we'll see. I'm glad I did set this blog up and that I also keep my measurements off site...

Challenge 2, Day 16

Wow! I am on fire today as far as BFL is concerned.

I started off the day with a 20 minute session on my Nordic Track skiier a little before 7 this morning. I am supposed to have a late lunch with a friend today who is in town for a job interview so I would not be able to get to the gym for a run on the treadmill.

Well luntime time hit around the office and nobody of importance was around so I decided what the heck, and "snuck" out to do a 20 minute HIIT workout on the treadmill and slipped back to the office. Now I'm waiting for my friend to call so we can go to "lunch."

I feel pretty good, I've done 40 minutes of cardio work today.... Yeah for me....

Challenge 2, Day 15

Week 2 Summary
Still missed workouts this week. I need to do better on this. Monday, I forgot that I had agreed to have lunch with a friend from college and I never made it to the gym for my UBWO. I was tired Monday night so I didn't do any cardio in the evening. Tuesday morning I did 20 minutes on the Nordic Track followed by an upper body workout at lunch. Wednesday I had a pavement conference so I was tied up during lunch and didn't wake up early enough to get my workout done AND get my son ready to drop off at church. I wound up getting the workout done at 11 pm that night. Thursday I did 20 minutes on the Nordic Track in the morning and a lower body workout at lunch to make up for Wednesday. Friday I didn't workout because I didn't wake up in time and I was laying sod in my backyard. Saturday I was just too tired from laying sod to do anything.

I weighed myself this morning and I am 0.4 pounds lower than when I started the challenge. Not too bad considering it was after a free day. Some really positive news is my measurements (maybe). Somehow, I have lost almost 2 inches from my gut since the end of my first challenge but a really good point is that my body fat based on the DOD formula is now below 30% (29% to be exact)! This makes me very happy. I have been thinking my progress has slowed the last month or so but I am not sure.

After looking at my measurements and the DOD formula, I am starting to think that maybe my BF scale wasn't off by that much. I am going to check it tomorrow and see what it says but I am not going to obsess over it.

Monday
I was really tired last night and slept really hard. I didn't wake up in time to get some time in on the Nordic Track this morning but that's ok. Maybe this evening. I am still planning on heading to the gym during lunch for a lower body workout as well.

Tomorrow a good friend of mine is in town for a job interview and we are supposed to have lunch so I will have do my cardio in the morning. If I wake up in time, I think I will run. If its early enough, maybe I'll try to run 4 miles. I haven't done that in quite a while...

***Update*** I did make it to the gym for a workout today. For some reason, I thought I was supposed to a lower body workout but actually according to the schedule I was supposed to do an upper body. No big deal, I'll do upperbody on Wednesday and Friday to get back on track. This did get me in the mood to finish my home-made "Success Journal" since I haven't purchased the software for my pocket pc. Actually, I am more leaning towards a nutritional database program since that is my weakest area and probably the main reason I am not losing weight (and body fat) faster....

Challenge 2, Day 11

I had the best of intentions to wake up early this morning to do 20 minutes on the Nordic Track but I overslept (again) because I stayed up too late (again). Last night after I did the Nordic Track and posted to my blog, I made a pan of brownies for my birthday so I could have a fudge brownie sundae tonight with mint chocolate chip ice cream (mmmm). When I went to bed, "Six Feet Under" was on and I got sucked into that so it was just before 2 am before I got to sleep. So naturally when my alarm went off at 5:45 am, I just turned it off, rolled over and slept until 6:40.

On a good note, I went to the gym during lunch today for an upper body workout. I pushed myself pretty hard and feel good right now. I really should try to get some time in on the Nordic Track this evening. I think that additional cardio sessions is what its going to take for me to lose this weight and not just replace my fat with muscle. I really want a lean physique....

Challenge 2, Day 10

Here I am at 11:30 at night and I've just finished a workout on my Nordic Track. I stayed up too late last night cleaning up the kitchen so I overslept this morning and didn't get to any cardio before I had to get my day started.

Thank goodness for my quiet resolve which got me off my butt after I put my son to bed (although it took almost an hour to get off the couch) but I got it done. I missed my upper body workout today because I was at a conference and didn't have a chance to slip out and get my workout done.

I think I'll do my upperbody workout during lunch tomorrow, maybe make a long lunch of it and do some additional cardio as well...

Challenge 2, Day 9

Week #1 Wrap Up
Ok....I missed 2 weight workouts last week due to scheduling problems combined with a lack of planning on my part. On a good note, I did get a cardio workouts on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I didn't get a chance to workout on Saturday so I did 20 minutes on the Nordic Track on Sunday to make up for it. The down side is that I only did one weight workout last week, I need to better than that...

I could have done better from a nutritional standpoint as well. I weighed myself Sunday morning but I didn't write the number down but I think it was down about a pound from where I started this challenge.

I am off to a bad start to this challenge. It seems my last challenge started off like this but after about week 4, I got into a groove of sorts and things started clicking for me.

On a good note, I am starting to see veins working their way to the surface on my forearms. I noticed a big one on the back of my forearm this morning while brushing my teeth. Pretty cool if you ask me...

Day 8 (Monday)
I completely forgot that I had planned on having lunch with a co-worker so I didn't get up early enough to get a weight workout so I missed this one. I am mad at myself because one of my goals for this challenge is to get in some cardio sessions on my weight days.

Day 9 (Tuesday)
I did get 20 minutes of cardio in on the Nordic Track this morning before work. My plan is to make up for missing yesterday's lower body workout at lunch today. If I can make the time, I want to try to double up and do an upper body workout as well because its going to be very hard for me to get my weight training in tomorrow. I have an all day seminar so I won't be able to get to the gym during lunch and my wife works so I'll be at home with my son tomorrow night.

I am really wanting to get a set of those Bowflex dumbbells when my sister in law moves out and we have some room again. I would really like to have the option of working out at home on occasion...

***Update*** I did make it to the gym during lunch today. I didn't get to leave early so I just did a lower body workout. I might be able to get my upper body in during lunch tomorrow at the seminar. I think the schedule allows for 90 minutes for lunch and the hotel the conference is at is only a few minutes from the gym. Either way, I will go ahead and do 20 or 30 minutes on the Nordic Track in the morning...