Major Milestone!

February 28th, 2010 § 0

This morning I weighted myself like every other day, but today I reached one of the milestones I’ve been trying to shoot for for the past 10 years. This morning I put the above entry in my Weightbot Tracker program on the iPhone.

 I know this week and probably next I’ll be see-sawing between 199 and the low 200’s but I’m still happy I’ve finally reached this goal – to be below 200 lbs.

It’s been a lot of hard work and it’s really starting to pay off. While I haven’t met my final weight loss goal – I’m pretty close.

Phase 1 Complete!

February 22nd, 2010 § 1

Long Overdue Update!
It’s been almost three months since I began this program, and have now reached the halfway point in the program. For those of you that don’t know – I’m in the 20/20 program @ the ProClub and I signed up for the 12 week intense and 12 week maintenance program to lose 50+ lbs.

On the diet…
Overall the diet has been working. My dietitian has been slowly introducing new foods every week or so. Currently I’m adding grains into my diet this week. I’ve been able to follow my diet for the most part, but there are the obvious times when it isn’t possible. When I get off track for a meal or two my sodium spikes and my weight loss stalls.

In order to keep my sodium intake low, my dietitian suggested that I cook more often. So I’ve been shooting to cook about 2-3 times a week. My last blood pressure check was 120/60 which is awesome considering my first reading was 151/90.

Cooking, for the most part, is actually pretty relaxing. That is if things are going well. I have had some sad looking dishes come out and have had to throw away full meals because they tasted like crap. But Myra’s A+ Oven Baked Fried Chicken and my Creamy Chive Chicken Breasts are so good but so healthy for you too.

On the workouts…
My workouts have been the same since I’ve started, 35 minutes of cardio and the rest of the time I end up doing some lifting and at the very end I do a 15-20 minute training video. Some of the videos are lame and outdated, but there are a few that I’d actually watch again in the future. There’s a few on Calorie Comparisons and the go through some fast food menus and compare those meals with healthy meals. They also go over portion sizes which is always a problem with me.

Recently I started doing the Stairmaster instead of my usual Elliptical/Treadmill cardio. I noticed my heart rate only increased to 150 towards the end of my cardio workout; with the Stairmaster I get up to 150 within 10 minutes.

On the changes…
You’re probably wondering why I put up my pant size at the top of this post. I can’t remember the last time I actually wore a pant size smaller than 36 x 30 – when I started the program I was at at 38 waist. I’m guessing it’s been more than 10 years since I’ve been close to this weight. I’ve lost a total of 36lbs since December 7th, 2009.

I’m able to do way more things now without getting winded. Over the last four weeks I’ve played a few games/practices of flag football,  and I recently started playing Dodgeball with some co-workers. I’ve also been parking at the top of our 9 story parking garage with a co-worker to bring my total step count up.

Looking forward…
I’m slowing getting new types of food every week with my dietitian. Now that Phase 1 is complete – I’m entering Phase 2 which is called the maintenance mode. During the next 12 weeks I have less support and have more individual accountability. Basically seeing if I can “maintain” my weight loss without supervision.

  • Lose 1 trainer session a week – total 2 sessions a week
  • Dietitian appointment is every other week
  • No more group sessions

I plan on continuing with my flag football leagues. Yes I said leagues. One is for Microsoft and has some physical contact, and the other is for Underdog Sports with no contact. Myra’s been going to Hot Yoga recently and I figured I’ll be giving it a try either this week or next.

Hopefully I’ll be updating the blog more often given that I have a little more time on my hands during maintenance mode and not spending it at all those appointments during the week :)

Another Reason NOT to Drink Soda

January 7th, 2010 § 0

Gross…

http://consumerist.com/2010/01/scientists-say-half-of-all-soda-fountains-harbor-fecal-bacteria.html

New Starts for 2010

January 2nd, 2010 § 2

This is going to be a quick and dirty post, got a couple things to throw down and I need to get to bed in order to get up for my trainer in the morning.
Go Liz!
Just got word that a friend is going to be starting the program in a few days and just wanted to wish her luck! First week is gonna be hell but once you get started it’ll all start falling into place. Good Luck Liz!

365 Day Project – Tummy Project
I just got an idea about what can get me motivated into getting a six pack this year. Everyone seems to be doing 365 day – one photo a day of their face, or full body shots, but I have yet to see someone do one of one single body part. My project is going to be 365 days of my stomach. Yes that’s right, I’ll be doing strictly tummy shots every day for the whole year.

I’ll be posting up a “censored” version of my tummy to avoid my site being listed an “Adult” site :)

Check back to see the progress!

20/20 December Recap – Happy New Year’s!

January 2nd, 2010 § 0

20-20

So here we are, 2010 and it’s been almost 1 month since I started the 20/20 Program. I’m signed up for a total 3 months of the intense program and an additional 3 months of maintenence.

Starting Weight: 240.5
Current Weight: 226.0
Current Goal Weight: 190
Total Weight Loss: 14.5 lbs

Other bonuses:
- Dropped 20 points from my Systolic BP
- Dropped 10 points from my Diastolic BP
- Knee pain is slightly better
- Went down 1 belt loop
- Able to fit into more of my older clothes [Not so much Love Handle Show-age]

December Recap
The month went by really quick – especially with the diet and workout program going on. However, there was one thing I dreaded the most during the program that ended up happening – I got sick. There’s actually a good side to this, I noticed that I was able to bounce back from being sick within a week – this might have been a little skewed given that I was on vacation for the second half of December and I was able to sleep/rest/eat all day with no stress or other work related issues messing up my sleep.

Diet vs. Holiday Parties
X-mas wasn’t too bad diet wise, I did have some of the non-program food a couple times during the day but overall I think I kept within my allowed calories for the day. New Year’s on the other hand was a different story and it really opened my eyes to how Alcohol affects my “satiety level”. After much peer pressure from my brother, I gave in and had a total of 2 shots of my good ol’ friend Hennesy. For those of you that know, I did give up on my favorite drink right before I started the program, read about the break up here. Anyways after these two drinks, my hungry level was uncontrollable around the food. I ended up eating things left and right and nothing was filling me up. I never was really buzzed or out of it, but my “Pleasure Center” was – I couldn’t stop eating the food that was on the table. I did manage to avoid the Carb Killers like the dinner rolls but I wasn’t able to resist the dessert section. 

Weight Loss
I’m really grateful to have lost approximately 15 lbs, but I don’t think I’ll really be happy until I start creeping closer to 200 lbs. My brother is in town and usually when here’s here, we go all out and eat as much bad food as possible because it was the holidays. This year’s a little different given that I’m in the program and he too wants to keep his weight down. He was able to lose 20 lbs on his own which was awesome!

We ended up Skype’ing with my relatives over in Chi-town and they were able to see a difference. Tite!

Signing off on 2009
Last year was pretty bad, there were massive layoffs at M$, the economy was in the shitter, and I failed to lose the weight I wanted to lose before my both my Vegas trip’s. 2010 is a New Year and I hope God continues to watch over us and keep us safe throughout the year.

We’ve got a big year coming up so watch out 2010, b-side is going to kick your ass!

Why Now?

December 21st, 2009 § 0

One of the questions I’ve been asked many times when starting the program was, “Why Now?” Good question. I was so against any sort of help or guidance from anyone other than a magazine or blog article. My mentality focused upon the fact that I’ve been able to do it before, on my own. Back in ‘99 I started a program called, “Body of Life,” and had great results – losing a total of 30lbs and dropping my body fat percentage by 10%. I ended up doing the program with my girlfriend at the time, and a couple of friends.

Over the years, I’ve done a couple other diets but was never able to achieve the same results as I did with the first program. After two weeks into the program, I’m sure I know what I was missing all these years – accountability.

Who’s watching you?
Like I said before, I was able to lose 10-15 lbs by myself with no issues but it never seemed to stay off. Many of my workout regime’s revolved around upcoming events (i.e. weddings, trips) and after the events were over I ran back to my usual antics of eating whatever whenever.

I’d start up another diet/workout program but I didn’t have anyone watching me, making me accountable for my progress. That’s what this program provides you, lots and lots of accountability. You meet with your Trainer 3 times a week, and you’re responsible for 2 workouts on your own. You also have to meet with a dietitian and attend a group therapy session every week for 12 weeks.

What’s your end goal?
Obviously lose 50 lbs of fat. But I have other things that would really make this program more worth it.

1. Using a belt as an accessory rather than a functional piece
2. Get rid of all my fat boy clothes
3. Wear the new clothes I purposely bought at a smaller size
4. Help our Flag Football team reach the Championship
5. Get Healthy
6. Permanently learn a new way to eat
7. Maintain my goal weight for 5+ years
8. Six Pack – I don’t expect this to come after the program but it’ll be a nice surprise
9. Buy a nice suit
10. Go surfing in Hawaii

Week 1 – 20/20 Recap

December 15th, 2009 § 0

cat-exercise

On the Program’s Diet…
I started the “real” diet on Dec. 8th given that’s when I got the plan from my Dietitian. Basically the week consisted of 4x 20/20 Protein Shakes with 1/2 cup of Berries, and Protein for Lunch and Dinner. For the first 2 days I wanted to keep it simple and did just 6 oz. of Chicken and 2 tbsp of Low Fat Asian dressing – that got old really fast.

Myra and I went over the “allowed” list and saw most of the foods were from PCC, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s which happen to be pretty close by to where we live. After talking with my Dietitian she mentioned that all the foods on the list are allowed but to watch the sodium. Unfortunately, many of the foods that are ready-made have a huge amount of sodium in them. My blood pressure is a little high so she mentioned that cooking at home may help lower my numbers faster along with losing the weight.

It does get a little confusing when you try to match Protein vs. Serving size and I’ll get to more on that later.

I didn’t cheat at all last week, but my cravings have increased dramatically. I’m wishing for burgers, steak, and fries anything other than chicken or fish.

On the Cravings…
Unfortunately the cravings haven’t stopped. I constantly want to bite into a Double Whopper, chow on some Chicken Tenders, or get down with some Cheesy Nachos from Taco Bell. The roommate isn’t down with the weight loss diet and is grabbing all the delicious food and eating it right in front of me. It’s all good, at least I get to smell it….mmmm.

I do; however, have a couple of wins regarding the cravings. Initially I had massive headaches because I quit my usual coffee fix in the morning cold turkey. The headaches lasted for the entire week but have since subsided. At this point I’ve ceased to have any craving for my coffee fix in the morning.

Another win is regarding my soa pop fix. I didn’t drink pop often, usually on the weekends at my Parent’s house, but when I did it was a disaster. I’d always drink at least 2-3 in one sitting. Horrible. Ever since I’ve started the diet I no longer have a craving for Coke/Diet Coke/Pepsi/Mountain Dew.

Let hope that lasts

On the Workouts….
I had a total of 3 workouts last week (Tues, Thurs, Fri) and I didn’t feel too sore. The initial soreness was there but was due to my 3 week absence from the gym and nothing that I really did exercise wise.

The first 30-35 minutes of my workout is on a treadmill with a 10% incline at a very slow pace (2.7-3.0) nothing drastic. But do not underestimate this low impact exercise – this easily got my heart rate bumping up to 160 bpm in 5 minutes and held steady until my 35 minutes was over. Obviously we’re training my heart right now to get used to exercise, in a couple weeks my heart rate will need more to get it pumping faster.

My trainer noticed that I am “athletically” inclined and wanted to know if I wanted to do more strength training. “Sure”. So he suggested I get in 15 minutes earlier and start my cardio workout without him. That way when I’m done we get an extra 15 minutes to do some strength training.

On the Weight Loss…
Exactly one week from when I started I lost approximately 7.5 lbs bringing me down from 240.5 to 233.  So you may ask why am I not celebrating? It’s because after I came back from Vegas I weighed in at 233lbs. So the weight I lost was actually gained from my Last Supper episodes prior to joining the 20/20 Program.

I’ll actually be more elated when I hit below this weight which I hope will happen by the end of this week.

Hello Dietitian / Trainer

December 9th, 2009 § 0

Can I?

Dietian
I met with my Dietitian this past Monday and it was pretty quick and easy. She laid out the foods I’m able to eat this week, mainly Protein and the Protein Shakes. Myra has been gracious enough to cook/steam the chicken for me for my Lunch/Dinner.

I’m allowed a certain range of foods every week, and every week a new ingredient/food group gets introduced back into my system. The goal of this exercise is to determine how the foods react to your body [i.e. does this food make me hungry or keep me full]

I’m on Day 2 of my diet and I’m surviving so far. Ask me again 4-5 weeks from now.

I meet with her every week for the next 12 weeks, going over any challenges I had during the week and to talk about how my diet will change for the upcoming week. After the initial 12 I’ll meet with her for another 6 sessions – basically every other week for the remaining weeks. Luckily I meet with her every Monday so it’ll be a good start for the week.

Personal Trainer
I met with my Trainer on Tuesday and he’s a really cool guy. I was totally against getting a Trainer for my workouts, I had the mentality that putting together a workout isn’t so hard – back/bi’s | chest – tri’s | legs but I think the real kicker to success is accountability. That’s the biggest factor missing when I was working out on my own. If I don’t show up to an appointment, he’s going to call me and “nicely” bitch me out. If I don’t show up to workout on my own – who cared, right? That’s where I think I’ll succeed in the program because I’ll have someone watching my every move, doing measurements, and tracking my progress. Problem I may face is after my training is done, what do I need to do to keep up that accountability.

So during the workout we did 2 sets of a prescribed set of exercises – he wanted to gauge where my strengths were and use it to tailor my program going forward.  Luckily my Trainer understands that I sorta know what I’m doing and isn’t pushing me on those girly machines and put me straight to the free weights. I also made sure that he understands my goals for the program [i.e. kick ass in flag football, do more than one pathetic pull-up, and run more 5K's] The only thing I might have a problem with is coming up with stuff to talk about while I’m on the Treadmill since he’s right there watching me.

For the first few weeks of the program we’re going to do massive amounts of cardio and some strength training to assist with the weight loss. Then later on in the program he’s going to target some of the exercises to the sports that I want to play which is pretty cool. I’ll be ending the “intense” portion of the program right around when Spring Flag Football season begins.

I meet with him three times a week for the next 12 weeks then it goes to two times a week for the remaining 12 weeks.

Last Supper Syndrome

December 7th, 2009 § 1

I mentioned to my Physician at my appointment last Friday that I’ve taken the advice from people that were in the 20/20 program to eat all the foods that I love before I actually start the program. He laughed and said he advised against it; he called it the “Last Supper Syndrome.”  But he said, you’re an adult and you can do whatever you want – so I did – after my appointment I went to McDonald’s to get some breakfast :) What he said made sense tho – it’ll be harder to stick to the diet if I’m used to the “good” foods and go to a strict diet.

The picture above is my “Last Supper” on Saturday, we went over to Burger King to get 2 Whoppers, 8 piece Chicken Tenders, Fries and a Sprite!

The last few weeks while I was going through the preliminary work for the 20/20 program – I didn’t pay attention to my diet and actually gained 8 lbs. I weighed 232lbs before the Vegas Trip and I’m now at a cool 240lbs.

My first dietitian appointment is today at noon so that’s when I’m officially on the program and eating right.

Last Week Update

December 7th, 2009 § 0

Last week was a busy week full of appointments – I already covered my first appointment in my last post; the other appointments I went to were:

  • Initial Assessment
  • 1st Group Session
  • Physician Appointment

Initial Assessment
This appointment consisted of  getting two things done, an assessment of my current fitness state and my signing of the 20/20 contract program. The assessment consisted of getting my initial measurements, a body fat test, and a few exercises to test my physical strength. This went by pretty quick, from the other people I talked to I had a feeling it would have taken a little bit longer. The contract signing was pretty straightforward as well. Basically you choose the program you want to pursue [I signed up for the 12 week intense, 12 week maintenance] and sign your life away; after which you put down the required deposit down [at the time it was $750] and set yourself up for the financing.

That was pretty much it, the Personal Trainer that did my assessment isn’t the same one I’m signed up for. Very nice guy; he went through all the specifics and was clear about what was required from the participant during the program.

You also get a little pedometer to measure your steps during the day, they want you to get 5,000 steps daily for the days you work out and 10,000 for the days you don’t.

Group Session
I got to the ProClub about 5:50pm and my appointment was at 6:00pm, I got to the boardroom where we are supposed to meet and saw there was a full room already. “Shit, am I late?” I walk right in and walked into the previous group session. “Oops”. So I wait about ten minutes to wait for my session to begin.

The main goal of this session was to get to know one another and open up to what each and everyone of the members wanted to get out of the program. The session is held by one of the counselors from the same location I went to earlier in the week.

Overall I think I’ll do well with this group, I feel that I’m one of the more social guys in the group and will be able to voice my experiences and opinions whenever we meet.

Physician Appointment
I met with the Doctor earlier Friday morning and he’s a really nice gentleman. I was very candid with him, basically telling him what I want to get out of the program and how I plan to accomplish it. He had a packet of my blood results and a profile of my results according to the program they use.

My blood pressure reading was way off because I had coffee right before I had the bp test. ugh. So the results of the profile were based on someone with high blood pressure. He mentioned that I’ll be working directly with my Trainer to work on getting that number down regardless of how high it was showing.

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