Lose 50 BZ

Yesterday was my End of Phase I meeting with my 20/20 Lifestyles Physician. After Phase I, all participants in the program need to do the following:

• Personal Trainer does your measurments and grabs your current blood pressure
• Get blood work done at the 20/20 clinic

So on Good Friday I got the hard facts of what I accomplished in the first three months of the program. Some of the eye opening results were:

• Total weight loss (41 lbs) – but I’ve been tracking it myself and I’m at (45 lbs)
• BMI dropped 6 points – according to the Dr. that’s amazing results
• My blood pressure is in the “Normal” range but I can definitely make it better
• My Cholesterol dropped over 60 points
• Waist:Hip Ratio is at .86 which is another metric the Dr. pointed out was a huge improvement. Basically it’s the ratio of my gut to my hips
• I lost an inch in my neck, 5.25 inches from my chest, 10 inches from my waist, and 4.75 inches in my quads

I must say that I’m pleased with these results. But there’s still another 15 lbs hanging around that I could definitely do without. I asked my Dr. what I need to do to bump up my weight loss as it’s been stalled for all of March. So far I’ve added more shakes to my diet but I need to somehow change up my cardio and diet. I can’t wait to see my 8 pack hahaha.

It’s been almost three weeks into Phase II of the 20/20 Lifestyles program and weight loss is still happening but it’s at a much lower rate which wasn’t unexpected. During the first few months the lbs were melting off like butter, now I’m doing almost double the activities I was doing during Phase I and the weight isn’t coming off as easy.

Shock the Body 
In the last few weeks, I haven’t been as strict with my diet as I was with Phase I. I’m not sure if it’s because I only see my dietitian every two weeks or because I only meet my trainer twice a week. Although, as I mentioned before – I’m doing twice the activities I was doing before. I need to shock my body so I really need to put more Protein Shakes into my system and change up my diet a little bit.

Tracking my Good Habits
I met with my counselor last week and she mentioned that it would be a good idea to jot down what I’m doing right now so I can refer to it later on if I happen to fall off the wagon. So basically I need to put together a list I should look at if I start to gain weight.

1. DIET
   - Continue to keep track of what you eat during the day (i.e. LoseIt App on the iPhone). In the past I’ve followed the same exact method to lose weight. LoseIt really helps me keep track of when I go over my budgeted amount of calories for the day.
   - Follow the same meal rhythm on a daily basis. (Breakfast/Snack/Lunck/Snack/Dinner/Snack)
   - Keep snacks simple (Yogurt and Cheese Stick / Fruit and Cheese Stick) – Need to expand on this
   - Pair your meals with an equal ratio of Protein to Carbs
2. WORKOUTS
   - Need to keep up the cardio 3-4 times a week (i.e. Stairmaster/Treadmill/Basketball)
   - Think about the other activities that I’ll improve in if I continue to workout (i.e. Flag Football – especially beating the Coasters/Hot Yoga/Dodgeball)
   - I don’t have my six-pack yet but when I do I don’t want to lose it
3. SLEEP
   - Keep using the Sleep Cycle App on the iPhone to track my sleep pattern.
   - Keep trying to sleep earlier
   - You don’t need coffee or pop. Once you have it in your system, it’ll take a while to leave.
   - On average, it takes less than 30 minutes to fall asleep. Before working out/dieting it took an average of 3-4 hours lying in bed

If I continue to follow the above list, there is no way I will fail. My only fear is that I haven’t gone on an extended vacation during the program. I’m a little worried how I’ll be able to handle my diet in a non-familiar environment.

Next post will cover my upcoming vacations and how I plan to “plan” my meals…

St. Patrick’s Day 2010 marked my 100th day in the 20/20 Lifestyles Program. It was also Myra’s birthday as well! Here’s the latest update on my progress.

On my current weight…
I’m currently hovering at between 194-197 lbs which is awesome. My last milestone was to beat 200 and since then I’ve dropped another 5-6 lbs. My new goal is to get my weight down to 180-185 before I start to bulk up on my workouts.

On my workouts…
I’m currently on the 2nd half of the 20/20 program which is called “Maintenance Mode.” The premise is that I continue to either lose weight or maintain my current weight. I only see my trainer twice a week now so I’ve upped the ante and added a few more activities to keep my body buring those calories.

Dodgeball: Our season just ended but this was an excellent sport that keeps that heart-rate pumping. On average; I’d burn about 750-1,000 calories per game. It sucks that it’s over but I’ll be watching out for the next season.

Hot Yoga: Myra and Rhonda started me on this Hot Yoga kick. We’ve been lucky enough to get on the 2 week trial periods that most Hot Yoga places have been having. We recently scooped up a deal on LivingSocial for 20 sessions of Bikram Yoga in Bellevue. I just “recruited” DP; he went last Saturday and is digging it. We’ll probably hit up Yoga 2x a week for the next 2 months.

Flag Football:  The Microsoft Flag Football season is in full swing and my recent weight loss has really helped with me on the field. I feel faster, have more stamina, and my knees don’t feel like they’re going to buckle after ever play. I started out in the Linebacker/Tight End position – still getting used to watching the QB. Hopefully the team I played with in Kirkland needs another player because everyone’s a wide receiver on offense which really kicked my cardio up another level

Runs: In the last month we’ve done 2 5K races and have decided that we’re not going to do any more 5K races. We need to move up a level so we’re planning on doing the Beat the Bridge (8K) and another few 8 or 10K races during the year.

On my diet…
The diet’s been going pretty well. I’ve been able to accomodate my day if I ended up eating a surprise meal. If I feel that what I’ve eaten for the day isn’t up to par – I get my butt in the gym and get my cardio on. I’ve heard from multiple people that this is not a good method and isn’t sustainable in the long run; however, I’ve been making sure it’s not becoming a habit.

My food isn’t as strict as it was in Phase 1; but I’m continuing to lose weight due to the amount of exercises I’ve been adding to my schedule. I’m planning on giving my body a shock this week and next by adding more protein shakes into the mix. I’ve been replacing my shakes with yogurt and a cheese stick so my protein powder tubs have been piling up.

On the picture above…
Yep, that’s me at my heaviest weighing in at 250lbs with a Shamrock over my face. My body looks a little better now , I chose not to do a Before/After picture because my journey isn’t done yet. I still have another 9-10 weeks in my program and another 15 or so lbs to lose, but on the last day of my program I’ll make sure to have a shot up on the website.

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

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!

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!

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.

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 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.

Meetings, Meetings, Meetings
The 20/20 program requires the participant to attend three mandatory meetings before they can start the program. The first three are:

• Counseling
• Fitness Assesment / Contract Signing
• Initial Physician Appointment

First Appointment – Let’s get started!
While I haven’t started any dieting, or working out yet I have officially started the 20/20 program. I had my first counseling appointment yesterday during lunch.

Initial Reaction
The counselors are not located at the ProClub, they are contracted by the ProClub for the program. As I was driving up to the building I started to get a little nervous; the other people I talked to that have gone through the program said it was nothing – but I still had my reservations.

After getting lost for a few minutes I finally found the door I was supposed to go through. I open the door and there’s two gentlemen standing there talking. No receptionist; just a little generic sign on a small table that said, “Please have a seat, the counselor will be with you shortly.” So I do and proceed to go though my emails / apps on the iPhone.

12:33PM
My appointment was scheduled for 12:30 and I arrived 15 minutes early (which is a first). Another person joined me in the waiting area and for some reason I thought it was my counselor “testing” me to see if I was friendly and would start talking to her. Weird thoughts go through your mind while you’re waiting in a counselor’s office. I got up and started to walk near the receptionist desk to see if anyone was around to ask about my appointment.

As I got closer, I saw a small purple clipboard with a few forms with a yellow post-it note with my name on it. I took a double-take and was like oh, would have been nice if someone told me to fill these out instead of leaving it on a desk. Anyways, I go and sit down to fill out the forms. Nothing special just the usual HIPPA forms and I needed to fill out a little Avery sticker with my name and date on it. I found out later that it was used by the ProClub to verify I made it to my appointments.

My couselor came out while I was filling out the forms and said she was running a little late.

Interrogation
Not really, actually it went okay. According to the counselor, the first appointment is used by the doctors and folks over at the ProClub to do some initial assesments on  your well being. Basically to find out if there are any things they need to really focus on during the program.

I won’t really get into all the questions but I will share a few things she asked me to get a feel of how the appointment went.

She started off with asking me why and what prompted me to join the program, then the questions evolved to asking me about my lifestyle (i.e. am I more social, or more of a loner, do I drink alot) what are my stress factors, and then ended with the typical depression type questions to see if there may be something they need to work on.

The appointment went by pretty fast, and at times I felt that I was just rambling on with what’s currently going on with my life and she needed to speed up the questions and I had to drop some one word answers.

There’s are a total of four appointments with a counselor, so 1 down – 3 more to go!