Day 43

Today was a swim day! I like swim days a lot. I hear a lot that swimming is a good workout for your entire body. I was a little bit skeptical, but today I am believing it. I swam for 30 minutes. I warmed up, then would swim as fast as I could to the other side. Then I would slowly swim back and rest for a minute or 2 until my heart rate went down. I probably made it through 6 or seven intervals before my body said no more. So to cool down I just tried doing 2 laps slowly. I made it to 1 1/2 before I just walked to the wall and got out. That combined with Chest and Biceps today has me totally beat. I am going to sleep well. Goodnight!

Day 42 Thanksgiving

The thing about Holidays when you're deployed is that they just seem like every other day...Groundhog day...except the chow hall makes turkey. Well, tonight Fox is broadcasting the football game from here. I won't be able to attend the broadcast for 2 reasons. 1) They only have a limited number of spots in the sports bar. I don't have a ticket. 2) more importantly, I'll be working during the broadcast. Anyhow, yeah...this is my second set of holidays I'll spend deployed. I miss everyone. I definitely wish I could be back celebrating with Christine, family and friends, but I know that in the end this is better for the big picture. At the end of this deployment I will be completely debt free, and for that I am thankful. I'm also thankful to have the best girlfriend in the world. She sent me an awesome care package the other day, and it really brightened up my day/week. Thank you, Christine!

Today I worked my abs, back, and triceps, followed by 30 minutes on the treadmill and 30 minutes on the bike. I sweated a bunch. It was a really good workout. Tomorrow is swimming again. I'm looking forward to that! Ok, time for my protein shake followed by bed!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Day 41

I'm already nearing day 50! Day 59 will be a very good day. I'll only have 120 days after that. 4 months. The old deployment length. those deployments flew by like nothing. Hopefully the rest of my time here will do the same! So today I was back on the free weights doing chest and biceps. I definitely worked them good, because I couldn't even do 5 push ups afterwards. After that, I would normally do my 30 minute intervals on the treadmill today, but I felt like doing something different. Today, I swam for exercise, and wow...it was more of a workout than I had anticipated. First off, I can't remember the last time I went swimming. Actually, I do. It was at the beach in Barcelona, but that wasnt really so much swimming as it was just playing around in the water. Today, I swam. My trainer had me warm up by just doing a slow swim back and forth. Like 4 laps. I could really feel it in my chest today. It really was a full body workout. After that, I did intervals. Intervals meaning I would swim freestyle as fast as I could to the other side of the pool, and them swim slower back, and rest for a couple minutes. Today I did 4 intervals, and then cooled down with 2 laps non-stop. The goal is to get to 10 intervals in my 30 minutes. I was worked after 4, so this should be interesting. I like swimming though. I like it so much, that I am going to take a break from my intervals on the treadmill for the nex few weeks, and focus on swimming. I can feel my heart rate increasing, so I know its working. I was also told that it will help my waistline go down. I like that idea a lot. Most importantly though, it will give my joints a break. I will still be on the treadmill on my 60 minute cardio days, but the swimming allows my joints some reprieve from the 6 days a week of pounding away on a treadmill. Tomorrow is 60 minutes of cardio...I swim again Friday. Excited!

Day 39 Month 2 of Fitness Begins

Yesterday I pulled a God, and rested on the 7th day, although I'm sure that I ate far worse. Yeah, it was my off day yesterday, and there was football, so I did not eat the healthiest. But I figure 1 day out of the month isn't going to wreck everything. ou gotta have a little something to look forward to in order to stay motivated. So after I got off work yesterday I had 2 egg white breakfast burritos with cheese, bacon, jalapenos, tomato, onion, green peppers, and tots. I also had a biscuit with gravy and a mini waffle. Then I went to sleep. I woke up and went and watched a movie. Secretariat, which was your typical Disney underdog comes out on top story about horse racing. I liked it...more so than The Social Network at least. I had some popcorn there. My next meal consisted of a salad and a steak and cheese sandwich. I'm not doing too terrible so far...but then I had the rocky road brownie. Oh yes! It was fantastic. I could eat those every day....but I won't. later on in the evening it was time for football, so I went to the sports bar and ordered 3 Hefeweissen. I stretched them from about 9pm to 3am as I watched football on the tvs in the sports bar, and did a 4 way split screen with my NFL game pass on my computer. I can honestly say that I was able to watch every NFC west game at the same time. Wow does that division SUCK! But at least the Seahawks are still in 1st place! So at about 1:30 am the Seahawks game was still on, I was hungry, and I didn't want to walk all the way to the chow hall...so I ordered a meatlovers pizza from pizza hut. It was fantastic, but I think its one of those treats that I'm going to have to limi myself to once a month (another thing to look forward to). So yeah, yesterday was unhealthy.

Today it was the beginning of my second month of workouts. I was on my own today, so I did the same chest workout as 2 days ago. It went really well. I also decided to work my biceps, and abs. For cardio I did my 30 minute intervals on the treadmill. It was a challenging workout, and I was totally worked afterwards, but it felt good. I'm enjoying a protein shake right now and about to eat a grilled chicken sandwich. Back to work at mdnight tonight, so I'm gonna watch some TV and do a little homework now.

Day 37 Monthly Progress Report

It's the 20th of the month. That means it's time to get measured. Last night when I woke up, I weighed myself in at 230 lbs. So I've lost 5 lbs. Honestly, I was kind of expecting to lose a little more than that because I have altered my eating and exercising habits DRASTICALLY. I tried not to get discouraged though because I've only been going for 1 month, and I've been lifting weights too. There is a chance that I could've gained muscle mass. Only the body composition test would tell me that for sure. So today after work, I met with my trainer and we took my measurements. Once again I was a little surprised by the results. I thought that with all the cardio I was doing, that my waist would've gone down more. I mean it did.. 1/2 inch, but I thought my pants felt looser than that! Apparently the fat is burning off of other places first. I lost an inch in my hips. And strangely I actually gained an inch of muscle in my legs. There was no change in my arms or chest measurements. My trainer crunched the numbers, and I am now at 18% body fat! This is actually better than I was expecting. I was expecting maybe 19%, but 18% is awesome. That's 1/3 of the way to my goal of 14%!
So we decided today that I needed to step up the upper body workouts. We moved into the free weight room and now every other day I will focus on my chest and some other muscle group of my choice. Today I chose shoulders and abs.

Today I did:

Chest:

3 sets of 10 reps standard bench press (135 lbs)
3 sets of 10 reps incline bench (95 lbs)

3 sets of 10 reps decline bench (115 lbs)

Shoulders:

3 sets of 10 reps shoulder press (55 lbs on each arm)

3 sets of 20 reps forward and lateral arm raises (10 lb weights)

Abs:

Crunches

Sidebends

Cardio: today I just decided to run. I set the treadmill af 6 and I turned on some music and went. I ran 6 miles non-stop today. I'd say I barely broke a sweat, but that would be lying. I was dripping sweat, but I did it, and I feel really good about it. It was a good workout to finish the week. I have a day off tomorrow. I'm looking forward to that! Month 2 of workouts starts Monday!

1 Month Pictures

Monthly Progress Check #1

230 lbs

18% Body Fat

Day 33

So I skipped a few days of blogging! It's ok though because I haven't skipped working out, except on my off day (Sunday). Thats right, I finally got another day off. After 2 weeks straight, it was definitely nice. So part of the reason I hadn't been blogging is because I was hanging out with one of my old friends McChord. I've known him since I first got there in March 2004. He was out here for a few weeks, so we hung out. It was really nice to have a familiar face around. But he left the other day, so its back to conversing with the internet. Ha!

I have been doing my 6 day a week schedule, working out 2 muscle groups a day and alternating between the 1 hour cardio and 30 minute interval routines, with a little bit of abs every day, as well as pushups and pullups. I still suck at pull ups.

Today I worked my shoulders and abs, and then 1 did 30 minutes on the treadmill, followed by 15 minutes elliptical, finished off with 15 minutes of rowing. I'm liking the rowing machine. Its something different and a cool way to finish off my set. Anyhow, I was supposed to meet with my trainer today at 10 if nobody showed up for yoga class. I didn't want to start at 11 today because that would be a bit late for me. I thought yoga was at 9, so I showed up at 8 to at least get my hour of cardio out of the way, so I could get to bed at a decent time. Well, since it started at 10, I just went through my routine. Then there were enough people for the yoga class, so my plan worked out well. Since I was there I decided that I would try yoga. I figured it would be a nice way to relax after my workout...do some nice stretching and whatnot...Yoga kicked my ass. After working my biceps and chest yesterday, followed by shoulders and abs today, my upper body was worked. The downward facing dog movement was so difficult today. My arms were shaking, and I was dripping sweat. Holy crap. Yoga was a lot tougher than I thought, but I know it will help strengthen my core muscles. I would like to do it more. I know that Christine is doing that and Pilates, so I would like to be able to do that with her when we are back together again.

Yesterday I saw the Social Network. I don't get what all the hype was about. It was kinda interesting, but really not that impressive. Ok, I'm exhausted. To bed with me!

Day 28

4 Weeks today! The time goes by pretty quickly when you have a routine. Its nice. In a few days it will be 1 month down, 5 to go. I am excited to get back to real life again.

I'm gonna keep it short today because I'm tired and its time to go to bed. Today I did my hour of cardio. 15 minutes on the treadmill, 15 minutes on the elliptical, 15 minutes back on the treadmill, and then 15 minutes on the rowing machine. I like the rowing machine. I also did a few ab exercises and I did 2 sets of the pull-ups, pushups, and captain's chair. I think I might've actually been able to do a real pullup today. I'm not talking about the first one, where I get a little jump, but I went down and back up again. I think I got all the way up. It was pretty damn close! I'd like to be able to do 5 in a row at some point. That would be cool. Ok. Goodnight!

Day 27

Today it was back to the weight machines. We basically went through the same routine that was given a few visits ago. However, now everyday she would like me to try and do 5 pull-ups, followed by 10 pushups, and then 10 Captain's chair crunches. Those are where you're holding yourself up in the air on the arms of an elevated chair that has no seat, and then curl your legs up. I'm supposed to go through that twice. I SUCK at pull-ups, so I look like an idiot trying to do them, but I guess I will get better....I hope. I followed that up with 30 minutes of intervals on the treadmill. It was a good workout today.

So I have to change my eating around a bit. I just learned today that we are not allowed to leave the console here unattended for a lunch run. Something that my trainer neglected to tell me. In fact, she told me the opposite. So now I think I will eat my main meal when I wake up, bring a snack like cereal, yogurt and fruit, granola, etc. to work, and then go eat breakfast in the morning before I work out. We'll see how that goes.

Oh, kinda funny story. I took a shower today and realized when I was done that I had forgot my towel. No big deal normally, but the showers are about 50 yards away from my dorms. So I threw on my shorts, dried off a bit with some paper towels, and then put my shirt on and stood outside in the warm breeze to dry me off. I am now dry and back in my room.

Day 25/26

It's raining! This afternoon thunderstorm is a welcome change! I don't even mind the walk outside to the bathroom. The rain feels great.

As I mentioned 2 days ago, yesterday I took a day off from working out. After 7 days straight it, my body needed it. It was great. I had a kinda but not so healthy breakfast/dinner which included an egg beaters omelette with ham, onions, tomato, green pepper, cheese, and jalapenos, a biscuit with some gravy and a few strips of bacon. It was fantastic, and well deserved if I don't say so myself. Afterwards I went and took care of laundry, stopped by the sports bar for a Bud light (which was actually pretty good??) and retired to my room where I watched The Walking Dead, and Boardwalk Empire. Both great shows.

Today it was back to the normal breakfast dinner of 3 hardboiled egg whites, 1 whole egg, plain yogurt with granola, and a banana with a little peanut butter. That last item is a new twist... I enjoy this twist a lot and my trainer says its not bad for me. Score. Then it was off to the gym for 1 hour cardio. I spent 30 minutes on the treadmill (3 miles), 15 minutes on the elliptical machine, and finished off with 15 minutes on the rowing machine. It felt pretty good. I was actually going to stay for the 10am yoga class, but I was the only one who showed up, and they need at least 3 people. Oh well. Maybe next time. So I'm back in my room. I just watched Dexter. This week was pretty good and next week looks like it could be awesome. I'm gonna watch Conan now and go to sleep.

Day 24

I am so happy that they don't do daylight savings here! I would've had to be at work an extra hour! Anyway, I went to the gym early today. 9am. I met with my trainer again and I thought that she was just going to have me run through the weight machine routine again. I was wrong! Instead, she had me run through some other routine that involved a little bit of machines, and a little bit of small free weights, and my own body weight. It was seriously only 9 exercises, but by the end of my third set, my ass was thoroughly kicked. The pull ups kick my ass the most. I am not good at them at all. Oh well, I'll get better! Then I just jogged on the treadmill for 30 minutes. I am beat. I am taking the day off from working out tomorrow. I need a day to recover after 7 straight workout days. Tuesday I will be doing an hour of cardio and then I meet again with my trainer on Wednesday 9am. I think we'll be doing the same routine as today again.

Bedtime!

Day 23

I am getting stronger. I can feel it. I got very close to reaching one of my goals today. It's not one of the huge ones, but it is a key component of my main goal. Today I did 54 sit ups. Only 3 more until I reach that goal. Truth be told, while I was doing them I thought that my goal was 54, so I quit after that. I might've been able to push out 3 more, but things were getting pretty tough. I'll keep working on it. One other cool thing is that this morning..well last night when I woke up, I went to the gym to check the scale. It says that I am down to 230 lbs. I've lost 5 lbs! That's half way to my first weight milestone. Its pretty motivating to see your work paying off.

Today I just did an hour of moderate cardio, pushups, and some ab stuff. I kept my heart rate between 140 and 155. I did 30 minutes on the treadmill (speed: 6.0), 15 minutes on the elliptical machine, and 15 minutes on the bike. I'm going to go to bed early today so I can wake up early and video chat with Christine. Yay!

Today's workout soundtrack:

The Sugar Stems - The Sweet Sounds of...

123 Fake Street - The Light of Day (So what? I like my old band!)

Teenage Bottlerocket - Total

a few Pulley songs.

Day 22

Day 22! I'm officially past the 3 week mark. I have to say that this routine is definitely making the days go by quicker. Like sometimes it doesn't feel like there is enough time in the day for me to do everything...that is a good thing. In fact, if we could shorten these days up a bit to make them go faster, that would be great! Thanks!

Today I was on my own, so I did my routine on the machines, which I guess took about 45 minutes to an hour. Then I did my 30 minute intervals on the treadmill. I was beat by the end of todays workout. One cool thing that I noticed as I was lifting was that in the mirror, I could kind of get an idea of the way my body was going to be as I progressed. It was good motivation. I think that's all for now. Tomorrow I have an hour of cardio and some ab work!

Starting Photos (23 Oct 2010)

Here I am at my starting weight of 235 lbs 20% Body Fat. These were taken on 23 Oct 2010, 3 days after I started meeting with the trainer. There will be updated pictures on the 20th of each month.

Days 19-21

I haven't forgotten about this thing already! I've just been busy the past few days and I haven't updated. I have a few minutes today, so I'll give a quick update!

First off, in my last post I mentioned my awesome girlfriend Christine. One thing that is cool about her is that she just joined a gym. I like that a lot. Not because she needs it, but because she's doing it because she wants to stay healthy. Also, knowing that she is working out provides me more motivation to keep on working out. She is my long distance workout partner! It's exciting to me because we are both learning our way around the gym, and when we get back together we will have another thing that we could possibly do together. I also think that its easier to stay healthy if both people in the relationship are participating.

This is the sexy part of the blog...ok, not really. But I'm going to talk about underwear for a second. I have never spent as much money on underwear as I have since I started this plan. You see, I have big legs. Mostly in the thighs. They are thick. When I run, they tend to rub together and chaff. I tried boxer briefs, but they inevitably get sweaty, or loose and start riding up and here comes the chaffing. Not fun. So I invested in some underarmour shorts. They're basically spandex, but they are great! No chaffing whatsoever. I work out 6 days a week, so in the name of sanitization, I needed 6 pairs. At $16 a piece, that comes out to $96. Almost $100...on underwear...yeah. But it keeps me able to work out comfortably, so in the long run, totally worth it.

As far as my workouts go, 2 days ago I did my 60 minutes of cardio. I mixed it up with the treadmill, elliptical, and bike. Pretty basic. Yesterday I was introduced to the machines in the weight room. I know have a routine that works my whole body. I will be doing that 3 times a week along with 30 minutes of cardio. Today I just did an hour of cardio, but I was taught a few new things to kind of make the same three exercises a bit less monotonous. The hour flew by and it was cool to mix things up. I got really sweaty. I was also told that it looked like I had lost a little bit of weight in my face. That is a good sign! Tomorrow I am on my own, so its the weights, cardio, and some ab work.

I havent really changed my eating habits. Same ol, same ol. But I didn't really eat last night do to circumstances beyond my control. The Captain did bring some Krispy Kreme donuts though..so I kind of had 2. I shouldn't have, but I'm not gonna cut everything I like out of my diet! Moderation! I had an egg beater omelett for breakfast too. That was a nice change from the hard boiled eggs. I have also started eating papaya. Its pretty good. A nice change frm the normal bananas and apples.

Thats all I've got for today. I think I'm going to post my starting photos.

Day 18

I am a really lucky guy. I have the best girlfriend ever. She's smart, beautiful, and she has stuck with me through some of the toughest times in my life. I love her so much for that. Its not easy for her (or me) to be apart for 6 months, but we're doing it, and the relationship is getting stronger because of it. Thinking about seeing her at the end of this keeps me motivated to keep going. I can't wait to be together again.

On to my workout stuff. Today I was on my own because its my trainer's day off. Normally I would take the day off too, but I needed to make up for taking Saturday off. Yesterday she gave me a list of exercises to do. I worked my back, abs, and chest, and then I did 30 minutes of intervals on the treadmill. It felt like a good workout. I worry about my form a lot because I feel like if I don't do things right, I'm not going to exercise the muscles I want. Judging by the tightness, I think I did things right. There was just one or two exercise out of 9 that I was a little shaky on. I'll get better at them. One thing I know is that I sweated. I sweated a lot. I'm not sure if its the N.O. Xplode I take before or what, but by the end I am dripping. I figure that's a good thing. As far as progress goes, I think my waist might be slightly smaller because I can tighten up my belt a little more. I'm not 100% positive though. As far as weight goes, it doesn't seem like there's been much progress, but its hard to tell because my workouts are at the end of my day and my body is full of water and food. Plus, I've only been doing it for about two weeks. we will see how things go at 1 month.

Today's workout music:

Dead Kennedys - Plastic Surgery Disaster and Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables

Suicide Machines - War Profiteering is Killing us All

Bad Religion - Generator, and I Want to Conquer the World.