MIght Have Figured it out

I think I may have figured out what occured this week. Water retention. I spoke with my brother-in-law who is a phyical trainer and working on his masters degree in medical research and he knows my medical history. The medication that I am taking, well I skipped a month and restarted taking it last week, this medication takes about week to kick in and one of the side effects is water retention.

Not sure what is going on

Weight: 307

There are 2 things that could be possibly going on with my weight gain.

First my scale could need a battery change. If thats the case then that is easily fixed and I can get a better reading.

Second: For the past 2 weeks I have changed everything about eating. This week nothing different has taken place and I have managed to gain 4 lbs, yes 4 DAMN pounds, this should not have happened. The changes that I have made were: added more fruits and vegetables, less caffenine and more water, balanced my protein, carbs and fat intake each day to the point the carbs are less than 40% of daily intake and protein is up near 35%. My average calorie intake is less than 2000 calories per day and my exercise is still at 4 days a week.

So if its not my scale then it must be something that is going with my body. I am going to make a doctors appointment in order to talk with my doctor to see if she can run any tests, to see what is going on.

Things

I am at a loss for words today.

By using Fitday I have been able to track my food intake and see where I need to improve on diet. For example, if there is a day that I had to many carbs, I can look at what I consumed and get a better understanding of what I need to cut out or in the case of not enough protein then add protein. Also with this program I can also keep track of physical activites. I never knew sitting on your can talking could acutally burn some calories, not much but some is better than none.

Eating the food that you enjoy is difficut to give up when going through a transformation to a smaller and more physically fit you. My wife discovered something that I have yet to try. Jimmy Johns - great sandwich place, last week when I thought I hit rock bottom part of the problem was Jimmy Johns, I went there twice. Eating the bread is probably the worst, my discovered that they make the sandwichs using lettuce, so its almost like a lettuce wrap. You can get your sandwich in a lettuce wrap instead of the bread. Now if I'm looking for something different I can try a lettuce wrap from Jimmy Johns.

Caffenine is another problem area I have. I always thought I didnt have a caffenine problem, until I gave it up. WOW! what headaches, worst than I have ever experienced. So I try to limit my caffenine to 12 oz pop a day, 99.9% of the time its diet, if I'm not in the mood for pop I try tea either hot or freshly brewed, still has the caffenine but not the sugar content that is associated with pop.

Fat Tuesday

Weigh In: 303 lbs

Today might be the last day to consume all your favorite things in preparation for Lent. Its almost like a National-Lets-Get-Fat Day. I had a Fat Thursday last week where I had gained 7 lbs in 2 days, I'm not sure how I accomplished that but with good news I have lost 8 lbs. My new weight for the week is 303 down 1 lb.

Have a good day!

Juggling Act

Working and working out can be a juggling act. My work schedule is set but if someone calls in sick then I can get ordered to work. Which usually means that I dont have my workout clothes with me, I normally go home first then get go to my workout. This pay period I have worked my normal 80 hours but I have also worked an additional 42.5 hours of overtime. I have been playing it smart - bringing my workout clothes with me, my employer has a gym so I can catch a workout during my breaks.

Today I was able to catch 30 minutes on the treadmill (average heart rate 144).

I have been eating better and using Fitday to track my intake.

Food Consumption

I wanted to take a moment and share what it is that I am eating for today.

Honey Nut Cherrios - 110 calories - 1 cup
Skim Milk - 45 cal - 4 oz
Sweet&Salty Granola Bar - 170 cal - 1 bar
Diet Coke - 0 cal - 20 oz
Water - 66 oz
Italian Bread - 80 cal - 2 slices
Peanut Butter - 190 cal - 2 tbs
Strawberry Jam (Homemade) - 111 cal
Orange - 62 cal
Whole potatoes - small
chicken/garlic sausage - 1 1/2 links
skim milk - 90 cal - 1 cup

****forgot some food*****
2 cups lettuce
7 cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup of Light Done Right Italian salad dressing
1 tbs of bacon bits


I used Fitday to give me a count. Not sure of how close the count actually is only because the Chicken/garlic sausage was a reduced calorie and not listed in fitday.

Carbs, Sugar, Fat

I crashed and I have crashed hard! I havent stopped working out, actually I enjoy working out. Working out makes my body feel refreshed, relaxed and allows me to clear my head of stress.

Eating on the other hand has gone out the window. After coming off of a 4 lb weight loss and feeling good about my direction, I have crashed. Tuesday, after a frozen pipe in the house and a 2 hour drive home from work thanks to a snow storm, I had pizza and breadsticks. Wednesday was pretty much the same, Jimmy Johns sub with chips for lunch and for dinner stuffing and green beans for dinner. Thursday, Olive Garden - pasta. Last night - Longhorn Steakhouse but that went okay, had a steak and some mashed potatoes then went to the movies and had some Junior Mints.

My carb eating is out of hand. At this point I'm not sure what I can do to stop the urge to eat carbs. I know what I need to do but doing it has proven to be very difficult.

Just another day

Weight: 304

I'm not getting discouraged but it seems like every time I get going on a row (with workouts) something that involves life takes over and I have to put off working out for a day or two. Take yesterday for instance, left work to get tires for the car and then to meet my wife at the gym for a lower body and cardio workout. About 20 minutes before work ended my wife calls and says that the pipes on the west side of the house are not draining. So instead of working out I have to meet my father-in-law with the snake and this other contraption and attempt to unclog the drain. But does it work NO! We realized that the pipes are frozen and nothing is getting through. When that was figured out it was 9:30 and I still hadnt eaten my dinner.

The good news is that the pipes are not frozen anymore and I am going to the gym after work for a quality, hard workout.

Dancing

I'm going to the gym but not to workout. The gym is having a Daddy-Daughter dance and I am taking my 2 year old to the dance. Its all about Princesses and Snow White is suppose to be there.

Mall walk

Thursday, my wife and I did a mall walk because we do this as a team and she needed a break from the gym. Which happens every once in awhile. We didnt want to miss a workout so we grabbed the kid and went to the mall where we walked the mall. The mall walk ended up being just over 3 miles. Not bad for a couple of hours. Not only did we walk relatively quick but for added resistance I pushed the stroller.

Could thing for support

Thanks for all the suggestions concerning being stuck and having to change up the plan to allow for better weight loss.

Here is my workout for the day. Upper body and the shoulder left pretty good. Lets see how if feels tomorrow.

Weights:
Bench
85 x 12, 95 x 12, 105 x 12

Biceps: Straight bar curls
25 x 12, 30 x 12, 35 x 12

Triceps: Rope
40 x 12, 50 x 12, 50 x 12

Side Bends
15 with no weight, 15 with 25 lbs

Triceps: one arm pulldown
40 x 12, 50 x 12, 60 x 12

Decline Press
25 x 12, 35 x 12, 45 x 12

Cardio:
Treadmill
Time: 10 minutes
Incline: 1.0 - 2.0
Speed: 3.2 - 4.2

Jacuzzi: 15 minutes

Average Heart Rate: 139

Weekly Weigh In

Weight: 307 lbs

Day off.

Workout - Monday

My workout consisted of lower body and cardio. I think my shoulder is feeling a little better that later this week I can do an upper body workout.

Weights:
Calf
140 x 15, 150 x 15, 160 x 15

Alternate Hamstrings
25 x 15, 30 x 15, 35 x 15

Leg Extension
80 x 15, 95 x 15, 110 x 15

Leg Curl
40 x 15, 60 x 15, 80 x 15

Calf (Free Motion)
160 x 15, 180 x 15, 200 x 15

Seated Leg Press
190 x 15, 230 x 15, 250 x 15


Cardio:
Treadmill
Time: 10 minutes
Incline: 1
Speed: 3.2 - 6.0

Jacuzzi: 10 minutes

Average Heart Rate: 145

Restructing of Plan

Its time to rethink my plan. Even though I am losing weight my plan isnt working out the way I want it to. In the last month the weight loss should be more than a pound or 2. Its been 5 weeks and I should be down at least 10 to 15 lbs if not more.

My exercise is on point but seems to be rather scattered. Scattered I mean, the days aren't set, I workout basically when I can and it seems I don't get quality workouts. Cardio is done every time I workout but my weight training is one day here and then again 4 days later. I would like to have more consistent workouts, almost a set schedule. Kind of like this:

Monday: Workout - Weights and Cardio
Tuesday: Workout - Cardio
Wednesday: Workout - Weights and Cardio
Thursday: Workout - Cardio
Friday: Workout/Rest - Optional workout
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest

Eating Habits. My eating style that I am attempting is eating less but the amount of meals has also decreased and it seems that I am overeating at dinner to make up for the calories that I didnt get during the day. What I'm eating isnt working either. I think I am going back to writing down everything I eat and keeping a journal. But I'm not sure if I want to use Fitday only because the only time I get online is late at night. So maybe I will use both, the journal for everyday use and Fitday to log percentages and other essential dietary needs.

The new calorie count will be 2000 calories. Here is what I want to happen: 6 meals instead of 3, smaller meals and better choices, water, more fruits and veggies. Less pop (only drink diet but I want to cut that as well), cut night time snack. Overall I want to eat smarter.

Super Bowl Sunday workout

Brought my workout clothes to work so I could work out during my break. Here is my workout.

Cardio:

Bike
Time: 20 Minutes
Level: 8

Treadmill
Time: 15 minutes
Speed: 3.2 - 4.2 mph

Average heart rate: 142

This sucks

The thing that sucks about getting up to go to work at O dark thirty (5:30 am) is that I forgot my workout clothes. And we are going out tonight. Looks like I am going to have to pack my bags and put them in my car so I can get a workout in tomorrow.

Skipped a day

No workout.

Aches and Pains

So its been about 4 weeks worth of exercise and I decieded to do a body check, for aches and pains.

Pinky toe: I hurt my toe about 2 years ago when I kicked a boulder hiding in the sand is sore, probably from the cold.

Big toe: hurts, not sure why.

Back: must have tweaked during this past weekend.

Shoulder: kind of sore but appears to be getting better.

Thursday workout

Thursday's workout was all about lower body. I lifted weights and did some cardio.

Weight Training:

Alternate Hamstrings
20 x 12, 25 x 12, 30 x 12

Calf
110 x 15, 130 x 15, 150 x 15

Leg Extension
75 x 15, 90 x 15, 105 x15

Leg Curl
30 x 15, 40 x 15, 50 x 15

Calf (Free motion)
120 x 15, 140 x 15, 180 x 15

Squat
180 x 15, 270 x 15, 320 x 15

Side Bends
15 - without weight, 15 - with 10 lbs

Cardio:

Bike:
Time: 10 minutes
Incline: 10.0%


Sauna: 5 minutes

Jacuzzi: 10 minutes

Average Heart Rate: 128