Weight Loss Wednesday - My 90 Day Challenge pt 2

As you can see, the Visalus has dropped from the 90 day challenge I am on. I forgot when I started that I am basically broke. After spending about $600 for the first two months, I realized something. That is entirely too much money. Almost $300 a month for the transformation kit was not worth it. In fact, if I followed the calorie restriction I would be hard pressed not to lose weight if I exercised too. First, let me tell you that I am not bad mouthing Visalus. The shakes tasted amazing and I went from 244.8 pounds to 233.6 in a little over a month while still cheating on the weekends and doing no cardio. I lost over 10 pounds, which puts me well on my way to meeting my 25 pound 90 day goal. Visalus is just too expensive for me. So instead, I am going another route. I weighed 233.6 Monday morning when I began the second phase of my 90 day challenge. I am now lifting for only 25-30 minutes, then doing 30 minutes of cardio. I am also taking 1st Phorm’s 1 DB Overdrive and Thyro-Drive. When my sweet tooth kicks in late I am making a protein shake using 1st Phorm’s Level I Cookies and Cream protein. I was working out but with a partner that could only work out at night, so my workouts were not that motivated. I am an early morning workout guy, so I had to switch back to early mornings. That way I can guarantee that nothing comes up that might interfere with my workouts. Secondly, my workouts were too long to fit in cardio, too. Therefore, the workouts I was doing had to be improvised to get my lifting time down. They are briefly described at the end of this blog and if anyone has any questions or wants the routine let me know. I take the 1st Phorm pack (Overdrive and Thyro-Drive) as soon as I wake up. Thirty minutes later, I am in the gym and I can feel the difference. I have more energy than I have had before, and I sweat more. That is probably a good combination for weight loss. I take them one more time about an hour before I eat lunch, and I am good to go for the rest of the day. My water intake this week has increased, from about 100 ounces to 150 or more. I also don’t feel as hungry and my cravings have been reduced. So far it is all positives and far cheaper than what I was spending. I am curious to see where I am weight wise at the end of this month. I will let you know the first Wednesday of September, as I complete the third month of my 90 day challenge that month. Super positive that I will hit my 25 pound goal……….if not exceed it! Here is what I am doing in the gym now. I am hitting one body part at a time. On Monday, it is back and biceps. On Tuesday, it is chest and triceps. On Wednesday, it is legs and abs then Thursday I do shoulders and traps. For the first body part, I pick 3 exercises. I do 3 giant sets of 8 reps each, taking a minute rest after each set. Then I pick one exercise and burn it, doing 5 sets of 12 reps with a 30 second rest between each set. For the second body part, I pick 2 exercises and do 3 supersets of 8 reps each with a one minute rest between sets. Then I pick an exercise and do 5 sets of 12 reps with a 30 second break. I want to work up to 7 sets on the burn portion eventually. This is not done for legs, as I hit legs pretty hard one set at a time, but I do the burn sets to end my quad portion as well as the hamstring portion. This allows me enough time to end my workouts with a 30 minute cardio and still be out in about an hour. I am also going to try to add at least two more 30-60 minute cardio sessions during the week on off days.

From Shack to Temple - Week 1

Can you lose 10 pounds in one week like they do on The Biggest Loser? I don't know if you can, but I found out that I could. I seriously doubt that the double digit loss will continue into the second week, but in the first 7 days I lost exactly 10 pounds!

I am pretty excited about the results so far. In my opinion, they have been nothing short of amazing. I know that the first week tends to be a big week for loss, so judge what I am doing not by this first week but by the end results. That said, the first week was an awesome start. Here is how I have gotten off to such a great start:

1. I drink at least 120 ounces of water daily, although it has been more like 160-200 ounces
2. I exercise every morning for an hour. Next week I will talk more about the exercise that I am doing!
3. I eat a healthy breakfast (2 eggs, 98% fat free ham or turkey, two pieces of toast and a banana)
4. I eat a healthy lunch (can of tuna, mustard, two pieces of bread, immense salad with a lot of different colors and balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing)
5. I do not eat solid food after lunch. Once I get to where I want to be weight wise I will add a healthy dinner.
6. I have 2 or 3 protein shakes daily (1 after workout in the morning the others in the evening)
7. I have a 1st Phorm Level-1 shake before bed. I have a sweet tooth that strikes late. Level-1 has chocolate chip cookie dough and ice cream sandwich flavors. They take care of my sweet tooth with only 2 grams of sugar.
8. I stack 1st Phorm's 1-Db Overdrive with Thyro-Drive on a 5 day on, 2 day off cycle. They are a combination thermogenic that so far have not made me jittery like the products I have used in the past.
9. I eat and drink anything and everything that I want one day a week from the time I wake up until 7 PM

That is how I have made the changes I have made so far. I have had to use several methods to work around some of the problems I have with eating. I use the late night shake to curb my sweet tooth, and the promise of eating what ever I want one day a week to help me avoid temptation like you see on the right (this was actually in the break room at work yesterday and I ate none of it).

In order for me to get to where I need to be, I have to watch what I take into my body. If I can say no to cigarettes, drugs and alcohol I should have no problem with food. But I did. I had let food become my new addiction and it was killing me just like my old vices had been. Now, I am not having those same problems because of the changes I am making.

I also have to be fit and active every day. My sedentary life style was killing me. I am doing everything: cardio machines, weight lifting, racquetball and bicycle riding. One night I went to the park and took a walk. It is about being active every day. In my last job I waited tables, and walked probably 5 miles plus every day. Now I sit behind a desk and it has been showing. Between being more sedentary and eating comfort food my waist has been increasing. No longer, will that happen. Thanks for following along with me as I turn my shack back into a temple!