From Shack to Temple: 2 Weeks In

So, I like the way things are going this time. I am struggling to get to the gym as much as I would like to. It is also difficult for me to guage my workouts this time, as I am working out like I never have before. The new schedule is kind of rough on me, also since I am at work two days a week from 730 AM to 930 PM then have to be back to work at 730 AM the following morning each time. We will look more at what I am doing this time, but first this is how I am doing.

I followed the earting plan the first week to the T. I stayed under in calories every single day. I ate a lot of lean meat: pork, chicken and top sirloin. I even had some home made salmon patties. I ate a lot of vegetables and fresh fruit and had mashed potatoes a couple of times. For snacks I had popcorn, yogurt and ended most days with a double serving of neopolitan ice cream. I drank a ton of water, at least 10 glasses a day and sometimes more and didn't drink anything else other than the morning cup of coffee black or the protein shake post workout. I lost 7 pounds the first week.

The second week I did well, but the weekend was a wash. The week was the same, but my weekend was not good. My best man had a birthday party at Old Chicago, and I chose to be bad. I gained 3 pounds, but I am okay with that. I still lost 0.6 pounds for the week and was down 7.6 pounds for the 2 week period. Could have been better, but I am really happy with that.

Exercise I am changing up, too. I have been lifting heavy weights with low reps in the past. This time around, I am rethinking them. The last two weeks I have only worked out two days each week, on Monday and Friday, and I am adding a workout this week on Wednesdays. Here is what I have done for work outs so far.

On Monday I do 5 sets of 5 flat bench press at 225 supersetted with DB Flyes with 35's doing 8 reps. Then I do 5 sets and 5 reps of 2 exercises, pulldowns to the front then a pulldown leaning to the chest. This will stay the same, only the weight will go up. Then I do 3 sets of 5 reps of what is called the bear complex. I do it with 115, and one rep consists of a clean to a front squat to a shoulder press to a back squat to a shoulder press. Eventually I will work up to 5 sets of 8 then I will go up in weight.

On Friday I do a complex where I never set down the bar. I put 135 on the barbell then I do 5 bent rows, 5 cleans, 5 front squats, 5 military presses, then 5 squats. I do 3 sets of this, with the hopes of making it to eventually do 5 sets of 8 reps. I then put 115 on the bar and do 5 barbell curls, 5 skull crushers then I do 5 sit ups with the 115 for 5 sets. I am where I want to be on this one.

On both days if time is good I will do 15 minutes on the elliptical. I am going to add a Wednesday workout that will consist of heavy legs, calves, shrugs and abs with cardio thrown in. I am hoping that this will help put me into a good place for the workouts. I feel weird doing so little weight, but I am happy to not be hurting myself and I probably need better cardio, not to get stronger.

In two weeks I have dropped from 238.6 to 231 pounds and ate pretty much whatever I wanted. I am pretty content with that. If you have any feedback or advice on the eating or workouts please share them. I would love to gain more knowledge as I go. By the way, I have found MyFitnessPal to be a very helpful app for what I am doing.

The secret so far is not telling myself no to the things I want. It is instead seeking moderation, which MyFitnessPal helps me do. I can have ice cream, but I am eating a serving of it instead of half of it. When you deny yourself something, you often end up cheating. When you cheat, you get depressed. When you get depressed, you comfort eat more. "Since I already blew it, I might as well eat all of it."

So, don't call them cheats. Call it eating in moderation. Watch what you eat, use and app like MyFitnessPal or join Weight Watchers, who also have a great app. Weight Watchers also gives you accountability with their meetings and online forums. With MyFitnessPal you can have friends who see what you put in, from the food ate to exercise completed to weight gained and lost. That is a great feature. See you in a couple of weeks, as we continue to look at turning our shacks into temples!

From Shack to Temple 2013 - No More Cheating!!

I am tired of this yo-yo I am on. I keep telling myself I am going to lose weight, just to lose it then gain even more back. Last year I ended up losing about 10 pounds for the year. My goal was 60. I am done playing around this year. It is time to take it serious. I am changing everything that I do. I am changing my workouts, the way I eat and a whole lot more. 

My workouts are changing. They have been workouts to gain muscle, with only one or two body parts worked a day. I would then end with a 30 minute cardio routine that was generally a quick walk. That work out is no more. I will be hitting a set body part, like chest. Then I will end with a complex, such as the bear complex (It is from CrossFit). It is a whole body workout that is done without ever setting down the barbell or dumbbells you are using. If you have never done them, complexes are murder!

When it comes to my diet I am looking to put in a lot of water, lean meat and vegetables with egg whites, oatmeal, greek yogurt, almonds and cottage cheese thrown in. I will be having fresh fruit on occasion for sweets and chocolate milk and protein after my workouts. I will have coffees with no creamer, which is different. I will not be comfort eating, unless it is a piece of meat. My late night snack will be cottage cheese and greek yogurt, with the occasionally popcorn. 

The big change diet wise involves my weigh-in day. I will be weighing in on Mondays. In the past I have weighed in on Wednesdays. This was so that I had an opportunity to lose the weight I had gained from cheating over the weekend. This time, no cheats. I am following a stricter diet this time around. 

This is an addiction like any other, only a little harder to break. It is the same because when you are trying to quit using a drug, you do not allow yourself to have a little. Think of an alcoholic telling himself, "I will just have one or two shots tonight." He is sure to be unsuccessful. Maybe not tonight, but one of the nights he allows himself to cheat he will go on a binge. I know this from experience. One Girl Scout cookie is too many, and a boxful is never enough. 

It is different because you have to eat. I think this makes it harder. When I got off of meth, I did not have to do meth. In fact, I found I was addicted to more and stopped taking anything that was addictive.  I knew better than to chance it. With alcohol, you do not have to drink. I can go to B-Dubs (Buffalo Wild Wings) to watch the fights and have a tea. I just leave a big tip at the end of the night for the tea. With food, we have to eat and that is difficult to do. I have to not comfort eat and watch portions ALL of the time. It is rough, but I WILL do it this year.

I am just getting started, but you can bet that at the end of January you will get a workout routine I have followed as well as a better look at the diet. I am going to be happy to share, and the blogs will be coming every couple of weeks. This morning I started off at 238.6 pounds. My goal is to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week. The best is yet to come........off. I cannot wait to break the 200 pound barrier, and I will do it this year!! I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength!!

If you are also trying to lose weight, please share your tips, goals and progress with me. Friend me on the app MyFitnessPal, leave comments on the blog or on Facebook. I would love to have accountability partners in this endeavor! 

From Shack to Temple Weight Loss Wednesday My Fitness Pal

So, when I came into work on Monday this was the sight that greeted me from the copy/break room. It was hard to say no to. But, when I looked at my trusty new app that I got for my iPhone, MyFitnessPal, I was given all of the information that I needed. I looked at what it showed me, and decided what the best choice was.

So, let me tell you a little about MyFitnessPal. I want you to know that I rarely do product plugs...............ever. This is the first one that I have done in over 200 blogs. I may talk about music, small groups studies, movies but not products. The reason is simple, I am not here to sell anybody on anything, other than living a better life. But I must make an exception for this phone app, which is also available on your computer.

For starters, how cool it is to have a calorie counter on your hip. It is with me every where that I go. It allows me to use something that I already carry around instead of having to carry a diary. I then use it to log in all of the food that I consume. It also allows me to log in the exercises that I do and will then add the exercise calories to the total calories I can consume for the day so that I can have more food if I exercise. Your body needs fuel, so it is added. Makes total sense!

So how does it know how many calories I can consume for the day? It asks some questions: current weight, goal weight, starting weight, height, gender, date of birth and activity level. It then asks for your goal. Do you want to gain a pound a week, 1/2 a pound a week or stay the same? If not, do you want to lose weight: 1/2, 1, 1 1/2 or 2 pounds a week? It then sets you up with a daily calorie goal as well as the targets to hit for fat, protein, carbohydrates, cholesterol, sodium and several other minerals and vitamins.

But you could eat very unhealthy foods and never exercise, right? In recovery I talk about the 5 pillars: sponsor (mentor), 12 steps (live Biblical), meetings (small groups), a Higher Power (God) and accountability partners. This app will allow you to become friends with other people and they can then look at the exercise you do and the calories you eat. It lets you see weight lost or gained, calorie goal met,exceeded, exercise completed and whether or not they have been on the app. In this way, you have accountability partners built in.

Finally, not only does it already have a huge list of foods, brands, restaurants and exercises but you can also add your own. The coolest feature other than having friends be able to see how you are doing is the bar code reader. All you have to do is set the camera on the bar code of an item and it will automatically add it to your list of available foods to choose from. It puts it in complete with full calorie/protein/carb/fat/vitamin/mineral and serving breakdowns.

Together, those are the reasons that I am writing about this app. It is a total package. So, at the beginning I used my app to look up Krispy Kreme donuts and wedding cake. Small servings at 200-300 calories for the donuts and 400-600 calories for the cake. I knew that the Greek yogurt with granola, fresh blueberries and fresh raspberries was not only healthier and more filling, but also contained protein with no fat and tasty at only 200 calories.

I ended up eating the yogurt and did not give in to temptation. That may only be a small battle won, but it is A BATTLE WON!!! I love winning small battles every day, because the small wins daily will lead to a huge victory!! Unfortunately I have only really started using the app this week, and when we went to St Louis last week I was really bad and caved to my cravings. After two weeks, I am only down .6 pounds. That said, I am down not up so that is another small battle won in my fight against food cravings and body fat.

P.S. - So far I only have one accountability partner on the app. If this is something that you need or would not mind giving me (some support and encouragement with losing weight), get the MyFitnessPal app and request me. I am DjsDad1 on there. I also have a private Facebook group for several people who are struggling with food and/or weight issues that I can add you to if that would be beneficial.