Fitness Transformation 2010: DAY 7

March 20th, 2010 A DAY OF REST

Weight: 202.2 pounds
Fat: 20.7

After a week of diet and exercise, I weighed in to find that I have lost a total of 7.2 pounds. This may actually be more than I should be losing, but I still feel healthy and have the energy I need to function... so, I'm happy with it.

Meals:

4 eggs, 2 slices of toast (w/ marmalade)

1 bean and cheese burrito, 1/2 cup of refried beans.

2 string cheese; 1 yogurt

chicken breast (w/ bar-b-que sauce) and vegetables, 1 dinner roll

celery w/ peanut butter and raisins

Fitness Transformation 2010: DAY 6

March 20th, 2010

Weight: 204.4 pounds
Fat: 20.7

Because of my late night splurging, last night, I ended up gaining .4 pounds. I have decided that eating the "lite" pizza is not necessarily a bad thing, but it shouldn't be done right before laying down to watch a movie. I definitely made some bad choices with yesterday's meals.


Today's menu:

4 eggs, 2 slices of whole wheat toast (high fiber, protein content)

1 yogurt, 1 celery sprig (3 sticks)

2 slices of LiteCrust chicken garlic pizza, from Papa Murphy's

2 string cheese; banana

1 sprig (3 sticks) of celery (w/ peanut butter); 1/2 cup of raisins

1 spinach salad topped with Ranch dressing and hard boiled egg.

170 ounces of water

There was no workout planned, for today. My exercise was limited to the walking I do at work, which totals approximately 4-5 miles.

Fitness Transformation 2010: DAY 5

March 19th, 2010

Weight: 204.0
Fat: 21.0

Today's diet was similar to the last few days. It is, as follows:

4 eggs (1 yolk), 1 bowl of Cheerios

2 Choc. Chip Cookies, 6 oz. Trail Mix (peanuts, almonds, cashews, raisins, M&Ms)

6 inch Tuna Sandwich (from Subway, complete with low fat toppings)

1 yogurt, 1 sprig (3 sticks) of celery (w/ peanut butter)

1 sprig celery (3 sticks) (w/ peanut butter); 3/4 cup of raisins

2 slices LiteCrust chicken garlic pizza from Papa Murphy's; 1.5 candy bars; 1/2 choc. cake donut

Where we were originally intending to do a leg workout, because my legs were still sore from Tuesday's workout, I opted for 40 minutes of cardio on the elliptical machine.

Fitness Transformation 2010: DAY 4

Day 4 weight: 206.0 lbs Fat: 20.1

Day 4 was another brutal day, for me. After a day of rest (Wednesday), we attacked the shoulders, chest and biceps. My chest and arms have had a decent amount of work, in the past (although not organized, in the least), so the pain is minimal. The biceps have been worked, but as Nick pointed out, there are two sides to the bicep muscle... or, in essence, two different muscles that need to be targeted. The following are pictures of the exercises that I did...



I finished the evening off with another 35 minutes on the elliptical machine.


Today, my diet followed a similar schedule, to the previous days...

3 eggs; 2 slices of toast

2 string cheese, 1 banana

1 1/2 cups of rice and chicken, seasoned with Orange Sesame sauce; 4 TBSP chopped almonds.

3 eggs, 2 slices of toast.

With any luck, the end result will be better than this...

Fitness Transformation 2010: DAY 3

Day three is really... well... a day off. There were no workouts planned for today, which is a good thing. My legs have not been this sore in YEARS. If EVER. It has been difficult for me to walk up and down stairs, so much that I even had a hard time getting off of the toilet. This is a good thing, in the grand scheme of things, as it is evidence that I have really worked some muscles. I cannot wait to see what the end results of all this are going to be.

March 17th, 2009: 206.0 lbs. (a loss of 1.6 lbs, in the last day) Fat percentage: 20.1

Today's meals include:

4 eggs, 2 yolk; 1 bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios w/ 2% milk

1 peanut butter and jelly sandwich

2 string cheese; 1 slice toast; protein shake

5 prunes; a variety of Costco samples, including several fruit and vegetable "shots", 2 sticks of fish, a small cup of salad with Lt. Ranch dressing.

1 cup of rice, 1 chicken breast, seasoned with Mandarin Orange sauce; 1 side of salad with hard boiled egg.

(Hopefully 170 oz. of water... at least 150, if not more)

Fitness Transformation 2010: DAY 2

Morning weight: 207.6 lbs (down 1.8 lbs) with 20.1 body fat.

Day 2 was very similar to day one. For my meals, I had as follows:

3 eggs, 2 slices of multi-grain toast

2 string cheese

2 Wendy's crispy chicken sandwiches, buns removed, with a small amount of Ranch sauce, in place of mayonnaise.

Almonds and banana

1 ground beef and bean burrito with cheese, sour cream and mango salsa. Also, a small side of salad with one hard boiled egg.

1 post-workout protein shake and small sugar cookie.

And, let us not forget... 170 ounces of water, over the course of the day.

For our workout, I did legs. This included a brutal set of squats, getting up to and peaking at nearly 150 lbs. We did a sets of 12, leading up to this final weight, and if I recall correctly, I was only able to do 10 at 145 lbs. We then proceeded to the leg extension machine, where I did 150 lbs. I did sets of 12... or, at least ATTEMPTED to. I succeeded in doing 12 the first time, but then Nick made me hold the last one for 5 seconds. This is intended to cause as much muscle tear as possible, making way for growth. However, because of the exhausting nature of the exercise, it also prohibited me from doing full sets of 12, from that point on. The last exercise was one where I held dumbbells, leaning over with my legs completely straight. The weights are intended to hang, as if your arms are nothing more than straps. This exercise helps work your back, as well as stretch out your hamstrings. We had to cut this series short, as I would feel it in my lower back. This may be due to lack of lower back muscle, and fatigue from job related back stress.

The workout ended with 30 minutes on an elliptical machine.

Fitness Transformation 2010: DAY 1

Weight: 209.4 lbs/ 19.6 body fat*

*our scale measures body fat, however we question how accurate it is. Our daughter measured her body fat at school and our scale shows a 7 point difference, listing it on the heavy side. We can only assume it is different.

Monday, March 15th was the actual first day of our routine. I woke up and immediately needed to watch what I ate, and more specifically WHEN I ate. Nick (our personal trainer) instructed us to eat small portions, 2 1/2 hours apart. This helps speed up the metabolism, as your body utilizes the food that you give it, instead of storing it away for later use. As beneficial as that "storage" concept sounds, it really just translates to "fat". That is all fat is... it's our bodies way of storing energy for later use. Of course, with the eating habits that we have in our country, that "storage" never gets used. We just add to it. Hence, the importance of keeping portions small, and eating more times throughout the day. In essence, I may still eat the same amount...and the same foods (Nick said we didn't need to give up carbs, as carbs are needed for energy)... it's just spread out throughout the day.

Another important factor is that of drinking 170 ounces of water, each day. Technically, I am supposed to drink an ounce for every pound in my body. Being overweight, that is not an option. The consumption of water also boosts metabolism, and with cold water, helps the body burn calories. It takes energy to heat the water up to a temperature that is ideal for the bodies use. This, of all the factors involved with this regiment, is the toughest for me. I am a Letter Carrier, and spend most of my days outdoors. It is time consuming for me to go to the bathroom often, yet I find myself needing to go every hour... if not more.

Another important dynamic to my diet is that of making sure that I always have protein. We have a specific amount of protein that we need to consume with each meal (Tiffany has been told that she needs 17 grams of protein, I am currently unsure of my amount), and should actually have carbs, as well. The carbs are then used for energy, and the protein goes towards muscle growth. Without the carbohydrates, the protein would be used as energy. Make sense? Sure it does.

My meal breakdown on Monday was, as follows:

4 eggs, 2 slices of multi-grain toast.

2 pieces of string cheese and a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup

Almonds and small piece of lasagna

Another small piece of lasagna and more almonds

Banana and yet more almonds

Hamburger patty and corn

Post workout protein shake

For the workout routine, Nick concentrated on chest, shoulders and triceps. We utilized several machines and free weights. We did either 3 or 4 sets, often adding weight with each set. The goal was to fatigue the muscles to the point where they could not function. With the chest, we worked them for a solid 20 minutes (with 60 second breaks in between each set), after which Nick told me to do as many push ups as I could. I succeeded in doing five, the first attempt, and only made one the second attempt. My muscles were so fatigued that I couldn't even push myself up off the ground. I had to use other parts of my body to actually get up. I write this on Wednesday 3/17, and fortunately I don't feel too much pain. I attribute this to the fact that my upper body has had weight training, albeit unorganized and much less productive. At least those muscles have seen SOME action, however.

My routine for the evening ended with 30 minutes of fat burning cardio on the treadmill.