Pumped Up and Slimming Down

I want to apologize for not posting yesterday, but I was very busy.  On Tuesday night I finally set up my "gym" in the basement.  I have my weight bench, lat tower, and a carpeted area for floor exercises.  I put 50 lbs of weight on each piece of equipment as a starting point and it seems to be a good weight for me.  My exercise routine was:

• 40 jumping jacks
• 10 push ups (regular)
• 25 crunches
• Stretching

 3 full sets of the exercises below:

• Bench Press (shoulder width) - 12 repetitions - 50 lbs plus bar
• Lat Pulldown (wide grip) - 12 repetitions - 50 lbs total
• Dead lift - 12 repetitions - 50 lbs plus bar
• Barbel Curl (shoulder width) - 8 repetitions - 50 lbs plus bar

After 3 full sets, I did:

•   40 jumping jacks
• 10 push ups (knees down)
• 25 crunches

Every exercise was done slowly to pay close attention to form.  Once I get comfortable with each exercise, I will add more weight.  I am of the school that believes that proper form and motion is far more important than tons of weight or loads of repetitions.  After this workout I felt fantastic and really pumped up.  I listened to fast paced music and only took breaks between sets to stretch.  My muscles only started to fail right at the end while doing push ups, which is why I did them with my knees down.

Last night I walked/ran for 15 minutes early on in the night.  We went out and about and I did really good on calories and still managed to eat some frozen yogurt.  I tried "grazing" yesterday and ate small meals or snacks every 2 hours and it curbed my appetite tremendously.  Just before getting ready for bed, I took the bike out and went hard and fast for 15 minutes around the neighborhood (about  1.5 miles).  I would have gone further and longer, but my bike isn't working right.  I am hopefully taking it to the local bike shop this weekend, so that they can look it over.

Today so far I have tried going back to 3 square meals instead of grazing and it is terrible.  I think I might go to grazing completely.  Tonight I will be doing weight training once again and tomorrow will be the first day on a multivitamin.  Come back tomorrow for more about my Daddy Weight Loss journey!

2 Birds 1 Stone

Yesterday I had to go discuss some things about the house and the person I had to meet was going to be 2 miles away from my house.  I decided that it would be best to ride my bike over and kill 2 birds with 1 stone.  It was uphill on the way and I thought that I wasn't going to make it, but I did and it felt really good.  I got a chance to rest for a little bit and then started to ride home.  I went the wrong direction and had to turn back around.  I ended up taking the long way home and I rode as fast as I possibly could.  When I would get completely out of breath I dialed it back a little bit.

Once I found a good pace I kept it going the whole way home other than to stop for traffic.  I got home and put the bike away and walked around a little bit to cool down.  While I was cooling down my parents showed up to say hi and I went for another walk with my dad.  

I took a nice cold shower with the windows open and felt much better.  I checked my calories for the day and saw that I did really good!  I got the chance to go to bed early and I did and I feel great today!

The Daddy Weight Loss journey keeps on rolling and it is feeling great!

Motivation From God?

Disclaimer:

I try very hard not to be religious on my blogs because I want them to be appropriate for everyone.  I just couldn't pass up this opportunity. 

Yesterday I wasn't feeling the greatest after work and I was contemplating skipping my daily exercise.  Something kept nagging at me to get on the bike, ride, and push myself harder than I usually do.  After much hemming and hawing I jumped on my bike and headed out to the college which is about 5 blocks away.  I rode through the college and did a few laps around the parking lot.  Something urged me to not take the direct route home and go out and around the college and then through town.  I was pushing myself pretty hard and I thought I couldn't push anymore.

Then I saw it, it looked like garbage at first glance.  Something told me to stop and look.  On the side of the rode were 2 car seats.  Now I know that car seats aren't supposed to be reused and I completely understand why.  However, the bases on the car seats are the same ones that Ashley just ordered for the car seat we have.  

I rode as fast as I could home, probably faster than I have ever rode before.  I quickly put my bike in the shed and grabbed Ashley.  We jumped in my car and drove back over to the house with the car seats.  I went up and knocked on the door and nobody was home.  I loaded the car seats in the car and something told me that I needed to thank the people properly.  I left a note in the mailbox on the front of the house.

We drove home and made sure, but the bases do indeed fit our car seat!  The car seats seem to be fairly new so I may clean them up and possibly use one for my car.

What I took from this experience is that God is always listening and he always knows when you are going to give up.  He gave me incentive to keep on trucking and I can't thank him enough for that.  Maybe he reads me blog and knows that if I give up he has nothing to read everyday.  I will not accept that this was a mere coincidence and I hope that I do not offend anyone by feeling this way.  I just thought it was necessary to share as I am trying to lose weight to become a father.  Maybe this was a gift from above to help keep Daddy Weight Loss going!

Weigh In and a New Biking Buddy

After work yesterday, I stopped to pick up mail from my parent's house.  While there I decided to weigh in because this is the same time and same scale that I always use.  I stripped down and climbed on the scale and looked down...

226.4 Pounds!

It may not be quite 2 pounds lost per week, but I had a slow week last week as far as exercising is concerned.  This all adds up to 8.6 pounds lost since February 15th, which is a little under 2 pounds per week.  I could care less, I am ecstatic!  I haven't been giving it my all either, I only exercise about 15-20 minutes each day and I don't follow a specific diet.  I haven't really lifted weights and I still eat 3 big meals each day.  All of the things that I am not doing are for a reason.  When I hit a plateau I will use these other things to blow right past it.

• 45 minutes of exercise 5 days a week
• Still count calories but eat healthier foods
• Start weight lifting 3 days a week
• Eat smaller meals spread throughout the day

These are going to be my "plateau busters" and I think they will be pretty successful.  I won't lie my motivation grows exponentially each day, Ashley is starting to get annoyed with me admiring myself in a mirror.  I can see the differences and feel the differences and that makes it all worthwhile!

Last night I got an unexpected offer from someone to ride bikes with me.  Ashley offered out of the blue and her doctor said that it was okay as long as she doesn't push it.  We went for a short ride around the block and after we circled around she went home and I continued for another lap.  It was nice to have someone to talk to and it didn't feel like a workout.  After she went home I could really feel my heart pumping and the sweat dripping off of me, but I didn't notice when we were talking.  It is funny how the mind and body works.

The weather is wonderful and I will be out riding tonight after cooking "breakfast for dinner" for Ashley and I.  The Daddy Weight Loss journey is moving at a steady pace and I'm loving every minute of it!

Best Fat Burning Tool

Not the same bike, but similar

My father was nice enough to let me take his Fuji mountain bike home to use in my weight loss journey  (Thanks Dad!).  I loaded it up in my sister in law's jeep (Thanks Destiny!) and my brother dropped it off at my house (Thanks Jesse!).  I got the chance to ride it will my little sister Alley around my neighborhood on Saturday night.  We rode about 2 miles and went back home.  On Sunday I rode hard and fast for another 2 miles.

It is amazing how much of a workout I can get before getting too tired on a bike.  When running I get wore out before I even start to break a sweat.  After getting home last night I did 3 sets up push ups and crunches.  My body felt and looked tighter, I have more endurance, and I am even more energetic during the day.  Falling asleep after is also much easier than without exercise.  Bicycling is something that I have always loved which can't be said about running.  I live in a wonderful community that is very bike friendly with low traffic and plenty of sidewalks.

I was able to keep my calories in check all weekend without being too low.  I haven't had the chance to step on a scale since my last weigh in, but I am very excited to weigh in soon.  I don't like weighing in too often because it takes my motivation away if I don't see what I like.  For me the motivation comes from looking at my body in the mirror every few days.  I can see the little things that are changing and I can imagine how things will look in the coming months.

Daddy Weight Loss is still in full effect and before I know it Tobias won't be able to keep up with me!