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!

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!

Do I Really Have to Eat Junk Food?

Yesterday I was under on my calories again.  I looked back through my log and made sure I had entered everything.  I was under 1200 calories for the day without exercise included.  I admit that I am not eating as much as I was before I started counting, but I seem to be a little more conscious as to what I am eating.

I think that adding a few snacks throughout the day may help me to not be as hungry and still eat enough calories.  I am thinking something along the lines of fruit, vegetables, or nuts.  I have also been really slacking on my water intake and I need to step that back up.

I didn't get a chance to go walking yesterday because we sat at the emergency room for a few hours.  (See my other blog Daddy To Be 2012)  Thankfully the weather looks good this weekend, so as long as we don't have any surprises, I'll be strapping on the running shoes!

I will be returning on Monday, wish me luck in my Daddy Weight Loss!

Completely Sore and Loving It!

After my long day at work yesterday, I went home to run a whole bunch of errands.  I stopped at the casino and had to park quite a ways away.  I got home and was completely exhausted.  Ashley and I stayed up until around midnight and then I was up to get ready around 5 AM this morning.  I'm not tired today, but my muscles are sore.

I didn't do so great on my calories yesterday, but it wasn't because I went over.  I was way under my calories for the day and I had only eaten about 1,000 calories total for the day.  From what I have read this is just as bad as eating too many calories, because it causes your body to go into "starvation mode."  I need to keep a closer eye on my calories throughout the day.

This morning when I was up early we watched some infomercials and I saw both the P90X and Insanity infomercials.  I know people personally that have had great success with P90X and I have only heard about people starting Insanity recently.  P90X requires a bit of money for equipment and a lot of time dedicated each day around an hour and a half.  Insanity requires around 40 minutes, don't quote me on this, each day.  I might look into something like this as it would give me more organization to my exercising.

Has anyone had any experience with either of these programs? (P90X or Insanity)  Until next time, the Daddy Weight Loss journey continues!

Calorie Counting: 15 Days and Still Counting!

Today marks 15 days of counting calories and I have only slipped up once.  I haven't been too active with the exercising portion, but I have been keeping busy with work and everything.  The weather here is getting up into the 60's (F) so we are getting back to walking/running tonight.

At work today I helped to unload a 53 foot trailer packed with semi tires.  I was absolutely beat afterwards, but I felt really good about it.  It was nice to get outside and work instead of sitting at a desk staring at a monitor all day.

I hurt my knee a little bit last week and I am really hoping that it doesn't bother me when I run.  That would push my efforts way back.  I will update you all if it bothers me or not tomorrow.  It is hard to explain what happened, but basically I fell around 15 feet and landed with my leg straight.  I was on equipment so think about if an elevator fell 15 feet and stopped abruptly.  It hasn't been hurting too bad today, but running might bother it.

See you all tomorrow!

Still on Track - Cocoa, Ice Cream, and Snacks

The title may be a little misleading, but I still managed to stay under my calorie goal while enjoying some treats.  I didn't plan on eating all of that, I was just really hungry.  I had a little bit of Chex Mix, about a half serving.  After the Chex Mix my sweet tooth went into overdrive and I had a half serving of ice cream with some peanuts.  Ashley had a craving for hot cocoa so she made some for both of us and it was really good!

I was pretty nervous when I went to add all of this to my calorie counter, but I came in with 61 calories remaining for the day.  I submitted my log for the day and the app told me I was still on track to lose 10 pounds in 5 weeks.  Yesterday also marked a milestone of being the 10th day in a row that I have logged calories.  Only slipping up once in the first 10 days is pretty impressive for me and I am very proud of myself.  I just need to get back to exercising as soon as the weather cooperates.  I am still doing my daily crunches and push ups, but we all know that I need some cardio in my life.  The weather forecast looks good for this weekend so maybe I'll be able to strap the running shoes on!

On a side note, I think baby weight loss sounds a little weird, so I am going to go with Daddy Weight Loss.

Buffet - Not All I Could Eat

We went to Ponderosa yesterday for Ashley's birthday with her family.  I was able to eat at the buffet and still stay within my calorie goal for the day.  I only had 50 calories left after the buffet, but I think I did pretty good.  Ashley had a coupon for her birthday so we got 2 orders of Sirloin Tips that I was able to eat today for breakfast and lunch, so that will help with today's calories.  After the buffet I decided to do some crunches and push ups, but instead just one set I did multiples.  I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but I am now doing push ups without having my knees down which is a big accomplishment for me.  I was able to do 11 during each set last night, which is 1 more than I can usually do.  Crunches burned a little bit more last night, but I was paying closer attention to technique and I could tell the difference.

I did a little posing in the mirror last night and I am really starting to see the effects.  My stomach seems flatter and my arms seem more defined.  I still have a long way to go, but these little motivations help quite a bit.  Operation baby weight loss is in full effect!

Huge Personal Milestone

Yesterday I continued counting calories and made absolutely sure I stayed up my calorie goal of 1780.  I managed to stay under even with a few extra snacks throughout the day, I was only under by about 80 calories at least I was under and not over.  Weight loss is my primary goal and I need to do everything I can to achieve that.

After work last night, I stopped over my parents house to pick up some food and decided to weigh myself while I was there.  Now just a little back story first, my lowest weight since graduating high school (2004) is 232.2 pounds.  This past summer/fall I was at around 248 pounds and due to a change at my job I dropped down to 235 pounds.  Well the change at my job has been reversed and I was just floating at 235 pounds and I knew it was the perfect time to get back down.

Back to my parents house, so I jumped on the scale and looked down and saw 232.2 pounds.  I was very excited and knew that my hard work was paying off.  I went to write down my weight and realized that last time I weighed I used the same scale but was only wearing underwear.  I stripped down to my underwear and jumped back on the scale, and what did I see?

228.6 pounds

I was absolutely ecstatic and couldn't believe my eyes.  In 8 years I haven't been this small.  The greatest part is for the past few days I have started to notice that I feel smaller, my stomach looks tighter, and I have more energy.  It is amazing to see that my hard work is really paying off!

Please let this motivate all of you out there, it is never too late to get into shape and anyone can do it.  I know this will certainly motivate me and give me that push that I really needed.

I finally slipped up...

I have been doing so well on my calorie counting and I figured I deserved a treat last night so I had some striped shortbread cookies.  My mistake was not looking at the serving size and bringing the whole box to the couch.  I ended up 850 calories over my goal for the day and I felt pretty crappy about it.  Don't worry though, it just fuels my motivation even more.  I just wouldn't have guessed that a serving size would be two tiny cookies, so now I am a little bit more alert to these types of things.

Count Calories on the Go with the MyFitnessPal.com Mobile App

MyFitnessPal.com Logo

I have never in my life counted calories and I never thought that I would.  I thought I was eating healthy, but I knew something must be wrong if I never lose weight.  As I mentioned before I started counting calories a couple days ago and I mentioned I was using an Android app to do so.  I am using MyFitnessPal.com's app to track my calories and exercise (Also available for iPhone and iPad).  

Example screenshot from app

Once you download the app, you will be required to create an account and fill in some personal details.  It asks for things such as age, weight, height, and daily activity level.  I believe it also asks how often you will be exercising.  Once completed with that it will ask what weight is your goal and how many pounds you wish to lose a week (within reason).  Finally, it will give you your recommended daily calorie allowance.

Now each time you eat, drink water, or exercise you pull out your phone and enter the details.  Exercises are pretty straightforward, for example you type push ups and hit search and then enter sets and reps.  If you search running it gives different speeds, but if you put strength training it will give sets, reps, and weight.  Exercises that burn calories will subtract from the food you have eaten for the day.  For example if you ate 1500 calories and went running and burned 500 calories, you would only have 1000 calories counted against your daily allotment.  MyFitnessPal does not count calories burned from weight lifting or strength training.

You can also add water which is just a nice way of keeping track of how much you drink each day.  Food is where the app really shines in that it is extremely easy and useful at the same time.  This morning I took a multivitamin, drank a low carb Monster, and ate a sausage and cheese muffin from Burger King.  While taking the multivitamin; I pulled out my phone, clicked on the app, hit add to diary, chose breakfast, and scanned the bar-code on the vitamin label.  The app scans the bar-code and puts the nutritional value into your diary.  I also did the same for my Monster, and searched for my breakfast sandwich.  Throughout the day you can look at your nutritional goals and see where you are in excess and where you are lacking.  MyFitnessPal.com states that they have nutritional details for over 1 million foods!  If you can't find something you can add custom entries and even recipes.

The first day of calorie counting I really thought I was doing great, but at the end of the day I noticed that I had consumed about 90g of sugar over top of my allowed total.  Yesterday, I had more cholesterol than I should have.  I can see where my vitamin deficiencies might be and when I don't have enough protein in my diet.  The app stores all of these details and you can look back and see what foods you might want to avoid next time.

The app and website (MyFitnessPal.com) have a plethora of other features as well, the biggest being a social network.  I don't use this yet, but I might look into it.  From MyFitnessPal's research, those with friends on the service tend to lose 3 times as much weight as those that don't.  This is because you are not only sharing these details with yourself, but also with others who can hold you accountable or motivate you.  The site has forums, chat, and blogs to help motivate and educate.  On the website you can also run reports on various things such as nutrition, fitness, and weight loss.

Example report of my net calories consumed

At the end of the day each day, you can close out your diary for the day.  At this point it posts to your "wall" saying that you finished your day and how you did.  My favorite part however, is that after you finish for the day it pops up and gives you an update.  It is along the lines of, if everyday was like today you will weight XXX.X pounds in X weeks.  Last night mine said that I will weigh 221.5 (from 235) in 5 weeks, even if those numbers aren't true, it sure is a great motivation.  I have noticed over the last 2 days that at night I feel like I should have a snack before bedtime, I fire up the app and think to myself is it really worth it?  I imagine in my head how that one snack every night could be an extra pound lost each week and I forget all about having a snack.

Example of what you see at the end of each day

All in all, I think that this will really help me to keep track of my weight loss and exercise.  You can never have too many tools for this type of thing.  It is the convenience for me that makes this a real winner in my book.  If you would like to join me on the site, my username is ryanlthornton.  The Android market and iTunes links are below.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.myfitnesspal.android

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/calorie-counter-diet-tracker/id341232718?mt=8