Getting Stronger Everyday

Recumbent Stationary Bike

Thanks to my wonderful grandfather, I will have an exercise bike tonight like the one shown above.  He is letting me borrow it for as long as I need it.  This will be great to have on days when for one reason or another I can't go out on my real bike.  My plan is, as funny as this sounds, to put the bike in the living room so that I can ride while playing video games.  This will make it convenient, so that I can't make excuses to not exercise but still play video games.  It will also be nice once Tobias is here, on days when I need to stay in the house and keep an eye on him.

I did a session of weight lifting last night and I pushed myself a little harder this time.  I was completely wore out after I was done, but started to feel better after a little cool down and rest. My routine last night was:

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

• Bench Press (shoulder width) - 12, 10, 10 repetitions - 60 lbs plus bar
• Lat Pulldown (wide grip) - 12, 12, 12 repetitions - 60 lbs total
• Barbel Curl (shoulder width) - 8, 8, 8 repetitions - 50 lbs plus bar

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

If you notice, I did raise my bench press and Lat Pulldown by 10 pounds each.  My Lat Pulldowns were still fairly easy, but my shoulders started to go into failure on the bench press.  My barbel curls are getting better, but are still tough to do.  The push ups before and afterwards were easier than last time and I didn't have to put my knees down.  My crunches felt like they weren't doing anything, but my jumping jacks tore up my calves.  I did skip deadlifts this time because I had done some lifting at work and my back needed the rest.

I feel stronger than I ever have before, which is odd because I have done much heavier lifting in previous weight loss attempts.  To me it isn't how much I can bench press, but real life situations that I use to gauge my strength.  I lifted a ladder today that I have lifted a handful of times before, but today I didn't struggle to carry it like I have before.  To me my biceps and triceps feel bigger and stronger and my weak shoulders are starting to carry their own weight.

The greatest part is that people have started noticing the changes in my body and I am more than happy to accept the compliment.  What I love is when people ask how much I lost and I saw just a little under 11 pounds, they stare and can't believe that is all I lost.  It really feels good to surprise people!  With the countdown to Ashley's due date just under a month now, the Daddy Weight Loss journey is still going full speed ahead!

Extremely Hungry After Strength Training

To begin, I did great on my calories yesterday, but I decided I would like to try grazing over an extended period of time.  When I got home I went through my strength training routine again.  For those that don't remember it 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

All of the weight and repetitions remained the same, but I did feel a little stronger this time.  I worked through the routine faster, but still did each exercise slow and precise.  I took shorter breaks and managed to get the whole routine done in about 20 minutes.  My muscles felt more pumped up than last time and I could feel more results this morning.  I also noticed that my muscles are starting to show more and I am open to the fact that this could merely be a placebo effect.

Now the real problem, after my workout I was starving!  I had some water and felt a little better so I went to sleep.  When I woke up this morning I was a lot hungry than I usually am.  I realized after eating breakfast that I was still hungry.  Luckily for me I was able to get my hands on a protein bar and after eating it, I was no longer hungry.  I can only assume that my body was begging me for protein and I haven't been ingesting enough.  Today is my cardio day, but depending on my choice either Saturday or Sunday will be my strength day.  I will try eating some protein before my workout and see if that helps.  If not I will try to eat some protein after my workout.  I need to find a low calorie, high protein item that I can have on-hand for strength days.

Tomorrow, I will have a post up about strength training calories and MyFitnessPal.  I will be weighing myself tonight and I will post my updated weight on Monday when I start blogging again.  If you notice the widget at the top right, you will see that it says I have lost 9 pounds.  This will be updated tonight, but I will officially post my weight on Monday.  Tune in next week to read about my first full week of exercising for Daddy Weight Loss!

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!

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!

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

A little nervous...

My back in the mirror

Okay, so I have finally manned up.  I never planned on putting pictures on here, but I was thinking last night that it would be a great way to show my progress.  Also, it is hard for all of the readers out there to imagine what I look like.  My starting weight was 235 pounds in these pictures, my goal is to weigh in at 150 pounds.  

 My side

I started using an app called MyFitnessPal for my android phone to count calories.  At first I just want to use it for a baseline to see where I am at and where I need to be.  The app says that for me to lose 2 pounds per week that I will need to consume 1780 calories daily.  I had a low carb Monster energy drink and a banana for breakfast, I currently have 1650 calories remaining for the day.  I think that tracking my caloric intake might be the best way for me to concentrate on a diet, so once I am comfortable with counting calories I will start taking it serious.

 My thigh

Ashley really helped to motivate me last night.  I got home from work and we were both hungry so she made a nice salad and I cooked steaks on the grill.  After dinner she walked with me around the block and then I ran 2 laps around "my track."  After running I did a few exercises in the house:

 Me flexing

• 30 push ups
• 30 crunches
• 15 jumping jacks
• 15 barbell curls (60 lbs)
• 15 dead lifts (150 lbs)
• 15 barbell shoulder press (60 lbs)

 My calf

It has been along time since I have worked out like this and it feels amazing.  I actually broke a sweat while running and maintained momentum while lifting weights.  I don't feel too sore this morning, but I can feel in my muscles that I worked out yesterday.

 My front

Things are really coming together for my weight loss journey and I am hoping that I find success at the end of the tunnel.  The people around me and the people that read this blog are really what keep me going.  The thought of becoming a father is really my biggest motivation, I want to be a role model to him in more ways that one.

 My back while flexing

I will go for a walk tonight for sure and probably do some push ups and crunches.  I don't want to push myself too hard and burn out before it begins.