Monday 1/28/2013

Phew, Today was a weird Monday for me. I’ve been having troubles settling down and falling sleep on Monday nights, but last night I was prepared. I downed 2 tylenol pm’s around 10pm to combat this problem and it worked like a charm. Today, I hit the gym well rested and I could FEEL it. I was fired up and ready to work, which is an odd feeling for me as of late, especially on a Monday! Don’t get me wrong, I’m never ‘I don’t wanna go’ about the gym, but normally I’m sore, achey and stiff. Not today though. As I got started on squats, they felt good. In fact, as I hit about 225 I had to mentally slow myself down so that I didn’t over do it. This all worked out well as I was able to get back to 265 on my squats, in my newer corrected/low form and it was good. In fact, I think I could have gotten at least one set at 275. I had my eye on Deadlift though.

The Deadlift…let me tell you, I am LOVING the deadlift these days! You see, I keep up with the starting strength threads and the general fitness threads around here and I see what everybody’s saying about lifting while eating at a deficit. They say you’re going to plateau when eating under calories, and I’m okay with that. The weight loss is still a higher priority than the muscle gain so if I lifting gains slow down? So be it. I’m no longer adding weight every work out, but i’m all right with that. If I’m stuck squatting 265 for awhile and benching 195 for months? Who cares, it’s still a hell of a lot better than what I was lifting before September! The Deadlift though…I”m still seeing significant gains in. I played it safe for a long time, a little bit scared of it. But it’s finally clicked and it’s growing quickly and I’m loving it. That’s what counts, yah?

On the weight front, mine’s starting to fluctuate. I weighed in at 251.4 on Saturday, but was at 255 this morning, despite being 300 calories on Saturday and Sunday. However, I had pizza on friday and movie theater popcorn last night, so I’m like…99% sure that’s all water bloat due to way to much sodium. Which is cool, it’ll flush out.

Oh yah, AND…I bought new shirts and a hoodie this weekend. I had to buy XL’s! /smug

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 2,984 pts Today
Barbell Squat:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 205 lb x 5 reps
- 225 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
- 265 lb x 5 reps
- 265 lb x 5 reps
- 265 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Bench Press:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 145 lb x 5 reps
- 155 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Deadlift:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 205 lb x 5 reps
- 225 lb x 5 reps
- 275 lb x 5 reps
- 305 lb x 5 reps
- 315 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Incline Bench Press:
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 115 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 135 lb x 5 reps
Dips – Chest Version:
- 10 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 10 reps || assisted || 85 lb
Weighted Hyperextension:
- 25 lb x 10 reps
- 25 lb x 10 reps
Weighted Decline Sit-Up:
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 15 reps
fito2sa

Friday 1/25/2013

It’s FRIIIIIIIDAY!

Well, my stress-er for the week, my dead vehicle ended up being comically easy to fix. I went from fearing a $1000 repair to…$139 repair. Can’t beat that, eh? All the same, I learned a valuable lesson in the last two days in that I now know I can properly handle stress! In the past, something like my truck dying would send me into an anxiety attack. When that anxiety would spike, I’d combat it with cigarettes and junk food. (If you look at my starting pics, you can tell I had a pretty big anxiety problem! ) These last two days though…I didn’t even think of cigs and chips. Instead, I got antsy waiting for lunch to roll around so I could go to the gym and burn off nervous energy. It felt great too!

This morning, the ‘official’ at home in my skivvies weigh in was 252.3, which means I’m at the end of my extra vacation poundage! Took a month, but eh….it was a good vacation. It also means things are moving rather well again too. I saw a 2 lb loss between last week and this week in the newly started weight loss group at work, and that’s with jeans & tshirt on too, so as Fonzie would say….”Ayyyyyy!” We’ll keep churning on in that direction, cause hot damn, let’s conquer the last half this journey!

The gym was good today for the most part. Was kind of spaced out due to mechanics calls, but it got done. I don’t think I’m going to see any gains in the OHP for awhile, those still feel pretty maxed out. I hear those don’t advance quest as much. I got back to my 255 lbs on the squat though, concentrating on getting lower and making sure I get parallel, so that’s pretty solid right there. I had to cut out the bro curls and skullcrushers this week due to running out of time, but again… accessory work, so nothing to lose sleep over!

The bad side to my workouts….I’ve gone another week without running. It’s just been too damn cold and I don’t have the cold weather gear (or the money to buy it) to make it comfortable. My goal this weekend is to get the treadmill back in from the garage that was relocated for holiday decorations and get in some time on that day to day. I’ll alternate that with the stationary bike at home too to boost the cardio back up. I want to be able to start piling on some miles again as soon as it climbs back up above 30!

This weekend is a cheat meal weekend too. It’s one of my goals with my health coach! Cheat meal every two weeks! She was smart enough to make it one of my goals too, because otherwise I’m far too bull headed and would NOT do it. I see pizza in my future and it looks glorious.

Later, gators!

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 1,713 pts Today
Barbell Squat:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 205 lb x 5 reps
- 225 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
Standing Barbell Shoulder Press (OHP):
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 115 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 135 lb x 5 reps
Bent Over Barbell Row:
- 70 lb x 5 reps
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 95 lb x 5 reps
Pull-Up:
- 5 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 5 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 5 reps || assisted || 85 lb
Lat Pulldown:
- 55 lb x 5 reps
- 70 lb x 5 reps
- 100 lb x 5 reps
- 120 lb x 5 reps
- 120 lb x 5 reps
- 120 lb x 5 reps
Weighted Hyperextension:
- 25 lb x 10 reps
- 25 lb x 10 reps
- 25 lb x 10 reps
Weighted Decline Sit-Up:
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 15 reps

Wednesday 1/23/2013

Well, that weekend stretched out a bit longer than I expected! Work was closed on Monday for the holiday and while I still had good intentions of driving over to the gym (it’s across the street from work, a good 30 min away)….I was warm at cozy and playing DmC on xbox, and was quite happy to be there. Tuesday was a no go too as the wife and daughter both have the flu, so I had to have another day off to get them to the Dr. and play nurse. Today though…I got back at it. And the getting was pretty good, I must say.

Wednesday has really been kind of a cluster…the fuel pump died on my Truck last night out of nowhere, so today’s been a mess of getting that looked at, over quoted and just general headaches. I got to the gym late, so I had to cut off my accessory lifts which I felt bad about. But they’re accessory lifts and I got some in, so who shives a git! I got the important stuff in. And I did them well! Today was the 2nd time I got 300 x5 on the deadlift, which blows my mind. This is officially 50 lbs over my body wait. Hot damn!

Speaking of body weight…I got on the gym scale today, which I don’t count as officially. The staff even says it hasn’t been checked in a while it’s mostly for tracking trends, not really to be considered accurate. I consider my morning fasting weigh ins at home to be official. That said, the trend on the gym scale was good. It was real good.

For the first time in this journey? I had to take the scale off the 250lb block.

Today, I was at 248.5 lbs! That is officially the lowest I’ve been on the gym scale!

Man, I can’t wait to weigh in in the morning.

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 2,402 pts Today
Barbell Squat:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 205 lb x 5 reps
- 225 lb x 5 reps
- 245 lb x 5 reps
- 245 lb x 5 reps
- 245 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Bench Press:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 145 lb x 5 reps
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Deadlift:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 205 lb x 5 reps
- 225 lb x 5 reps
- 275 lb x 5 reps
- 300 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Incline Bench Press:
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 115 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
Dips – Chest Version:
- 10 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 10 reps || assisted || 85 lb
Weighted Hyperextension:
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps
Weighted Decline Sit-Up:
- 10 lb x 15 reps

Wednesday 1/16/2013

Well here we on Wednesday. It’s been sort of a rough week. The Mrs. has had the flu and I’ve been concentrating on fighting it off myself so I haven’t gotten any runs in as of yet, which sucks. On top of that, the mental journey for the diet has been up and down all week as I continue to fight off the vacation weight gain. Some days I feel as if I’m just trucking along shoulder to the grind stone, some days I’m frustrated. Some days I’m worried I’m facing burnout and just spinning my wheels as if nothing’s happening. Most of the time, I then hit the guy, hit a PR on something and then I’m all pumped up and everything’s good again! Bottom line? Plateau’s suck but, all you can do is muscle through it.

Tomorrow starts the 4th round of my weight loss good. I’m actually looking forward to it as I haven’t seen my coach since before Christmas and the groups make me feel accountable for all the weight stuff. Plus, this will be a maintenance group so I’ll get a chance to air some of the frustrations I’ve had here as of late and get them off my chest. Plus, I have my first one on one with my coach for the year, so we can take a closer look at this roller coaster attitude I’ve had here as of late and get my head on straight. She’s usually pretty good at talking me down off the frustration ledge, so I’m looking forward to it!

On a better note, lifting tonight was a mixed bag! I was able to get one working set at 205 on the bench press, but it didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. My shoulder was feeling a bit ‘crunchy’ though it didn’t hurt, but my right shoulder felt a bit week. I dialed it back to 195 and was struggling (my former normal work weight) but I know it was because I was spent on the 205. All the same…I got 205 x 5! I really can’t argue with that! The real magic was my deadlift though. I’ve been feeling my oats on the deadlift here as of late. I got to 275 last Friday and repeated it tonight. I felt get after that 275 though so I figured the hell with it, let’s see what happens at 300. When I got down thee for my first rep, I half expected it to not even get off the floor, but it came up. It came up well too, so I kept going. 300 x 5 blew my mind. Not too shabby for 18 weeks of work and considering I was a fat shlub before that!

All in all, a good night. Tomorrow I’ll get my head on straight with the health coach and we’re going to start kicking the shit out of sub 250. And it’s gonna be gooood.

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 2,792 pts Today
Barbell Bench Press:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 145 lb x 5 reps
- 155 lb x 5 reps
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 205 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
- 135 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Squat:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 205 lb x 5 reps
- 225 lb x 5 reps
- 245 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Deadlift:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 205 lb x 5 reps
- 225 lb x 5 reps
- 275 lb x 5 reps
- 300 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Incline Bench Press:
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 115 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
Dips – Chest Version:
- 10 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 10 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 10 reps || assisted || 85 lb
Weighted Ball Hyperextension:
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps
Weighted Decline Sit-Up:
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 15 reps
fito2sa

Friday 1/11/2013

So here we are on Friday. My weight is sticking like crazy, which sucks. But..not going to beat myself up over it. It is what it is! All the same, I can see changes in my body composition, so all is well. I’m starting to get…dare I say…muscles, which is kind of cool, if I do say so myself! (And I do say so myself!) I was hoping to push on for day 6 of running in a row, but I think I’m going to make a judgement call and nix that run for today. Saturday was a scheduled rest day all the same and frankly…I’m beat. My legs are sore plus today was a squat/deadlift day, so why push it when I’ve had a pretty stellar workout week already.

Today’s workout was pretty great. Took longer than I Wanted, but I officially started a working set in squats that is over my body weight, and I set a new Deadlift PR with 275! Can’t beat that! Plus, I think if I’m feeling good next week, I’m going to take a crack at 205 on the bench press as well. 195 feels pretty good now, so time to push I think!

As I said, Saturday’s a rest day and boy am I looking forward to it. I’ve got that deep set tiredness setting in on the old ‘bod and sleeping in tomorrow morning’s going to feel fantastic. Granted, my version of sleeping in is only until about 8:30am, but it still beats 5:30am! Sunday’s turning in to a busy day with 2 podcast recordings on the slate now, but I still plan on getting a long run in there as well. I’m going to shoot for 5 miles and see what happens!

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 2,371 pts Today
Barbell Squat:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 205 lb x 5 reps
- 225 lb x 5 reps
- 245 lb x 5 reps
- 265 lb x 5 reps
- 265 lb x 5 reps
- 265 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Bench Press:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 145 lb x 5 reps
- 155 lb x 5 reps
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Deadlift:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 205 lb x 5 reps
- 225 lb x 5 reps
- 275 lb x 5 reps
Dips – Chest Version:
- 10 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 10 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 10 reps || assisted || 85 lb
Weighted Hyperextension:
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps
Weighted Decline Sit-Up:
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 15 reps
EZ-Bar Curl:
- 50 lb x 12 reps
- 50 lb x 12 reps
Lying Barbell Triceps Extension (“Skullcrusher”):
- 50 lb x 12 reps
- 50 lb x 12 reps

Thursday 1/10/2013

So last night I got out for my run after work. The weather had warmed considerably and the snow had started to melt, so it was all in all rather nice! My legs felt were a bit sore for the first part of the run, the loosened up well. About the time I hit the 3 mile mark though, they turned to lead and really started to become achey as I went. I got my miles in though and after I got home and stretched out well, they were all right. That was day 4 of my attempted 6 days straight, so I was pretty excited to see that I could do it, even after squats. Today, I woke up pretty tired and I think I may have a bit of a cold bug, which would suck. I drugged up though and so far, so good. The snot went away at least! I’m still feeling pretty beat and I have been positively RAVENOUS all day, which is odd for me! My breakfast has changed up a bit today; same amount of calories, maybe not quite as much protein, but other wise it’s all been the same. I’m hoping that this is a sign that the ‘bod is starting to gear back up and screaming for fuel! I saw a bit of a drop on the scale this morning, so maybe so.

At lunch today, despite being pretty tied and feeling a bit under the weather, I hit the treadmill at the gym for two easy miles (it wasn’t actually as slow as run keeper states in there, I had a cooldown mixed in with that time) to make sure I hit day #5 of my 6 day hopes. I didn’t feel like running too much more on my sore legs, but the bike seemed reasonable, so I jumped on that for a bit. I used to ride the stationary bike pretty heavily back when I started this journey, so it was kind of cool to jump back on today to see home much my output’s changed since then. In the end, I burnt some calories, felt a bit spent and again…REALLY hungry! I supplemented my typical packed lunch with 2 hard boiled eggs for some protein and a 100 calorie cookie pack for this afternoon. That should help, plus i’ll still hit all my numbers.

Tomorrow’s plan a day at the gym, so more squats and bench press followed by day #6 in my running attempt. I think it’s quite doable, though this cold bug feeling worries me, so I’ll be sure to drug up some more tonight. I’m thinking soaking in a hot bath will help as well! This weekend, I plan on sleeping in good and late on Saturday and doing little else physical wise, (aside from walking the dog that is). Sunday is more podcast recording in the early morning, then I”m going to see if I can hit a 5-6 mile run to kick off the next week!

That’s all for now, I could sure go for a nap.

Here’s a two parter for ya…

Wednesday 1/9/2013

Running:
- 0:38:54.2 || 3.7 mi || 10:32.9 min/mi
- http://runkeeper.com/user/CinemaFromage/activity/140952923
fito2sa

Thursday 1/10/2013

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 411 pts Today
Cycling (stationary):
- 0:20:00 || 7.1 mi || 21.3 mph
- http://runkeeper.com/user/CinemaFromage/activity/141115070
Running (treadmill):
- 0:28:51 || 2.1 mi || 4.3 mph
- http://runkeeper.com/user/CinemaFromage/activity/141108969
- Comment Share
fito2sa

Wednesday 1/9/2013

Hey, I feel like a living human being today, which is more than I can say for yesterday! On Monday night, I got very little sleep. It was for stupid reasons (read: I’m a Notre Dame fan) and well…I was upset and wound up. So Monday night clocked roughly 3 hours of sleep. I got my run in yesterday and had a podcast to record last night and by the time that was done, I was spent. I made sure to get my stretches in then hit the sack early. Boy did I sleep. It was a good sleep too, deep, sound and long! I woke up this morning feeling completely recharged and ready to kick ass and take names, so that was awesome. I even woke up without the self doubt I had on Monday, with just a hint of frustration with myself for having to work off this vacation weight.

So far, 2013 is going well. I’ve got 3 straight days of running in and this evening, I’m hoping for a fourth. I did squats today, so it may not be a super long one, but I’ll get some miles in there all the same. As for weights, the workout went quite well though I dropped a rep on my Over Head Press, but I’ll attribute that to the poor sleep on Monday and still being a bit tight from starting back up last week.

Today I went back to squats, where I was trying to cut them back to once a week before. The thing is…I really kind of miss squats. They make me feel strongest out of all of them since it’s working legs/but/core a.k.a. the works. Plus, I’d really love to squat 300 lbs, just to say I did. My worry is how it’ll affect the running. With the way I was rotating the squats with deadlifts, this left me with back/chest day with no leg workout. I’m thinking this isn’t great. So, I’m just going to try rotating squats and deadlifts every workout. I’m thinking it’s important to have legs in there every workout, especially since I want to be some sort of runner, so we’ll try that out for a bit.

Finally, I”m just now starting to feel like I’m getting back to that well oiled machine status of my diet and exercise routine after the holiday break. I’ve had to fight off urges a lot even when eating clean and such, but that’s finally starting to subside. That helps to off set the self doubt I was suffering and finally feels like I’m getting back down to business. If I could just work off those extra vacation pounds, we’d be set! It’ll get there though, I just have to be patient. My Weight Loss group is starting up next week, so that will be a big motivator to get back into gear as well. It was kind of cool today too, as I’ve been re-posting these little blog entries on my corporate fitness site as well, and our HR department emailed me today to see if they could use a quote from my stuff about the weight loss program here to celebrate their first year with the on site clinic. That’s pretty awesome as well, considering that I moonlight as a podcast/blogger/writer!

Happy day, amazing what a good night’s sleep will do!

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 1,753 pts Today
Barbell Squat:
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 205 lb x 5 reps
- 225 lb x 5 reps
- 245 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
Standing Barbell Shoulder Press (OHP):
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 115 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 135 lb x 5 reps
Bent Over Barbell Row:
- 70 lb x 5 reps
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 95 lb x 5 reps
Lat Pulldown:
- 55 lb x 5 reps
- 70 lb x 5 reps
- 85 lb x 5 reps
- 100 lb x 5 reps
- 100 lb x 5 reps
- 100 lb x 5 reps
Pull-Up:
- 5 reps || assisted || 100 lb
- 5 reps || assisted || 100 lb
- 5 reps || assisted || 100 lb
Weighted Hyperextension:
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps
Weighted Decline Sit-Up:
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 15 reps

Tuesday 1/8/2013

Here’s a thing. I had a crap night and I’m pretty exhausted and well…just not feeling it tonight. More tomorrow maybe.

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 184 pts Today
Running:
- 0:22:42.8 || 2.1 mi || 10:44.7 min/mi || flat
- http://runkeeper.com/user/CinemaFromage/activity/140605819

Monday 1/7/2013

Here we are on Monday. The workouts were good, both running and lifting wise. Yet, I still find myself filled with self doubt and loathing. My weight’s still up from my vacation excess, which sucks, but I have to remind myself it’s not the end of the world. I’ve been through this before and it always works out. It’s always hard to deal with the self doubt when it arises though. What this really needs to be is a lesson in that the old ways are still lying latent in the background and should be treated as proof that it’s easy to fall off the wagon. While I’ve been doing good since the vacation, I did snack more than I should have this weekend, unfortunately. I’ve got the taste for salty and sweet snacks and it’s been a challenge to fight off those cravings once again. I think it’s time to stock up on some chewing gum again, as that’s what helped me fight off the cravings in the beginning.

To think on the positive side for a change, my run felt really good today, so that’s a plus. As I said yesterday, I’d really love to start getting in some daily mileage 6 days out of the week, but those 18 degree mornings make it tough. Tomorrow will be tough to get out there too as my daughter starts back to school after break, so there will be total chaos for a bit. However, if I save the run for post chaos since I’m working at home on Tuesday, it will probably help with the de-stressing!

My bench press is coming along quite well; 195 went up really smoothly until the 5th rep of the 3rd set, which is to be expected. I have have Bench Press in my rotation twice this week, so I think next week, I will go for 205. Pretty certain I can do it! I cut squats today and got back to deadlift which I haven’t done for nearly 3 weeks and it felt great. It still felt good at 255 where I left off last, so here’s hoping I can still walk tomorrow! Today, I started adding in negative pullups as that’s one of my goals for the new year; to be able to do an unassisted pull-up. I hear that’s a great way to build them up. It felt goofy, and I only got 5, but hey…better than nothing!

Tracked a Workout for 1,979 pts Today
Running:
- 0:37:49 || 3.6 mi || 10:34.1 min/mi || flat

Barbell Deadlift:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 205 lb x 5 reps
- 225 lb x 5 reps
- 245 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps

Barbell Bench Press:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 145 lb x 5 reps
- 155 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps

Barbell Incline Bench Press:
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 115 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps

Dips – Chest Version:
- 8 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 10 reps || assisted || 100 lb
- 10 reps || assisted || 100 lb

Weighted Hyperextension:
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps

Weighted Decline Sit-Up:
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 12 reps

Sunday 1/6/2013

Sunday, the start of a new week! I haven’t ran for a week due from soreness from the squats, but today everything was moving well and the pace dialed in quite nicely. This week I hope to start getting in daily miles (6 days out of the 7 at least) so I can really improve my base mileage, so we’ll see how that goes. The weight lifting is still progressing nicely, though I’m starting to get bored of Starting Strength, so it might be time to look for another program. Alfalfa’s programs look good, I may go for something more aesthetic building vs. power lifting base for a good 12 weeks as the weight starts to get closer to goal. It’d be nice to look all studly and stuff when I got down to 200 lbs!

Today I updated my running log which I haven’t done for a bit. I was able to finish December at 43 miles total. This was an increase over November’s 35 miles, so good good. I haven’t seen another month like August where I hit 65 miles, but I see that returning when the weather turns warm! What really blows my gourd is that I ran a total of 292 miles for 2012! Considering I was a 350 lb blob back in February who had a hard time walking up stairs, this is mind blowing. I started running in July of 2012, and wound up at 292 miles. With an extra 6 months to run in now, I think I can easily top 500 miles for 2013 and if I push myself, I can cross the 600 mile marker! In fact, I think that’s a long term goal; run 600 miles in 2013. How about them apples?

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 350 pts Today
Running:
- 0:37:20.2 || 3.5 mi || 10:32.8 min/mi || flat
- http://runkeeper.com/user/CinemaFromage/activity/140122813
fito2sa

Hey, remember me?

The holiday’s over and with it, so is my vacation! That means back to the gym, back to the regular runs, back to the food logging, back to the weight loss. I’ll be honest; as much as I enjoyed my week and a half of not thinking about weight loss? It feels good to be back. Which is something I never thought I’d hear myself saying!

I didn’t eat well over my vacation. It’s okay though. I’ve been grinding on my food log and calorie cutting pretty hardcore since February, so I think the brief break was well needed. Let’s face it, a week off isn’t going to destroy what I’ve made here. I’m hoping it’ll jump start the system though and prepare it to jump into this next 50 lb leg of the weight loss journey. What it did do is confirm the idea to myself that crappy food? It makes me feel pretty crappy. While I enjoyed the snacks and munchies and beer, I found myself last night kind of looking forward to getting back to my healthy diet again back into the routine. My energy levels were starting to sag a bit, I felt bloated and just not quite as ‘machine’ like and just plain off.

Today though, I was up early and ready to hit the bricks. I got my lunched packed and everything’s back to the tightly running ship it once was and it feels good. I was a bit apprehensive to head to the gym today; while I did run over vacation, I didn’t lift at all. So, I was expecting a loss in gains and a lot of soreness. What I got was a bit more work to lift where I left off at before the holiday but I got it. I wasn’t in terrible pain either! Another little personal lesson learned!

In the end, this past week left me pretty bloaty and up about 5 pounds, which I’m really not concerned with. I think the mental break was needed since I’ve been at it for 10 months. Plus, I know this is all water and bad food weight, so it will come off quick! For this week, I’m going to concentrate on just getting back in the groove. I’m look at running on the treadmill tomorrow, Plan B in the weight room on Friday and a long run on Saturday!

Feels good to be back!

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 1,918 pts Today
Barbell Squat:
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 205 lb x 5 reps
- 225 lb x 5 reps
- 245 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Bench Press:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 145 lb x 5 reps
- 155 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Incline Bench Press:
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 105 lb x 5 reps
- 115 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
Dips – Chest Version:
- 10 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 9 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 10 reps || assisted || 85 lb
Weighted Hyperextension:
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps
Weighted Decline Sit-Up:
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 10 reps