New Challenges, New Program, starting stats and pics!

So, as I said in my last post, I decided to start P90x in the morning. I have been doing Power 90 and Power 90 Master series for the last 65 days and the goal was to get myself ready for P90x and I decided to go for it now. I joined the Tom Venuto Burn the Fat Challenge for the Summer and I figured what the hell, lets get out of my comfort zone and go for broke.

Here is where I am starting:

Starting Stats:

height 5’9
weight 208.9
bf% 28.3 (bf scales)
fat weight 59.1
lean weight 149.8

waist 43 inches
chest 45 inches
arms 14 1/8 and 14 3/8 (l and r)
legs 25 25
calves 15 6/8 16
neck 16 5/8

I am excited to make the jump and I am confident in my decision. For nutrition I will be staying with Weight Watchers, as I enjoy that method of eating. I may not be able to do every workout perfectly, but I will do it to the best to my ability. It starts in the morning.

Weight watchers week 10 Review

Well the week started off sketchy, with hurting my neck getting into my car of all things last Saturday, re-agrivating a very old injury but I had another solid week just the same. On the side there you can see all my weight watchers weighins. Those are taken each Saturday morning in the same clothes at 9:30 am. That is my “official weight” as far as the blog is concerned (210.6) . This am just after getting up, in just boxers I was 208.4lbs on my scale! Lightest I have seen in years! Also I am now down nearly 8 inches off my waist. I am comfortably in size 36 pants, where 10 weeks I was stretching the seams of 42 inch pants. I bought a new belt 2 weeks ago, and have already moved 2 knotches on it. Things are going great!

Here’s today’s pics:

The Pic on the left was 10 weeks ago today, and the other this am.

Eager to begin the next phase!

So tomorrow I start phase 2 of this latest journey.  I am ready to go, prepared to make this the best 3 months (plus a week or so) I have had yet, in my long and winding fitness road.  I managed to tweak something in my upper back, but I don’t seem to be do limited by it.  I am of course being VERY careful, as I have had enough injuries, and such over the last few years, I don’t want a minor nuisance to turn into something substantial. 

I am calling this Day 0 of this new, summer 2010 challenge.  As I stated yesterday, I will essentially be continuing on with Power 90 and Power 90 Master Series past the initial 90 days ( I am on day 49 since starting Power 90 today) through 150 days.  So really the only real change is I am adding 60 days to Power 90.    I think this is my best option in kicking butt with P90x when I start it.  I am in this for the long haul, striving to make these habits I have developed over the last 10 weeks or so a lifestyle change, rather another one of my half hearted attempts.

Weigh in at Weight Watchers went well this morning, I weighed in at 212.2 down another 1.4 lbs from last week.  I have been a little slack in writing down my points for Weight Watchers as late, and Starting tomorrow morning I will be diligent through the 100 days of this challenge of marking down EVERYTHING that passes through these lips through the summer.

Through out the challenge I will be taking lots of pics, some videos and will be posting minimally 5 days a week for accountability.  I posted my goals yesterday and I am going to work really hard to achieve them all.  I feel they are challenging yet attainable, and goals that get me fired up !  I believe I mentioned in the past few days that exercising to “feel better” or to “look better” while true, and something I want, doesn’t start that fire under me to get it done. 

I will take starting measurements tomorrow morning, and will be taking the P90x fit test on days 25,50,75, 100 to measure progress.  I think this 100 day private challenge will keep me focused through the summer, when barbeques, get together’s, poker nights etc are tempting me at every turn.  I will not be a monk through the summer, I will still have the occasional beer, but I have solid goals I want to accomplish and will do what it takes to hit them!

Here is my weekly progress pic after two months and two days since I started weight watchers:

Starting Measurements are coming tomorrow. 

First weekly weigh in that I went up

Well it was bound to happen sooner or later.  This week I went up slightly less than 1 pound.  No excuses, it is what it is.  I was a little “off” this week in attitude and with my exercise and eating.  I stayed within my points every single day, and exercised, but I admit that my exercise intensity was not where it should have been.  And the results for the week are where they should be.  I will make it up this coming week.

I got the date wrong on the picture, that was taken this morning April 17th. 

End of week 4 weight watchers results and progress pic

Well just got back from another weekly weight watchers meeting and weigh in.  The place was packed!  Not a seat left in the place, but sadly I think there was only two of us men.  I had another good week on the scale, dropping another 2.6 pounds.  I am happy with that.  My goal is to maintain a 2-3 lbs loss a week, and so far through 4 weeks I am averaging 3 so I will take it.  I reached two Weight Watcher milestones this morning, have lost 5 percent of my weight and down 10 pounds thus far.

It was not an easy week, first full week back at work, a 48 hour return of my headaches, and my first cravings in a month, but I struggled through and did my best.  I was telling a coworker if I had eaten this “clean” and exercises this much 15 years ago, I would be down 30 lbs easy.  But I do not have the metabolism I did when I was 20, and I was not on medication for blood pressure and other stuff then either.  Be here now.  I am doing well, progressing , and by inch or mile I will get where I want to go.

Now off to do some dishes and stuff before the boss gets home and get ready to watch some golf and go play poker with my friends.  I will be having a couple beer this afternoon, but will stay within my daily weight watcher points.

Oh forgot to add, need to poke a hole in a belt that I have been wearing for 5 years and at one point this year, I thought was going to be too small!  It’s coming.  The scale doesn’t tell the whole story.  The pic below is my weekly progress pic, and its a little decieving because my arms are a little flailed there, and not straight down at my side.  But I’ll take the visual progress!

Week 3 WW progress and pics

Just got back from my Weight Watchers meeting and can say goodbye to another 3.0 lbs. I am under 220 pounds now and I don’t plan on going back. It was a stressful week, with losing a pet, getting the stomach flu and returning to work, but I made it through the week with some progress to show for my troubles!

Along with being down 3 pounds, I am under 44 inches on my waist. That brings that up over 4 inches lost on my waist so far. I am looking back at some measurements stats I kept over many false attempts in 2009 to lose weight and the last time I measured my waist and found sub 44 inches was May 25th, 2009. So I am really happy about that. I am very happy with my progress so far and I am very happy with Weight Watchers through 3 weeks. It is something that I feel I can maintain and I am off to a good start in making lifestyle changes rather than yet another diet.

I have already gotten my Power 90 workout in this morning, and I am going to get off the computer and go tidy up the kitchen and then head outside in the, get this, SUN!  lol.  I will be back later today.

Weight Watchers week 2 report

Well today I went for my third weight watchers meeting and my 3rd weigh in. The verdict is I am down 0.4 pounds.

I did not expect to be down much if at all this week. I am not upset about it, it is what it is. I am happy with my eating this week as far as food choices. I have not eaten enough weight watchers points this week. I struggle to get to 28 points each day and I am supposed to be eating 34. I am happy with my food choices though as I have been eating proper portions of meat, eating fish and eating salads. This was unheard of for me before.

As I mentioned, I did not get in as much exercise this week as I did in week 1. I was walking many days in week 1 for 2.5 hours or more broken into 3 short walks. With the weather and stuff this week I did not get in as much walking, only hitting 10,000 steps on my pedometer 1 day, where last week, I averaged nearly 13 500 steps a day.

I am not discouraged, or mad about it. This week I will lose more. I am starting Power 90 tomorrow, and I will get in my walks. I am returning to work hopefully Friday. I started a new medication this past week so maybe that had something to do with it, I am not sure. I am encouraged by my eating and I really like the weight watchers plan. You can make it as successful as you choose to in my opinion, and I am almost certain I will be staying on it far longer than the 12 weeks I prepaid for it.

I did not weigh in at all this week, and for me at least I think that hindered me a little. A lot of people become slaves to the scale, and get to confident when down, to discouraged when up. I am pretty good of using it for what it is a tool to see where I am. I don’t get to bent out of shape either way about it. So I will weigh myself a couple times through the week as a progress report.

My waist measurement didn’t move this week either. I think that the fat I have gained over the past few years is going to be stubborn. I gained it over a period of years, its not going to go easily. I can easily gain 10 pounds in a week or so, and of course as we all know losing that same 10 can be a much harder proposition. A blogging friend of mine used to blog about weight watchers years ago ( I have lost touch with her) but she talked about something that has stuck with me. She didn’t talk about “losing the weight” but rather about “releasing the weight”. I always liked that way at looking at it. I have built up a wall of fat on my body as a defensive mechanism of sorts. I make fun of myself and call myself fat etc and make myself the butt of jokes and kind of just fell into a huge rut. I am ready now to “release” this weight. To let it go. I know if I keep on plan eating wise, safely up my activity levels, the weight will go. It has no choice. It may put up a fight, but it will go. It will have no choice.

What I did well this week:
-food choices were good, portions what they should be
-kept track of every morcel of food with the weight watchers online tracker
-started power 90 workouts on thursday
-kept a positive attitude

What I can do better this coming week
-Start 90 days of Power 90 tomorrow (Sunday)
-more water
-get all my points in each day
-more walks, aiming for 10,000 steps a day
-get food accounted for earlier in day so that I can plan what I eat better

This weeks comparison picture

progress:

weight: down 0.4 pounds
waist: remained same

blood pressure today: 132/96

Day 9, House keeping, odds and ends

Well if you are not stumbling on this page for the first time you see the look and feel of the blog has changed. In the early days of this blog this may happen alot while I find my way around the new abilities of blogger. The new template features are great! I am still tweeking the blog to find something I like and I will keep changes to a minimum as I fiddle with it.

I will keep this post short and will be back later with a longer update. I was looking at this blog just a little while ago and noticed my week 1 in review post didn’t post last night when I actually posted it and was stuck in draft so i just got it submitted now (1 o’clock Sunday). I was playing with the look and feel of the blog as I was saying and must have clicked the wrong button somewhere along the way. You can see that I posted my comparison pic. Yuuuuuuck! However every Saturday morning after I weigh in I will do this til I hit goal. So for all you photoshop fiends out there who have an axe to grind with me, well every Saturday you will have a fresh new pic to embarrass me with.

As I was saying yesterday, posting these pics give me an added layer of accountability. Embarrassing at first? Darn right. But as the months go buy, and the pounds and inches come off, I hope to provide a little inspiration/motivation to someone out there to undertake their own transformation, or journey to improve their health. If just one person is moved to do this, well, I’ll live with the less than flattering pictures.

Anyway I am on my way out to get some fresh air. I don’t have any steps on the old pedometer yet today and its already one o’clock. I have a bit more of a headache today than I did yesterday. My blood pressure last night was 140/100. That has been my baseline for almost 3 weeks now. Some spikes higher, and some fleeting moments lower, but that’s about where I have been. I will give it a couple days and get it checked again. Talk to you soon…..

Where I am starting

Tuesday morning

Things are going pretty well. I am getting into a groove and have been done my workout by 8:30 am every day for the last week and a half, with being done my workout by 6:30 am the last two days. I like getting my workout in first thing in the morning, as it leaves no chance for life to get in the way, or for excuses later in the day.

I have been fighting the same fitness battles for years and years. I grew up playing every sport going, and have been in and out of the gym for 25 years. My goals currently are vastly different than what they once were. I grew up wanting to be Arnold Schwarzenegger but now simply want to be lean, strong and pain free. My back still has its days. I am pretty sore the last few days, but I must keep moving. Inactivity hurts me more than anything else. I have not had any spasms for a while, knock on wood, so that’s good.

I have a fantastic group of friends, some of who I have literally known all my life, some of which I have met, or strengthened my friendships with battling it out across a poker table once a month over the last 5 years. Alot of my friends face the same battles, we all face as adults. Work, relationships, responsibilities, yada yada yada. Some would like to be in better shape, but their “why” isn’t strong enough to get them to move. I am not talking down at them when I say this, lord knows I have no right to given my track record. I am starting to reach some resistance from my friends when I talk about trying to get in shape, or cut back on my drinking or whatever. That’s fine, I will let it slide off, or will use it as further motivation to reach my goals. I am not quitting drinking completely. I have no desire to do that. My a couple a drinks a few times a month helps keep me sane. I am simply trying to instill some discipline in my life, something I sorely lack at times. Balance is not my best quality. Always been an all or nothing guy. I hope to have results so good that my friends are inspired to make their own changes, on their own terms. Saying no to drinks for a little bit won’t kill me and will help me along in my journey.

I wasn’t going to post these here on this blog but what the hell. I have never been shy and live my life pretty much like an open book. I have a link to this blog on my facebook, so everyone can see it anyway. On the private fitness site I joined, I am posting daily pictures as part of accountability. I don’t think I will post daily pics here but I will post the Pictures below to show my progress thus far.

Not mindblowing but its coming. The first pic was taken 8 days ago, and the one on the right yesterday. Every few weeks I will post an update, that is unless I throw caution to the wind and start posting the pictures daily. We’ll see.

I am down under 220 pretty regularly now the past week. I was 229 when I came home from Florida a month from tommorrow, and I have lost a whopping 5 inches from my waist since then. I am working out steady, and really working hard on getting 10,000 steps a day minimum, with some days hitting 14000 or more. I am starting to believe I won’t let myself down this time and will follow this through. It’s been a long long road, but I am going to get to my goal. My ultimate goal is to get back down to the 175-180 range and maintain that. I came down from 209 to 159 10 years ago, and maintained no higher than 180 for 5 years, I can, and will do it again. 175 is obviously a long range goal, but I will get there. One day at a time.