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11/21/2011 Official Weigh In

Official Weigh In 11/21/2011

275 lbs

30.2 % Body Fat

My last official weigh in was on September 4^th 2011.  I weighed 283 lbs., and had a body fat percentage of 32.2%.  I’m not sure how I feel; I have this internal struggle, which is split between feeling fantastic about my overall improved strength, and state of mind, yet I am disappointed at the weight loss. 

I realize that the entire month of September I was suffering from burnout, and much of my ashy existence was mental fatigue from the grind that I was putting myself through, 3-4 hours a day dedicated to working out is no way to live.  Even worse was trying to juggle the time place, and method of my working out, each place and person was different, and each gave me something I needed at that time to push forward, yet not having an interconnected program was compounding my exhaustion, there would be times were I overworked one particular area of the body, or my mind would be ready for something new, and I would get stuck of more of the same from 3 different places. 

In retooling my regime, Crossfit emerged as the methodology I was going to stick to, it became the easy choice, my trainer at Washington Sports Club quit, Ian’s availability wouldn’t have worked out, and the idea of doing the Arc Trainer 4 times a week was like standing at the top of a hill, and preparing to roll down it in a jacket filled with nails. 

Whether or not it is was the right decision, I won’t know for quite some time, it’s very possible that I could have made further strides in actual weight lost doing other things in the same time, but Crossfit has given me three things crucial to my success.  First I have a set time and place I need to be if I want to workout, second there is a bigger picture in terms of the planning of the overall work, as the weeks progress various skills are challenged, and improved upon, ultimately leading to the workouts that act as barometers of performance in Crossfit, and finally I am no longer alone.  I may not be part of a team, but I am not a solo act, this could be the biggest cause of my mental lack of focus in September.

Losing large amounts of weight is a solitary venture, it is an internal battle fought day in and day out, minute by minute.  When you’re not trying to break a food craving, you are trying to discipline yourself enough to go workout.  In losing these small battles everyday, we lose sight of the bigger goal, our health, our ability to actually live, and our capacity to grow. 

You forget how small successes can help create a winning attitude, because you are focusing on your small defeats, breeding more defeat.  What makes everything worse, is that when you don’t have a support system your well meaning family and friends can actually make goals more difficult.

A recent example for me, my mother who wants nothing more than to see me nice and thin, made me some soup the other day…but she delivered it to me in what might as well be described as a bucket. 

What the fuck am I supposed to do with a bucket of soup?  She knows I pack a prepared meal, and that I stay away from certain foods, but in her desire to be a mother delivered a bucket of soup.  If I ate all of the soup that she gave me, I would probably need to run a marathon to burn it all off.

Things being what they are, having a place to go where working intensely, and focused output is part of the culture has helped renew my vigor to get back down to 200 lbs.  I often teach my staff at work that they are in complete control of how they respond to customers.  If someone is being a “cack”, you have the ability to “choose” not to respond to that person in a negative way, if you “choose” to respond to bad behavior with obscene behavior then you have made a choice.  Be clear it’s a choice,  no one can make you act a certain way. 

In examining the last few months I realized that I had made a choice to be miserable.  I have lived almost half of my life as an obese person, and for much of that morbidly obese, meaning on the verge of death, so reprograming that part of the brain is tough.  Sometimes these choices are so ingrained and part of my subconscious that I don’t even know that I’m doing it, it’s not until later when I’m out of it that I realize how bad my state of mind was previously.   

Making a newer choice is always tough, especially when you are trying to override years of negative programing, yet the overall sense of community at Crossfit has helped me make this internal choice easier, and more consistent.  I know when I get up at 5 AM that at the 6AM class at Patriot I will see many of the same faces.  I may not know their names, or what they do for a living but I do know something very innate about that person.  How they approach a WoD and how they interact with others tells a tall tale about the core of a person.  6 months from now I could start a blog called fuckcrossfit.com, but today it’s the core of what I’m doing to overcome my obesity. 

I will continue to try and lose more weight rapidly by adding various forms of cardio, but not at the cost of my newfound strength and energy.  I almost have to look at the last month as establishing a newfound baseline, for future performance.   

Today 275 lbs, tomorrow 250 lbs, and in the near future 190 lbs…Chipping away at my weight like a long metcon, in incremental pieces, one fucking burpee at a time.  

11/21/2011 Metcon 

Video from Monday's Metcon, it's one of a half dozen workouts that I've done Rx, which means as prescribed for the uniformed.  I ended up with a score which was respectable, 2 rounds + 11 reps.  When I went to Potomac Crossfit to pick up my meals, I saw that the high score up until the early evening had been 2 + 15 reps.  Not bad for a fat guy.

There is a 2 minute delay from the time the video starts, until the actual work begins.  Also the last 2 minutes are my favorite, as I am clealry giving everything that I have left in the tank.  

The WoD was to do 7 hang squat snatches, 7 squat cleans both with 95 lbs, and 75 feet of walking lungs with a 45 lbs plate.  

 

 

11/07/2011 What is Progress?

Temporary Redefinition of Progress

I must start by saying Mr. Shady can kiss my ass, I still think the scale for anyone who is considered morbidly obese is more important than what I am about to write about.

I have been losing weight for 7 months now, and for a good portion of that time I was losing 5-8 lbs a week.  Towards the end of that period in late August early September, feeling run down was becoming the status quo.   September to October I was a stretch of time feeling burnt out, and trying to figure out the next phase of my evolution.

Standing on the other side of that burnt out time, I feel like I’ve reached an unfamiliar mix of understanding, and confusion.  Not working out 10 times a week for sure has helped improve my outlook on my workouts, and sticking to a single methodology even if it’s temporary is making life simpler.  Today I have energy levels that a year ago I wished I had, I feel better, and it “feels” like I’m getting leaner, but it’s not showing up on the scale, or in my clothes.  A few times the belt buckle has dropped but it seems temporary, or forced (who knew you could stretch the shit out of leather).

I have committed to moving forward with Crossfit to see how far it will take me, but I know for a fact I am going to supplement steady state cardio, if only to make me feel better about my work.  I can’t resolve the fact that if I don’t sweat a lot I don’t feel like I’ve gotten much work done.  I’m a natural sweater, so if you ever see me come out of the toilet sweating, it’s not because I took a strenuous shit, but because that’s just what I do.

I can break a sweat getting out of bed, and I think some nights I sweat in my sleep. 

Is sweating a scientific form of understanding performance, probably not but if I don’t soak through two shirts I feel like I’ve done nothing. 

I do know Crossfit has its limitations, and at some point it may become something I no longer believe in, although today I find myself like a Born Again Christian Evangelical.  I don’t think I will ever apostatize Crossfit but, in my evolution I may find something more in tune with my goals. 
I have made a commitment to keep pushing through regardless of the end result.  It’s November, and New Years Eve if I am not down to a pant size under 40 I will know that something has to change.

The one thing which has changed, and it took some time to realize, was that I was eating too much.  When you work out 10x a week you can cheat a bit, and not affect your overall progress, but with one workout a day, and just living life, I have to be far more disciplined in my food consumption.

I don’t want to turn 33 in January and still be a pant size that I was when I was a freshman in High School.  Fuck that shit, fuck it with two dicks, fuck it, fuck it, fuck it.

By next July 2011 I am still trying to get to 200 lbs, but today I’m just trying to get to 250 lbs.  For the short term progress will have to come in the form of feeling better, getting stronger, and not losing big numbers in terms of pounds, but a time may come when I go back to dropping pounds before I get stronger.

Monday WoD

Squats 8 sets of 1 at 245 lbs

  

Last Set

 

Metcon:

As Many Reps As Possible

12 Wall Balls

8 Knees to Elbows

4 Burpees

Scored: 6 rounds 3 reps

Video Below:

 

 

09/04/2011 Official Weigh In, Peeing on my new Flip

09/04/2011 Official Weigh In, I mean Fat Purgatory

283 lbs

32.2% Body Fat Percentage

After a month of work, I have gained a pound.  If this is what it’s going to take, to just maintain my weight in the long term, I’m fucked.  I don’t know where I went wrong.  I have to honestly reassess every aspect of what I’ve done in the past month.

…this actually maybe exactly what I needed…

Somewhere in the middle of this month I started to feel moments of complacency.  It was starting to get hard just to maintain, what I mean is that it that automatic pilot that I have been running on for 5 months was turning into a drunken aviator dancing with the flight yolk, or the train conductor who decides it’s okay to take a nap with a trainload of acids.

Here I sit 30 days later, and not a single pound closer to my goal, in fact 1 pound further away from my goal.  If I could pinpoint anything, I think my sleeping was thrown off several days this month, and I have not been keeping up with my food diary.  I also think this month that I need to integrate more cardio into my workouts this month, even if it means skipping a weight training session. 

I haven’t worked with Ali much in a couple of months, I think I need to add more sessions with him, I had an idea last month to join LA Boxing to incorporate boxing workouts into my regime, as I still hate treadmills, elliptical machines, and stair climbers. 

The fact that I’ve repeated the above statement five or six times, yet haven’t done it should be proof that I am regressing. 

I need to start just doing again. 

I know, I know, I know, I’m probably over analyzing things, but this particular endeavor can only be just by empirical data like weight, and body fat %.  My overall improved health is great, and how I feel on a daily basis is nice. 

I set out to reach a specific weight, and my work won’t be done until I reach that weight.

I think the vast majority of the issue today is a mindset problem.  I’m tired, no I’m beat. 

This is exhausting. 

How do I find the fight?  I want to take the fight to the dog, but today I am just a bit tired.

This feeling is like a cancer, it’s like a dividing cell, growing exponentially.  I have to work my way out of it. 

Flip

Last week I left my Flip video camera in the gym in my building, and this time it wasn’t returned it was taken.  It’s my fault for leaving it there but, I never imagined a resident of my building would take that shit.  I ordered a new one, but this time I found that if you order it on www.theflip.com, you customize the side with the lens.  It allows you to pick several preloaded designs, you can create your own pattern, or upload an image.

So I’ll show you what I did:

  

I figured if anyone wants to take my camera they have to stare at my big fat head, and Mary’s head.  It also makes it absolutely clear that fucker you stole it from someone. 

Yeah I lifted my leg, and pissed all over my new camera before it has even shipped.

What did you do with your Sunday?

Lots of great things when you lose weight, better fitting clothes, not worrying about chairs breaking, breathing.  One downside, no longer being physically unable to do certain shitty jobs…

My family owns a shady motel out in Fairfax.  It’s the kind of place you go to get high, or laid, or maybe both.  It’s in the heart of Fairfax so for us it’s a piece of real estate.  My dad runs it, and it’s like having Donald Duck run a business, so we all try and help out when we can.  I don’t mean to imply my dad is inept; he’s just the type of person who should be in control of a business.

I ordered a CCTV system for him, so I could install it.  It’s been on the back burner for months.  I finally had a chance to go out and do it. 

Installing a CCTV system isn’t rocket science but it’s tedious, especially the cable runs.  I made the cable runs on my own.  In the interest of keeping the cables concealed I went into the attic to run the cable across the main building.  It was balls as hot.  It must have been 120 degrees in the crawl space.  What made it worse was that part of the building has a low roof line so I had to enter through a 3’ x 3’ whole, and used the cross beams as my support, my knees, and hands supporting my weight. 

On the one hand I was thinking, this is fucking awesome that I am capable of doing this, but the reality of it was, it sucked.  I guess progress can be manifested in other ways than the scale.

Shillism

If you don't know already...

I'm Invovled With Fight Gone Bad!  A CHARITY WORKOUT WHERE YOU RAISE MONEY FROM PEOPLE YOU KNOW!  SO I WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF YOU WOULD HELP ME!!

Fight Gone Bad is a workout named by an MMA fighter who when finished with it said it was like a fight gone bad, and Crossfit has dedicated a day this month for all Crossfit affiliates to get together and do the workout while raising money for three charities. 

Fight Gone Bad Consists of:

The following five exercises for one minute each, with a one minute rest between rounds and three total rounds.

1. Wall-ball: 20 pound ball, 10 ft target. (Reps)
2. Sumo deadlift high-pull: 75 pounds (Reps)
3. Box Jump: 20" box (Reps)
4. Push-press: 75 pounds (Reps)
5. Row: calories (Calories)

The charities invovled are:

The Special Operations Warrior Foundation

Camp Patriot

The Crossfit Foundation

The event is supposed to be on the 17th of September, yet my affiliate Potomac Crossfit is holding the event on September 24th 2011.  In an effort to overcome feeling like a fat guy I am going to do the event.

 

 

 

08/29/2011 Official Weigh In, Chasing that Bitch Down

08/29/2011 Official Weigh In

284 Lbs

32 % Body Fat

There was no weigh in last week because I was at the beach and didn’t have access to a scale.  In moving forward I realize today that I have lost a bit of a spark.  I am determined as ever, but a big of piece of me is getting tired of the grind.  It’s one thing to have a desire and drive; I believe it’s a whole other thing to keep that fire lit. 

I am hoping that 4 days of rest will renew my burning desire.  I have to constantly think about my goal weight, and desired physique.  Waking up and going to the gym is not the problem; once I get started doing the work isn’t the same.  I just find myself procrastinating or slipping back into a place I don’t want to be in, which is a lazy fat guy.

I’m planning on adding some cardio work this week to supplement the weight training.  I think it’s necessary to take off the additional weight.  Burning the calories and keeping the heart rate up for extended periods of time is something I think is crucial to fat loss.  I’ve tried doing straight Crossfit workouts during a week, yet I think intrinsically it is necessary to have your entire body moving for prolonged periods of time to lose body fat.  I don’t see many marathon runners with lots of body fat. 

I think once I’ve reached the 200 lbs mark, sticking solely with short intense workouts will not only improve my athleticism but will help create the body I want.  To get to 250 lbs I have to chase it down on the treadmill, and arc trainer.  So here’s the plan for the upcoming week:

	29		30		31	September	1	September	2
Crossfit Work		Ian or Crossfit		Liz Workout		Ian or Crossfit		Crossfit
		45 mintues Cardio		Cardio Work		45 minutes Cardio

The weight loss challenge is a bit of non starter.  With people traveling and working, it’s been hard keeping up with the weights.  This past week Kent is down to 211 lbs, the guys 6’1”.  I’m sure he’s reached a weight which is manageable over the long term and puts him in a good physical place, yet he has a goal of getting to 199 lbs just to see if he can do it. 

Sherri has started a new workout regime working with a trainer, and doing lots of yoga.  She’s down to 161 lbs.  She has traveled a ton this summer, so it’s impressive to see that she hasn’t gained back any of the weight, especially because her travel companion for part of her jaunts was a teenager. 

Dwayne last time we checked was above 300 lbs, he was suffering from a bit of what I’ve got, the fat man blues.  He posted in his blog an aggressive approach towards his goal of 250 lbs, but he hasn’t kept in touch and it’s hard to know where he is.

Much of what I’m feeling today I believe is a direct result of not eating regularly enough, and then when I did eat on a schedule I found myself overeating on meat, and nuts an unbalance approach to nutrition.  That overall sense of innate well being is not gone, but drained.  I’ve had to be conscious about my water intake, as I find myself not drinking enough, and peeing a dark yellow too often.  Now that I’m a safe distance from 300 lbs, I find myself comfortable.  Not comfortable in being complacent, but physically comfortable.  I don’t strain to get up stairs, or bend over, tie my shoes, or put on my boxers.  I can find clothes in the regular clothing stores—most of the time, and I don’t get that “Holy Shit” stare from strangers. 

I find myself wavering in and out of fat guy laziness mode.  Tomorrow I may wake up and feel like a million dollars and be driven as hell, and then the day after I may wake up and want to jump into the Potomac River. 

I have dealt with my weight for my entire life, and I’m just sort of over being unhappy with my body all the time.  I like seeing my manboobs, as much as I like seeing my hairy ass…yes it’s hairy I think I could put corn rows in it.

This week and going into September I need to amp up the cardio to burn through the next 50 lbs of fat.  I won’t forget to keep my weight lifting up, as I have never felt this strong in my entire life.  Crossfit has been a huge help in developing my physical confidence. 

Tomorrow is a new day, and 250 lbs isn’t going to just come to me, I have to chase that bitch down.

08/14/2011 Official Weigh In

08/14/2011 Official Weigh In

280 Lbs

31.4 % Body Fat

Ended another week of fun...

Yeah you could say that I’m baffled.  I was a pissed off 290 lbs last Sunday and this Sunday I’m a confused 280 lbs.

I am looking forward to taking it a little slower this week with my workouts, and I am traveling for part of this week, and spending all of next week in North Carolina with my entire family.  It will be the first vacation my entire family has ever taken.

My workout plan this week:

15	16	17	18	19
Crossfit AM	Ali Workout	Crossfit AM	Workout	Workout
Light Cardio	Cardio			Cardio

The weight loss competition is still going.  This weeks results:

Contestant	8/7/2011	8/14/2011
Dwayne	304.8	304	-0.26%
Kent	220	219	-0.45%
Louis	290	280	-3.45%
Sherri	161	164	1.86%

I win by a big margin, but I almost feel it’s a hallow victory, as I’m sure 4-5 lbs of it was adjustment weight via either water retention, or some other mechanism of body weight change.

We have a few more weeks left in this competition, and it looks like the slimmer of the two people in our game have reached the points of slow ROW (return on work).  I too realize that I am not far from that point where the weight will come off 1 lb at a time, as I reach my ideal physique. 

 

I look forward to the next two weeks; I will have some me time finally, and will go on my first family vacation.

 

08/07/2011 Official Weigh In

08/07/2011 Weigh In

290 lbs

32.7 % Body Fat

Kiss My Ass BMI

...

...

Stumped would be an understatement.  A quick recap of my weight changes over the last week:

• 282 lbs Sunday 07/31/2011
• 287 lbs Tuesday 08/02/2011
• 285 lbs Wednesday 08/03/2011
• 288 lbs Thursday 08/04/2011
• 283 lbs Friday 08/05/2011
• 290 lbs Sunday 08/07/2011

Last week I went to Crossfit 5 days in a row for the first time.  I also did three other workouts that involved both isolated weight lifting, and cardio.  My diet was not necessarily a 10, but it was well above 7.  I didn’t over indulge in any foods, and I didn’t find myself binging or going off course.  The last week was also not stressful; in fact it’s the most I have slacked off in months because my new manager is a Superstar. 

Weight loss is something that I now believe no one has the answer to, it’s frustrating to know that the majority of the people who are preaching weight loss methods either have done no study of the situation, nor have ever been in a dire life or death circumstance, meaning have been morbidly obese. 

I am encountering so much resistance from my body, that I don’t know how to overcome it. 

Professional golfers, professional poker players, and stock brokers talk about having to grind out a living.  I think when we view these people from the outside we only see the glamorous portions of their lives, because we only hear about them when they have big victories, and we make sharp judgments about their intelligence or ability when we hear something negative. 

The reality is that for the vast majority of their lives these people are grinding, whether it be hitting a few thousand golf balls a day, cold calling a list of prospects, or playing thousands of poker hands in $1/$2 local casino poker games.  This is the unglamorous part that builds the skills and creates the opportunities that we read about.

Even then they experience far more moments of defeat than victory, yet when all the factors are in place and opportunity is ready to be seized, then success is achieved. 

I think weight loss must be one of those ventures where you have to constantly do the things that change your body, but you have to wait for all the other factors within your body to create the weight loss.  Last week I did everything I was supposed to in terms of food consumption, exercise, and for the most part sleep and stress, yet some internal functions were not in an optimum state for weight loss.  . 

How else does one explain the constant fluctuation of my weight over the last week, and an 8 lbs gain from the previous week?

I did everything I was supposed to, but I didn’t lose a pound, I didn’t even maintain the previous week’s weight, I gained weight.

I spent most of the day in bed.  I wasn’t feeling good to begin with, and I ended up with some acid reflux, but ultimately I found myself regressing to the mentality that caused me to gain weight. 

Sunday August 7^th 2011 was a day I that felt like quitting. 

I really felt like I should go out and have a fucking pizza, or bacon cheeseburger, or some ice cream.  I decided not to, in fact I literally spent most of the day in bed watching TV, and playing a game on my iPad.  I ignored phone calls, e-mails, text messages, and only got up to take my dog for two walks.  The first one by the way I walked and jogged.  I would have run the entire way but it was hot out, and my dog was in protest about running in the heat, he would stop and lay down in someone’s yard every time I would jog for more than a couple of minutes. 

I think that jog took all the fury out of me, so all I had left was self-pity, and frustration.  You add the indigestion I had from the only thing I ate all day which was leftover chicken and salami, and I had an awesome day. 

I’m not sure I’ll go to Crossfit in the morning, but I know I will workout. 

My schedule for the week:

	8		9		10		11		12
AM CARDIO		7:00 AM Ian		8:00 AM Weights		8:00 AM Weights		6:30 AM Crossfit
AM Weights				9:00 AM Cardio		9:00 AM Cardio		7:00 PM Ali
				10:00 AM Stretch
		Drive to AC		I might do a		Drive Back from
				Crossfit Class		AC
				if I can find
				that will let me
				instead of weights.

 

 

 

Weight Loss Competition

Contestant	7/31/2011	8/7/2011
Dwayne	308	304.8	-1.04%
Kent	222	220	-0.90%
Louis	282	290	2.84%
Sherri	164	161	-1.83%

Way to go Sherri picking up her second Win.  I’m sure that this last week was an anomaly so don’t’ count a win next week you all…at least that’s what I’m telling myself. 

Dwayne way to push back into the game, Kent I don’t think is going to be fair for you as we continue.  We might have to install some type of curve, you are reaching that point of body composition change, where I think more than losing pounds changing your bodies fat percentage will probably have a greater impact in not only how you look and feel, but how much you weigh.  To be honest at your height if you were 9% body fat you would be in fantastic shape, you probably are now somewhere between 12-15% body fat.

In any case good luck this week, you are going to need it.

 

07/31/2011 Official Weigh In

07/31/2011 Official Weigh In

 282 lbs

 31.9 % Body Fat

 Who gives a shit about BMI?

What started off with the feeling I wouldn’t move much on the scale, turned into a shocking surprise.  When I weighed myself Tuesday morning it didn’t look good, so I stayed away from the scale until Sunday Morning, low and behold I dropped 6 lbs. 

As much as I think I have this weight loss thing figured out, I clearly have no understanding of my body or when I am going to drop weight, my intuitions, feelings, impulses, and rabbit’s feet are all about as useful as tits on a bull.  I can’t help it deep inside I’m a yellowneck (I’ve trademarked this).

What amazes me is that as my weeks go on, I am less and less confident in my ability to sustain this weight loss, losing 6 lbs in a week is significant and most doctors would probably say it’s hazardous to my health.  I am confident in my ability to do the work, to stick to the nutritional plan, but not confident in the understanding of my own physiology.  How long can someone really lose 5-6 lbs a week and not suffer from type of abnormality?  I know I’m also a fat hypochondriac apparently. 

I can’t pinpoint any one thing that I did or that happened this week which changed my 1 lbs loss the previous week into a 6 lbs loss this week, for all I know my body released or used the energy of the 6 lbs last week and it took 7 days for it to manifest itself on the scale. 

I guess what I’m saying is, I’m still learning what my body really needs.  I do plan on taking some advice this week, and I’m going to slow my roll a bit, and see if 1 week on strong and 1 week on medium will be able to sustain a longer period of strong weeks.  Last weeks two a days is for sure a strong week so this week my plan is as follows:

1	2	3	4	5
6:30 AM	7:00 AM	6:30 AM	7:00 AM	6:30 AM
Crossfit	Ian Workout	Crossfit	Ian Workout	Crossfit
15 Minutes	Ali Workout	5 1 minute	Ali Workout	Rest
Jump Rope		Sprints
		Tabata
		Jump Rope

I’ve eliminated any prolonged cardio, my Friday will be just a single Crossfit workout, Monday and Wednesday I’m adding short intense cardio sessions only if I feel that I need more work if I’m beat from Crossfit I won’t do them.  Tuesday, Thursday I am still going to do two workouts. 

Weight Loss Competition

So the weight loss competition with Dwayne, Kent, Sherri, and me is going into it’s 7^th week.  I of course am back at the top of the leader board with my third win this week.  So the score as of today is Louis 3 weeks, Kent 2 weeks, Sherri 1 week, Dwayne 0 weeks. 

Dwayne has basically stopped communicating with us, I’m not sure if he’s busy or just in a funk.  I hope it’s not the kind of funk that causes him to go off the deep end and start gaining weight.  Come on GUY it’s time to reconnect to stay afloat. 

So here are the results of my winning week.

Contestant	07/24/2011	07/31/2011
Dwayne	301	308	2.33%
Kent	220	220	0.00%
Louis	288	282	-2.08%
Sherri	165	164	-0.61%

I think I should go to the Aston Martin dealership this week and pick out my color; I hope the three of you all have been keeping your credit scores up; this one’s going.

Sherri, Kent, Dwayne this is for you...

 

07/24/2011 Official Weigh In

07/21-07/22

Official Weigh In

288 lbs

31.3 %

So after a really strong week of working out and good meals, I’m disappointed that I only dropped a pound especially because when I weighed myself Saturday morning I weighed 285 lbs.  I’m not sure how to take the small weight change; it’s disappointing and a bit disheartening. 

I’m trying to replay the past week in my head, and I don’t recall any one thing which didn’t go well, I ate well, I worked out well, perhaps my sleep wasn’t perfect but 4 out of the 7 nights I got 7 hours of sleep.  This next week I’m going to have to push myself hard, I will for sure have to amp the cardio work to get a deeper caloric burn. 

My schedule this next week:

	25		26		27		28		29
8 AM Crossfit		7 Am Ian		7 AM Ian		6:30 AM		6:30 AM
Cardio		Cardio		Boxing		Crossfit		Crossfit
				Cardio		Cardio		Cardio

 

As far as the weight loss competition looks like Sherri picked up her first win.  She lost 6 lbs in her first week back from Europe.  Nice Job Sherri!  Dwayne has gone MIA, we haven’t heard any updates form him this last week, and my attempts to communicate with him have gone unanswered.  I hope he is doing well and not falling into the emotional abyss of shame and self pity.  Dwayne if you are reading this you are stronger than that, just work your way out of it…

 

Contestant	7/17/2011	7/24/2011
Dwayne	301	301	0.00%
Kent	221.5	220	-0.68%
Louis	289	288	-0.35%
Sherri	170	164	-3.53%

 

Video Update

 

07/17/2011 The Face of Progress and Weigh In

The Face of Progress

This weekend I went out Saturday night to a friend’s birthday get together, what started as a relaxed night of hanging out turned into the drunkest I’ve been in years.  We basically went from 0 to drunk in an hour. 

We met up with the Birthday girl, and some mutual friends at Rock Bottom Brewery in Bethesda.  I had a couple of drinks just enough to loosen up, and have a good time, I was driving so slamming shots wasn’t the game plan.  Another by product of losing weight is the decreased tolerance to alcohol, so my radar is up high when I go out to drink about how I feel.

By the way I don’t advocate drinking and driving, but all guys have done it, and an hour before we left this particular establishment I stopped drinking, and all together over a few hours I probably had 2 drinks, being almost 300 lbs I knew I was ok. 

Driving home, I gave a high school friend of mine a ride back to Dupont Circle, once we got there we decided we would go to a bar and get another drink, as our third friend in the party was visiting from Denver and it was his last night in town.  We walked from near my high school friend’s apartment, towards the actual circle, and started to look for a place to go, everywhere we went had a long line at 1 AM.  You know you are getting older when you no longer want to wait in line at the busiest bars or clubs. 

We ended up walking to midtown, and went into the first place without a line.  This place was in the location of a bar that my friends and I used to frequent called the Madhatter.  The Madhatter has since moved into a larger space, and has taken their special brand of drunken stupidity to a new level.  Fortunately this new place has the same atmosphere as the old Madhatter, with one big change…I am too fucking old to go there now. 

We went to the upstairs bar near the bathrooms (another sign of aging).  As we stood there listening to the music, I leaned over to my friends and said “You do realize we are the oldest people in this bar right now?” they laughed in that “okay asshole” way that guy’s only share in a pack environment.  When I saw the girls who looked like they had just walked out of the senior prom dancing and singing songs from my high school days, I leaned over again and said “You do realize that when these songs were new, most of these people were in elementary school?” they laughed again in that snarky guy way. 

To order our second round of drinks we went up to the bar, and ordered a round of shots.  The first round of shots was Patron, as my friend from Colorado, Rob always has to show off his Mexican heritage when doing shots.  When I walked up to the bar after the Patron I started talking to the bartender, and realized that he and I know some mutual people from my drinking days in my twenties.

This was a blessing, and a curse.

The next three rounds of Grand Marnier were on him, and then he proceeded to pour us 4 more shots of some Orange Juice based shooter.  Did I say 0 to drunk, what I meant was 0 to slammed in under an hour.  At this point I was drinking doubles of Captain Morgan and Diet Coke, while my two friends were two fisting beers. 

We stayed at this bar and continued this pace until last call, my high school friend John who has spent many a nights puking in the toilets of this particular building, had to cap the night off by going and puking in the new bars toilets.  It wouldn’t have been a night of going out without John puking.

There was absolutely no point to what had happened other than wanting to feel young, or just getting slammed because the three of us hadn’t been drunk together in quite some time.  As we stumbled home, I pulled my car keys out and after tripping over the side walk decided I was staying the night at John’s in Dupont Circle.

Sunday was a bad day.  Recovery from alcohol consumption is apparently no longer a one day activity after the age of 28. 

I actually like the feelings I had at this bar, because it helps give perspective on where I am in my life.  I lost a good chunk of my mid to late twenties so a part of me has this need to go out and get shitfaced, but after this Saturday I realize that part of my life is long gone, and it really isn’t something that I want to do anymore.

Even with this night of stupidity I was able to keep my weight at 289 lbs.  The morning after I got back from Atlantic City I actually weighed in at 286 lbs, but clearly that didn’t stick. 

Through the moment of writing this post I felt I had blown an opportunity to make progress during my rest week, and then I happened to click on a video that I made last year.  It’s almost exactly 11 months from the date I made it.  When I saw myself, I realized that I’ve made substantial progress, and one night of personal release is okay especially when I plan on really stepping up my game this week. 

Enjoy the video, and compare to the photos from the Wedding last weekend.  If this video isn’t the face of progress I don’t know what is…

  

07/17/2011

Official Weigh In

289 lbs

31.3 % Body Fat

41.5 BMI

After a week of much needed rest, I’ll be back into a busy workout schedule next week.  My plans for the week are as follows:

	18		19		20		21		22
9:00 AM Crosffit		7:00 AM Ian		9:30 AM Crossfit		7:00 AM Ian		8:00 AM Crossfit
7:00 PM Cardio				1:00 PM Ali				10:00 AM Cardio
				6:00 PM Cardio

I am ready to get back to work and push myself hard to get down to 250 lbs.  Hopefully by the start of the fall I’ll be close to 250 lbs.  I’m waiting until I get down to 285 lbs before I start throwing out all of my 3 xl shirts.  My pants are a bit big now, but before I jump down to size 42 waist from the 46 that I’m wearing now. 

I am also adding more cardio back into my workout so I can build back some endurance.  In the past two weeks I think part of my exhaustion was just not having enough endurance to last over the long term.  So I am planning on at least three make out sessions with the Arc Trainer.

Weight Loss Challenge

The weight loss competition between Kent, Dwayne, and Sherri is not going so well, but its okay I have to pretend like there’s an actual competition.  Sherri made the decision last week to come back from her three week vacation early so that she can get back into the game. 

She also decided that instead of spending the money to travel for the third week of her trip she could use that money for a personal trainer for an entire month, so for her it was a no brainer.  I believe its decisions like these that make the difference between a temporary emotional drive to lose weight, and a permanent lifestyle change.  

So the weekly numbers are as follows:

Contestant	7/10/2011	7/17/2011
Dwayne	299	299	0.00%
Kent	226	221.5	-1.99%
Louis	293	289	-1.37%
Sherri	166	170	2.41%

So far Kent and I both have won 2 weeks, and Dwayne and Sherri still have not been able to get one in the win column, come on guys let’s make it interesting, Kent’s NSX, and my Aston Martin are just looking like foregone conclusions.

 

07/10/2011 I gained 3 lbs, it's okay i had a good weekend.

07/10/2011

Official Weigh-In

293 lbs

32% Body Fat

Fuck the BMI

Last week I was down to 288 on Friday afternoon.  I knew that based on the weekends activities I would have a 3-5 lbs swing in the wrong direction.  I think I am probably closer to 290 lbs because when I weighed myself I was dehydrated, and every time I have weighed myself in that state I am 3 lbs heavier than I really am, probably because of water retention. 

Even if I did gain 3 lbs from last week’s weigh in, I’m okay with it.  If that’s the price I had to pay to have a really great weekend at a friend’s wedding I think I can deal with the fall out.  Events like that don’t happen often, and I don’t often get the chance to enjoy them because of work. 

This week is going to be a recovery week.  I am taking another family trip to the dens of sin in Atlantic City.  We are staying at our favorite place the Borgata.  I plan on working out all three days that we are there but will most likely do some light cardio, some body weight exercises, and lots of stretching.   

The workouts I get will be more about keeping the body fresh, rather than exhaustive pursuit of my goals.

I don’t have the official weights yet from my ongoing weight loss competition with Sherri, Kent, and Dwayne.   Someone else must be the winner for one week, as I am going in the wrong direction.  It’s okay have your one victory whoever you are because I will be gunning for you next week. 

There is no calendar this week as the workouts I do get in will be based on how I feel.  I just plan on getting three days of work in this week, and will take another 3 days off starting Friday, picking back up next Monday going at 100 mph again. 

Weekend Recap It was a good Weekend

7:00 AM Workout with Ian

I don’t have any videos of my workouts and don’t have any revelations about being fat, or trying to lose weight.  I woke up this morning and knew I wasn’t going to have an awe inspiring day of workouts.

My body was exhausted, as was my mind.  To be perfectly honest I wanted to cancel my morning session with Ian.  I woke up around 5:45 AM and just lay in bed until 6:45, I stared at the ceiling without a thought in my head, I kept looking at the clock, getting frustrated as the 7 AM appointment time crept closer and closer. 

When we started the session Ian changed his original plan as he could see that I was just not together, we ended up doing a workout that involved moving smaller muscles that rarely get worked but provide significant amounts of support when moving the bigger areas like the chest and legs.

It was a low physical intensity day, but it was high on the mental intensity.  At several points I had involuntary muscle twitches, which Ian told me is normal for the type of work being done.

When we finished I knew next week would be a week of rest.

6:00 PM Workout with Ali

By the late afternoon I felt I really needed a good sweat.  Ali started the session with some circuit training, but after the second exercise I looked at him and said I can’t do this today.  I just didn’t want to do anything overly repetitive and anything that is done for time usually involves a high number of reps.

I told him that if we workout out like this I will just drag ass, and waste an hour.  He agreed that I was acting like a little bitch, so he had me put on the boxing gloves.  We had a quick 10 minutes of boxing to get my heart rate up.

The rest of the workout involved a traditional weight lifting workout of 3 sets of work, he had me start each exercise with 12 reps moving down to 6 reps on the third, but the weight was increasing proportional to the number of reps in each set.  He did have me superset each exercise, so when I was doing the dumbbell chest press, in between each set I was doing squat presses with a 45lbs bar. 

My one feel good moment was doing 12 reps at 60 lbs, 10 reps at 70 lbs, and 4 reps at 85 lbs of dumbbell chest presses.  I told Ali that I guess his methods do work, because I was getting stronger.  He said that even when I act like a bitch I work harder than most other people.

Not a great day of workouts but it was finished day, even an ugly win is still a win.

Friday Night and Saturday

A friend of mine from high school was getting married this weekend, and they did something unique.  The facility they got married in is part of a regional park, which has 10 cottages that overlook the Potomac River.  They decided to rent out all 10 cabins, and have their good friends stay the weekend.  It turned out to be a fantastic idea.

The cottages were nicer than expected, they kitchens, showers, and air conditioning.  It allowed me to bring my food so I could cook and maintain my current meal plan. 

Where I didn’t stay on the meal plan was through my alcohol consumption.  I drank last weekend telling myself that I wouldn’t drink this weekend.  I ended up drinking a lot, the simple timeline of my weekend Friday night drunk, Saturday morning hangover, Satruday Nigh drunk, Sunday morning hangover.

Friday night was fun, we hung out at various cabins drinking, and catching up.  This first night I only drank liquor, and didn’t overdue it mixing it with soda or juices.  I did get drunk but wasn’t bloated.  I also did drink quite a bit of water before going to bed instead of stuffing my face with chips and salsa.

 The next day the five of us who were staying in the same cabin made a trip to Costco and Target for more food, beer, and things that we had forgotten.  When we got back I cooked the pork loins that I marinated a couple nights before this trip, and some chicken thighs a friend brought which I marinated that morning.  We still ate a good helping of greens arugula, and a mix of summertime salad.  It was nice that my cabin mates Gustavo and Alla made a conscious effort and bought only organic foods, and cage free chicken for my benefit. 

That evening the wedding ceremony was held outside.  I was concerned about sweating too much, so I did what most normal people do when it’s hot outside…get drunk.  I had two nice size servings of Grey Goose Orange and Club Soda.

My friends Mike and Juliana were extremely happy, and the bride to be looked beautiful, the way I’m sure most women imagine themselves on the day of their wedding.  The ceremony was nontraditional yet not new age, it was relatively quick, and of course my two friends being the perfect fit for one another took the kiss seriously, the type of kiss where two people clearly forget about the other people in the room.  As they walked down the aisle as a newly married couple Mike being Mike took his bride and swung her around into another deep leaning kiss, just think VJ Day in Times Square.

In the lobby of the reception hall they held a gathering of all the guests for drinks, and h’orderves.  They only served beer and wine for the reception so my low-carb approach to alcoholism wasn’t going to last for long.  I drank Bud Lights.  I drank a lot of them.  A combination of my desire to dance, and social anxieties caused me to drink more than I planned, but then again isn’t that what part of a wedding reception is for?

Once in the reception hall, we were treated to several speeches, and the first dance of Mike and Juliana was enjoyable to watch, as they have been taking dance lessons for almost two years.  Way to show everyone up on your wedding day, jeeze you would think weddings are about the bride and groom.

It took a while for people to start dancing, but when they did most people stayed dancing the entire night.  The final few songs that were played not by the band but on an ipod, were Michael Jackson songs, somehow you play Michael Jackson and a dance circle will break out, try it, next time you drive down the street play some “Beat It” and don’t be surprised if a group of people in business attire break into a dance circle with two people in the middle getting ivoled in a knife fight.   I wish we would have taken some pictures because the MJ dance circle was the icing on what had been a great day.

The rest of the night back in the cottages went the same way Friday night did, with the continued pursuit of intoxication, and revelry. 

I don’t think I’ve had that much fun in many years, and I found myself realizing that life should be fun, even if it’s only some of the time.