youfit

213.8 – 25 lbs down!

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Down about another pound since yesterday and that’s with a slight increase in calories. Plus we had Nuberri last night. But while my boys were still enjoying their Gainesville weekend without me…

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Missing man formation, Day 2

I was busy running 3 miles, walking 2, and doing an hour on the elliptical last night at YouFit.

The 25 pounds last is significant in more ways than one for me. For starters it’s just a milestone number – 25. But 25 was also my jersey number for any sport that I played growing up. Basketball, baseball, and football. So that’s pretty neat to finally reach that amount in my weight loss so far.

Last Chance Workout

So while my buddies Rick and Will are living it up, having a great time down in Gainesville…

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The Missing Man formation in my absence

my Friday night was filled with a bunch of this…

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Sacrifice. Dedication. Victory!

218.4

So I promised myself that if…er… I mean, “when” (ahem) I got under 220 lbs that I would start weight training in addition to my cardio workouts that I’ve been doing. So today was the first day of a 3-Day-Split. Outside of P90X, it’s been a long, long time since I’ve done any strength training. So heading into YouFit this morning I felt a little intimidated.

I took a quick survey of the lay of the land to figure out where all the equipment is that I would need. I may be a “newbie” but I definitely didn’t want to look like one. I’m sure I failed at that, but oh well. Day 1 of my 3 day split was to focus on Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps. I wanted to keep my workout brief (45 mins max). I did dumbbell bench press and basic push ups for Chest. Dips and Tricep Rope Pushdowns for Tris, and some dumbbell side lateral raises and military presses for shoulders. I threw in 3 sets of knee raises for some abdominal work.

Over the past month or so, I can definitely tell that my endurance has increased exponentially. But with weights, it was a whole different world. I started each set with a low enough poundage that I would be sure I could handle with proper form. For the two additional sets per exercise, I bumped up the weight to pose more of a challenge. When I was done, I definitely wasn’t sweating like I do after my cardio routines, but I felt slightly nauseated. So I guess I pushed myself enough to be beneficial. I’ll do Day 2 on Tuesday during my lunch break, and Day 3 on Thursday during the same time frame.

To still get in some cardio today, I’ve decided to run in an impromptu race today at 5p. It’s called Run 5 For Boston, and it will be a 5.2 mile loop. Why 5.2 miles? After the bombs went off during the Boston Marathon last Monday, most of the remaining runners were stopped at mile 21. The 5.2 miles represents the unfinished distance from the race.

http://www.wtxl.com/news/local/update-tallahassee-runners-to-finish-race-for-boston-marathoners/article_3e96595a-a76e-11e2-8faf-0019bb30f31a.html

Now, I can’t guarantee I can run the entire distance. The most I’ve run has been 4 and quarter miles. But I’m going to give it my best shot. I’ll keep my pace very slow, likely between 12 to 12 1/2 minutes per mile. If I have to walk, so be it, but I’ll go as far as my body will allow. There is no entry fee, but they will be accepting donations which will all go to the Boston Red Cross and to The One Fund, the official charity set up by the Governor to benefit victims and families. All runners will get a bib, but no numbers will be issued. The bib will simply have the Boston Skyline. After the race, I’ll post some pictures if I can.

 

 

217.2

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Ok, well today’s “official” weigh-in comes in at 217.2.  Exactly three pounds less than the 220.2 I needed to be in order to remain on target to hit my FitBet goal weight of 170-175 on August 30th.

That’s good and all but I really should be a bit further ahead than that. Those 2 weeks, beginning when I went down to Gainesville, followed by when I had to stay in a hotel, really stalled my weight loss.

That being said, the positives far outweigh the negatives here. For starters, I’m at my lowest weight yet since beginning this physique transformation. Also, I didn’t let those two “down” weeks stop me. I didn’t give up and revert back to my old ways. I simply moved on. I refocused my energy and got back at it.

Now I’m losing weight steadily again. I’m ahead of where I need to be at this point. And I ran 5k yesterday in just over 30 minutes! Now that I’m in the two-teens I have my sights set squarely on the single digit 200s and right around the corner, Onederland! What is “Onederland”? I saw that on the Biggest Loser. It’s getting your weight back into the  “One” Hundreds. The home stretch for me. But still a lot of work to do before that.

Woke up too late to make the Palace Saloon 5K this a.m. so I’m sitting in the parking lot at the gym blogging this before I go workout. Make it a productive day people!

SDV

217.8

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Down another pound for a grand total of about 21 lbs lost since March 11th.

Not sure if I’ll be running that 5k this weekend or not. Calf muscle has been getting a little twitchy. Not fully cramping but noticeable.

Hoping to run around my neighborhood when I get of work today to see how my calf does on the streets as opposed to the elliptical at YouFit.

219.0!

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Kick ass! Wow. Can I say that I really did not expect to see that this morning. I went slightly above my calorie quota for the day yesterday, but never made it to the gym.

After dinner, we got the kids bathed and read then some books as we attempted to get them to sleep.

It was just after 9p, so I changed into my workout gear. The kids weren’t quite asleep yet, but they were quiet and calm, so I told Rachel that I was headed out. That’s when she told me that she wasn’t feeling well. She’s been having some gallbladder issues recently, so we assumed this was what was bothering her.

She told me that she didn’t feel comfortable at home by herself while the kids were still awake and while she was nauseous. I told her I would hang out until they both fell asleep. This was about 9:30. Looked like it was going to be yet another late night at the gym and very little sleep afterward.

I laid down with Drew, our youngest daughter, who seemed to be the most awake of the two, trying to get her to fall asleep. It worked. Well sort of. She got me to fall asleep too. I woke up around 10:30, got out bed, and tried to perk up to make myself go to the gym.

Fuggetaboutit. I was exhausted. I probably haven’t had more than 5 hours of sleep any night in over a week. So I simply just went back to bed. I was prepared to see no drop in weight this morning, and in fact was even a little concerned about a small gain.

So needless to say, I am very happy with where I am. To remain on target to hit my goal weight by August 30th, I need to be at 220.2 lbs or less this Saturday. Unless I really muck it up today it tomorrow, I’m pretty sure I’ll be ahead of the game by then.

Plus I knocked out another Strong Gator Challenge by getting my weight below 220 pounds! Rock on.

222.2 – Setback City

Well here I am still at 222. The past few days I’ve been in a funk. There’s some not-so-great things going on in my life right now that have my mind distracted and that has left me mentally drained and physically exhausted.

Although I did run four and a quarter miles (without walking) on Sunday in addition to doing an hour on the elliptical last night, my nutrition has been poor at best and my motivation waning. It took a lot of willpower to get up and go to the gym last night. Of course I’m glad I did, but I’m still dragging.

The next few days may be a bit difficult as we are having work done inside our house and are being forced to stay in a hotel. We may be there 2 nights. We may be there 6 nights – we just don’t know.

I have to find a way to get my nutrition back on point and to get my mind right. I’ve come too far to back off now. And I still have a long way to go. Ultimately, I feel like my inner strength will prevail. Its just tough going at the moment. Exercise seems to help my mood. Just wish I had more time to do it.