10K Training Week 8 Day 5

2.88 miles with Ellen at South Lakes Park. I ran Winston (the dog) for a few 1/8th mi sprints.

10K Training Week 8 Day 3

Spin spin spin! No Yoga

10K Training Week 8 Day 2

Tonight I did a typical BFL style Upper Body Workout with Ellen

Chest
Dumbbell Incline Chest Press
12x40(ea) 10x50(ea) 8x50(ea) 6x55(ea) 12x45(ea)
Dumbbell Incline Chest Flys
12x30(ea)

Shoulder
Lever Shoulder Press
12x60 10x75 8x90 6x105 12x75
Lever Lateral Raise
12x65

Back
Lever Seated High Row
12x90 10x110 8x130 6x150 12x110
Lever Seated Row
12x115

Biceps
Hammer Curl
12x30(ea) 10x35(ea) 8x35(ea) 6x40(ea) 12x30(ea)

Preacher Curl
15x40

Triceps
Cable Pull Down with Rope Attachment
12x100 10x120 8x130 6x150 12x120

Cable Forward Triceps Extention
12x90

(ea)= each hand

My 10K is in 17 days and I excited to be almost done with my training. I was doing 14-15 miles a week till I hurt my foot. I have done 5-6 miles a week the last few but I am kicking it into overdrive the next 2.5 weeks to see if I can get my distance back up. I am not worried about speed just finishing. I have been doing one UBWO a week to keep my strength and I am looking forward to starting a challenge on 1-17-11. Running has been nothing like I expected. I figured I would lose weight and some muscle but I have put on 8 lbs in 8 weeks and half of it is muscle.

10K Training Week 8 Day 1

I finally got to run with Ellen's father Phillip. We ran to the San Antonio river then around the entire river walk. We decided to see the Alamo then weaver back to the hotel.
4.3 mi

10K Training Week 7 Day 6

It is Christmas morning I decided to go for a run. I didn't know the area too well so I figured out a large rectangle that would pass by the Alamo.
2.3 mi in 23:33

10K Training Week 7 Day 2

Tonight was a decent workout. Patrick was not in the mood and I was in a hurry to go home and pack. We did side raises and front raises for shoulders. Incline, flat and decline chest presses. For triceps we did skull crushers and tricep dips. On the way out I stopped at the preacher curl and quickly busted out 3 heavy short sets. I had not use the machine in a while as I mainly use free weights. A year ago or so 30-40 lbs was tough but I did 100-125 lbs.

10K Training Week 7 Day 1

I was in Amarillo Thursday thru Saturday with no exercise but just enough snow to look pretty without messing with the roads. Tonight we went to the park with the dog. I jogged 4.1 miles in about 45 mins and Ellen and the dog walked with some jogging 2.55 miles.

BFL 3?

Good Afternoon (coffee is good any time)

My fiance is done with her semester and we get to spend the next month together. She was looking at pictures last week and got inspired to do a challenge starting today. I plan to do the resistance training workouts with her and my 10K training on her HIIT days. I am super excited she is motivated on her own. She said she wants to do two challenges between now and our wedding in 26 weeks.

10K Training Week 6 Day 3

Spin + Yoga night.
Only 7 people showed up to spin class, there are usually 19.
Today for lunch at the office we had chili. It was made from left over fajita meat from our office Christmas party this past Saturday. Yoga and chili made from 4 day old meat is not a good idea...

10K Training Week 6 Day 2

Had a great UBWO tonight. I always seem to smash my finger getting ready to do Dumbbell Skull Crushers. My right arm near my arm pit started hurting from incline dumbbell chest press during my workout.

My BFL Anniversary Workout 12-14-09 to 12-14-10
Shoulders:
Alternating side raises
(3 sets) 12 reps 15 lbs, 12 reps 15lbs, 10 reps 20 lbs
Alternating front raises
(3 sets) 15 reps 15 lbs, 12 reps 15 lbs, 12 reps 20 lbs
Seated rear lateral raises
(3 sets) 12 reps 15 lbs, 12 reps 15 lbs, 12 reps 20 lbs
Dumbbell shoulder press
(1 set) 12 reps 30 lbs each hand
Chest:
Incline dumbbell chest press
(5 sets) 12r 35 lbs x 2, 10r 40 lbs, 8r 45 lbs, 6r 50 lbs, 12r 40 lbs
Incline dumbbell flys
(1 set) 12r 30 lbs per arm
Back:
Lever Front Pulldown
(5 sets) 12r 105 lbs, 10r 115 lbs, 8r 125 lbs, 6r 140 lbs, 12r 115 lbs
Cable Row
(1 set) 12r 110 lbs
Biceps:
Alternating curl
(4 sets) 12r 30 lbs, 10r 35 lbs, 8r 40 lbs, 6r 40 lbs
Preacher curl
(1 Set) 12r 60 lbs
Triceps:
Dumbbell lying triceps extension (Skull crushers)
(5 sets) 12r 50 lbs, 10r 60 lbs, 8r 70 lbs, 6r 90 lbs, 12r 50 lbs
Standing dumbbell triceps extention
(1 set) 12r 50 lbs

Body-for-Life Anniversary

One year ago today I started my first BFL challenge. Right now I am 6 lbs heavier but in better shape cardiovasularly and more muscle mass. BFL provided me structure with a simple laid out plan to follow. The guestbook provided with motivation and the website you see today is way more advanced. I continue to use what I learned thru BFL because I believe it is "For Life" and just just a tool to get in shape only to come back later out of shape for another go round. I plan to do atleast one active challenge a year. I find the forum and more so the people in it help motivate, inform, and stay focus. Thanks you Body-for-Life and thank you to those who actively post here.

12-14-09 to 12-14-10

10K Training Week 6 Day 1

Tonight I ran for the first time in 10 days due to a sore foot. I figured the treadmill was a better idea than outside incase it started hurting again. I was able to do 3.2 mi in 30:45. My foot is slightly sore this morning but nothing like it had been. Tonight is will be upper body. I really enjoy resistance training and happy to be focus on it again after 6-8 weeks of doing it infrequently. I hopped on the elliptical for 10 minutes because I have some extra time. Total calories burnt 607 (501 treadmill and 106 elliptical)

10K Training Week 5 Day 6

I stayed up super late last night and slept in till noon today. Tonight is my office Christmas Party and I don't plan to exercise today.

10K Training Week 5 Day 5

Woke up at 5:20am (on my day off) and did the 5:45am spin class at my gym. I felt awesome afterward. Todays plan, wedding at 1pm and Geography Social at 5:30.

10K Training Week 5 Day 4

Tonight I met up with Patrick again to work on back and biceps. I usually wait 72 hours between workouts in a muscle group but he stated out with side raises and front raises. After that we did a back exercise using the bench and dumbbells. Then we did assisted pull ups. Next we did "7-11s", you take a fixed weight barbell and do 7 bicep curls only coming up to parallel then 7 starting parallel and coming up to your chest. Then 11 curls full range of motion. Lastly we did hammer curls.
We ended to workout doing his crazy Ab exercise. I think he might be one of those people who doesn't know that you can't stop reduce and that "Abs are made in the kitchen"

Since January 1st I have gained 14.4 lbs (5.5 lbs of lean tissue and 8.9 lbs of fat)

10K Training Week 5 Day 3

Tonight was another Spin Class and Yoga workout. My foot was hurting at work as much as it did on Saturday. I am also sore from my workout last night. The spin class instructor was 5-10 minutes late. She had us jump right in at a medium gear. I am not sure if it was because I had been resting my jogging but I did not feel the energy level I usually do. My usual level 5 felt like an 8 and my quads started to ache just above my knees after only 10-15 minutes. Once we did some standing I felt better and I was not in pain after the class.
I was worried that my sore shoulders and triceps would affect my yoga practice. I had to do a few modified poses and mainly the ones using the core. I felt so great afterward.
Tomorrow I think I am going to workout with Patrick again. I want to do Back and Biceps but lower body will be fine.

10K Training Week 5 Day 2

I have decided to focus on resistance training until my foot feels good enough to continue my 10K training. I had not worked out with my friend Patrick since the middle of September. I decided since it is Tuesday (the day we had worked out together in the past) that I would see if he was available. He had a final then was going to go to the gym and run on the treadmill till I got there. He asked if I wanted to do upper body and I said anything is fine.
We started out with forearms and shoulders. He handed me a 15 lb dumbbell and said he found a new exercise. You take one dumbbell in both hands and stick your arms straight out from body parallel to the ground. You use your hand to roll the dumbbell like a wheel rolling away from your body for 30 seconds. We did two sets and it was hard to fit both of my hands because they are kinda wide but I could feel it was effective.
Next we did 2 sets of 15 side raises and front raises. Then we went to the military press (always leaves me with DOMS). He said we should start with just the bar since it has been a few months. I insisted we put 2.5lbs on each side just to have something. We ended up doing 6 sets in a pyramid (5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 10lbs).
Next we moved to the bence press (my favorite thing about not exercising alone) we put 25 lbs on each side and Patrick said to do one full range of motion rep follow one pushing only halfway up. It was really tough and I had to focus on form and the breathing felt weird. We did 2 sets at 50lbs then 1 set at 40lbs. After this we were going to do decline press. The only decline bench was taken so I suggested to use an adjustable bench and two dumbells. We did 3 sets (35 lb each hand then 40 lb and 45 lbs).
Next we did our tricep workout. Using a 50 lb fixed weight barbell we did skull crushers followed by tricep dips on the side of the bench. We did 3 sets with the 3rd dropping the weight to 40 lbs and doing 15 reps.
At this point I thought I was done because I am not usually at the gym past 8pm. Patrick wanted to show his new AB workout routine. His discription sounded tiring. I tried to start it but doing sit-ups with a weighted ball proved too be too challenging. I did my own Ab workout of just body weight crunches then I called it a night.
I left gym with a feeling I had not felt in a while. Muscles sore and pumping with blood and I remember why I loved it in the first place. I plan to continue working with Patrick atleast one day a week.

Quote of the Day

"Man is a free agent; but he is not free if he does not believe it, for the more power he attributes to Destiny, the more he deprives himself of the power which God granted him when he gave him reason. - Giacomo Casanova

10K Training Week 5 Day 1

I am not sure if I should consider it resting my sore foot or laziness. I hurt my foot while jogging on Friday and I am giving it a rest for now. My plan was to lift weights tonight but I ended up going out to eat instead. My friend left his camera at my house a few weeks ago and he asked if I could stop by and drop it off. I hung around for a while to see his new place. Being hungry due to poor planning we decided to go to Posado's. I did not get home till 8:15pm.

10K Training Week 4 Day 6

I had always planned to lift weights on Saturday but life keeps getting in the way. Since my foot is sore and I had free time I went to the gym for an upper body workout. It had been 2 weeks since my last resistance training session. My chest, back, and triceps had long lost strength but I struggled with my biceps (which have been turning back into fatceps).

10K Training Week 4 Day 5

I decided to jog at South Lakes Park. The normal entrance was blocked so I park on the north side and the Middle School. I planned only doing 3-4 laps but after 2 laps (3.44 mi) my foot started to hurt. As I was running I saw a strange shape. I stopped to look and it was a scorpion about 2.5" long. I continued on and then I saw another smaller one. I have never seen scorpions in the DFW metro area.

Pounds & Inches

On Tuesday, September 21, 2010 I wrote an article on the HCG diet. A few days ago I read Pounds & Inches: A NEW APPROACH TO OBESITY by Dr. A.T.W. Simeons. After reading the detail and consideration gone into it I am now somewhat convinced that this is not an unhealthy fad diet. It is a treatment for obesity that is based on many hours of clinical observation and experimentation. I would suggest if you have any interest or just would like to know more about the treatment that you read Pounds & Inches by A.T.W. Simeons. The rest of this blog will be my summary of my weight loss journey so far.

I was obese for about 9-10 years. At the age of 12-13 I started to gain weight. I remember when I was in 5th grade (age 10-11) I weighed 95 lbs and about 5 feet tall. By 7th grade I reached my current height of 5'7". In 8th grade my weight and locker number were to name 186. Sometime between ages 15-16 I passed 200lbs. My junior year I was 245 lbs. In college I am sure I gained more based off how I looked in pictures but never set foot on a scale. When I was 23 I gave up fried foods for lent and then tried to keep it up afterwards. I got a new job when I was 24 and I started eating Subway sandwiches on my lunch break and my desk was up a flight of stairs. After 3 months I had dropped 9 lbs. My lease ended and I moved closer to work. I decided that the move was a great time to develop new habits. I joined a gym down the street and they asked if I wanted to do a 90 day commitment with a personal trainer. I had some extra money saved and said yes. Over the 90 days I was given a new trainer and I dropped 25 pounds. Hurricane Ike hit and I had to go work in the field for 2 weeks and during that time my trainer broke her foot. When I got back she has decided to stop training and I stopped going to the gym. I decided to give up all meat except fish, eggs, and dairy as a 40 day challenge. My roommate and I got in an argument and got in my car and drove off. I passed my gym and thought, "That is where I should be." I did a u-turn, went home and changed clothes. When I got to the gym my original trainer was there. He asked how I was doing and I told him I had not been going much recently. He offered me a 6 month contract at a reasonable price working with him once a week. I decided to do it and we met every Wednesday. I turned 25 and when the New Year started my family decided to have a Biggest Loser contest. I set a goal of a pound a week for the 20 week challenge. I started at 229 and by May I was 209. During those 5 months I decided to buy a house and I met my future fiancée. I stayed with my trainer for 4 more months. In August I bought a house further away from work. I kept meeting with the trainer since my contract with him did not end for another month. On my last session with him I weighed 191 just one pound from the original goal he set for me. I decided that 190 would be my new ceiling weight and as long as I weighed myself once a week it would not creep back up on me. I found a new workout routine online and worked out 4-5 days a week for a few months. While reading articles on bodybuilding.com I found one about how a guy won the Body-for-Life challenge. I looked it up and I liked the program. I bought the book and asked my girlfriend and another friend to try it with me. My friend decided to train for a 1/2 marathon but my girlfriend and I started it 11 days before Christmas. It is a 12 week exercise and nutrition program. I was highly motivated and stuck with it pretty much by the book. I started to have a short temper but my body fat percent was dropping pretty fast. After 7-8 weeks I changed the diet to help with my mood. I started the challenge weighing 182 lbs with 17.9% body fat and ended at 172.6 lbs and 15.2% body fat. My goal was 10-12%. After the challenge I lost motivation and gained back to 183 lbs over 4 months. I started another 12 week challenge in July but I was not strict on the weekends and incorporated Spin class and yoga and ate more food. I ended my second challenge at 179 and today 2 months later I am at 184.

Minus a few lazy weeks this past summer I have been working out 4-6 days a week for a long time. I can't maintain my goal weight nor can I seem to lose the last of my abdominal fat. 3 people in my office have had success with the HCG diet. There is a 21 and 42 day cycle. I only need to lose 15-20 pounds so after Christmas I want to try the 21 day cycle. I tract my body fat percent and will determine if I lose any muscle mass. I plan to take pictures and maybe even video blog the process.

1995 – 95 lbs
1998 – 186 lbs
2001 – 245 lbs
2008 – 255 lbs
2009 – 190 lbs
2010 – 173-184 lbs

10K Training Week 4 Day 4

Tonight I set a new distance PR, 5.7 miles.
1:05:56 total time. I had to wait to cross a few intersections.

10K Training Week 4 Day 3

Tonight was another Spin Class and Yoga 2 hour (1hr each) session. Yoga was more challenging that normal as the instructor decided to do alot of core work because of Thanksgiving.
Balancing stick (Warrior 3):