Food 9/30/2007

Today is free day. I was a little too aggressive with it at least at first, and really dove into some cravings I had, only to feel icky and guilty all at once.

• 3 cups of Natural Apple Juice, 9:00 AM
• Little Debbie Cake Donut, one pint Chocolate Milk, two Choco Tacos, a 2.62 ounce bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos, and about 10 oz. of Coca Cola, 11:30 AM
• Regular size (I think it's double the small size) Honey Bourbon Chicken Sub from Quizno's, large unsweetened Iced tea, 2:30 PM
• Hot Pockets Calzone, 6:00 PM
  

The glut of crappy food in the morning was just giving in to cravings from the week. I had intended to have a choco taco, another in the afternoon, and the Doritos at some point during the day, but it was so good... Actually, the Choco Tacos and the chocolate milk were great, the donut was mediocre and the Doritos weren't satisfying at all. Oh well, it's less than I used to eat on a weekend morning.

That was the first Coca Cola I had had in three weeks, and it was awful. Really disgusting tasting, and I couldn't finish it.

Quizno's doesn't make nutrition information available online or in the store, which is annoying.

Basically, I blew my free day, only ate 4 times because I didn't want anything else out of guilt. I need to figure out how I'm going to approach my free days in a way that doesn't blow my week and still gives me a nice break. A way to indulge rather than binge.

Food 9/29/2007

No workout on weekends for now. Today I ate:

• Good Eats Protein Bar, 9:30 AM
• Ham and Spinach Sandwich on Whole Wheat toast with a drizzle of Flaxseed Oil, 12:30 PM
  
• Spiru-Tein Banana Shake, mixed with one cup Skim Milk, 3:00 PM
  
• Good Eats Protein Bar, 5:30 PM
• Eating Right Meatloaf Dinner, small orange juice, Multivitamin and Calcium Pill, 8:00 PM

I also noshed on a 4-8 peanuts at a time all day long, and drank a gallon of water almost!

The Spiru-Tein was kinda gross, algae+bananas, I guess I shouldn't be surprised; it was green-tinted, but it filled me up--I'll try the chocolate later this week. Tomorrow is free day, I want Doritos and Choco Tacos for sure, maybe pizza, I guess we'll see. I was doing well until today, and just being around the apartment made me very hungry all day long. I need to focus on the weight loss.

This week I go on vacation, I need to strike a balance between enjoying myself and eating too much.

Food 9/28/2007

Today I ate:

• Good Eats Protein Bar, 9:00 AM
• Turkey and Spinach Sandwich on Whole Wheat Toast with Mustard, 11:30 AM
• Maximum Protein meal-replacement shake, 2:00 PM
• Good Eats Protein Bar, 4:30 PM
• 5 Ounces of Penne Pasta and 8 Ounces of Tomato Sauce, Multivitamin and Calcium Pills, 8:00 PM

Workout 9/28/2007

I worked out today, upper body day, I was trying to get going 10 minutes early, ended up on time, then locked myself out of the house and was 20 minutes late:

• Warmup on recumbent bike, 7 minutes.
• Barbell Curls, 45/45/50 (using the "fixed-weight" barbells).
• Dumbbell Front Raises, 15/15/15 (alternating arms)
• Dumbbell Shoulder Press, 20/20/20, form was better this time
• Dumbbell Lateral Raises, 12.5/12.5/12.5
• Seated Rear lateral Dumbbell Raises, 10/10/10
• Dumbbell exercise for rotator cuffs I can't find online, 10/10/10
• Lat Pulldowns, Cybex Machine, 90/90/90
• Chest Presses, Cybex machine, 70/70/70, last set was still hard--I did 6 reps, counted 10, did 3 reps, counted 10, and did the last rep, but that last rep was really bad form.
• Cable Seated Row, 90/90/90
• Tricep Pushdowns, 70/70/70, last set was pretty tough, maybe better than last time.
• Recumbent Bike, 9 minutes plus 2 minute cooldown.

Those pecs and triceps seem to be getting harder, dammit.

Food 9/27/2007

Today I ate:

• Good Eats Protein Bar, 9:00 AM
• Turkey and Spinach Sandwich on Whole Wheat Toast with Mustard, 12:00 PM
• Maximum Protein meal-replacement shake, 2:30 PM
• Good Eats Protein Bar, 5:00 PM
• Spicy Salmon Roll and 6-piece Tekka Maki roll, handful of peanuts, Large Glass of Orange Juice, Multivitamin and Calcium Pill, 8:00 PM

I was running late on the way home, so I stopped and got Sushi. That makes a nice little meal.

Workout 9/27/2007

I worked out today, lower body day:

• Warmup on recumbent bike, 7 minutes
• Leg Presses (hamstrings/glutes/quads) at 240/240/240
• Floor Bridges, 3 sets of 10
• Hip Abductors, 130/130/130
• Hip Adductors, 160/160/160
• Quads, 110/110/110
• Calves, 220/220/220/220
• Hamstrings, 105/105/105
• Recumbent Bike, 9 minutes, plus a minute and a half on the cooldown cycle

One of the really fit guys who work out every morning went out of his way to compliment me and give me encouragement. That was really motivating.

Food 9/26/2007

Today I ate:

• Good Eats Protein Bar, 9:00 AM
• Maximum Protein meal-replacement shake, 11:30 AM
• Turkey and Spinach Sandwich on Whole Wheat Toast with Mustard, 2:00 PM
  
• 5 Ounces of Penne Pasta and 8 Ounces of Tomato Sauce, Small Glass of Skim Milk, Multivitamin and Calcium Pills, 8:00 PM

I missed a meal today because of meetings. I should have prepared better. The pasta was a nice treat if, of course, loaded with carb calories.

Workout 9/26/2007

I worked out today, running 10 minutes late and I had a 9:00 AM meeting, so I felt a bit rushed:

• Warmup on recumbent bike, 7 minutes.
• Barbell Curls, 45/45/50 (using the "fixed-weight" barbells).
• Dumbbell Front Raises, 15/15/15 (alternating arms)
• Dumbbell Lateral Raises, 15/15/12.5, I think I'll try 12.5 for a while, my form really degrades by the last set.
• Seated Rear lateral Dumbbell Raises, 10/10/10
• Dumbbell exercise for rotator cuffs I can't find online, 10/10/10
• Dumbbell Shoulder Press, 20/20/20, form was better this time
• Tricep Pushdowns, 70/70/70/70, these were extra hard today. My Triceps hurt for 2 days after last time, and it was painful getting them down today, but 55 is way too light.
• Cable Seated Row, 90/90/90
• Lat Pulldowns, Cybex Machine, 90/90/90
• Chest Presses, Cybex machine, 70/70/70, last set was hard, I don't know why it's getting harder every time; I did an extra set of 5 afterwards.
• Recumbent Bike, 9 minutes plus 60 second cooldown.

I need to start getting going earlier. For one thing I now have 9:00 AM meetings three days a week, and that will probably go up once my project starts in earnest. Plus, it's getting crowded in the locker room and on the cardio equipment by 8:15/8:30.

Food 9/25/2007

Today I ate:

• Good Eats Protein Bar, 9:00 AM
• Turkey and Spinach Sandwich on Whole Wheat Toast with Mustard, 11:45 AM
  
• Maximum Protein meal-replacement shake, 2:40 PM
• Good Eats Protein Bar, 5:15 PM
  
• Ham and Spinach Sandwich on Whole Wheat toast with a drizzle of Flaxseed Oil, Large Glass of Orange Juice, Multivitamin and Calcium Pill, 8:00 PM

Workout 9/25/2007

I worked out this morning, running about 5 minutes late:

• Warmup on recumbent bike, 7 minutes
• Calves, 220/220/220/220
• Leg Presses (hamstrings/glutes/quads) at 230/230/230
• Quads, 110/110/110
• Hamstrings, 105/105/105
• Hip Abductors, 130/130/130
• Hip Adductors, 160/160/160
• Floor Bridges, 3 sets of 10
• Recumbent Bike, 9 minutes, plus 30 seconds on the cooldown cycle

Food 9/24/2007

Today I ate:

• Good Eats Protein Bar, 9:00 AM
• Turkey and Spinach Sandwich on Whole Wheat Toast with Mustard, one piece of Fruit Leather, 12:00
• Maximum Protein meal-replacement shake, 3:00 PM
• 4 Beef Spring Rolls, 6:00 PM (I couldn't find any beef spring roll calorie info, I'm going to switch to shrimp ones in the future)
• Good Eats Protein Bar, 8:00 PM
• Small glass of Apple Juice, Multivitamin and Calcium pill, 9:45 PM
  

Workout 9/24/2007

I worked out today. I was on time leaving I thought but I got there 5 minutes late. (I have started setting my alarm for 5:45.) Today was upper body day, I forgot to check last week's numbers first:

• Warmup on recumbent bike, 7 minutes
• Chest Presses, Cybex machine, 75/75/70, last set was only 9, I went up to 75 too soon
• Dumbbell Front Raises, 15/15/15, I did alternating arms and it was better form
• Dumbbell Lateral Raises, 15/15/15, my form still needs work but it was better, I tried doing some alternating but that seems to encourage bad form
• Seated Rear lateral Dumbbell Raises, 10/10/10, my weakest set but better than last week
• Dumbbell exercise for rotator cuffs I can't find online, 10/10/10
• Barbell Curls, 45/45/45 (using the "fixed-weight" barbells)
• Dumbbell Shoulder Press, 20/20/20, form was better this time
• Cable Seated Row, 90/90/90
• Tricep Pushdowns, 70/70/70/70, but my form was pretty bad at the end, need to sort this out, it's traditionally my favorite exercise
• Lat Pulldowns, Cybex Machine, 90/90/90
• Recumbent Bike, 9 minutes plus 30 second cooldown

Five Pounds!

I weighed myself this morning: 466! I have lost five pounds since last Tuesday. If I do that every week for a year and I'll be doing very well. I don't want to set up any unachievable goals (though I was losing 13 pounds a week once when I was younger), but it's a great start! I did better than some people in their second week on The Biggest Loser. Of course, 5 pounds is a tiny part of my total body weight, but screw it, I'm happy!!

Food 9/23/2007

Today was "free" day, a concept I found in Body For Life, one day a week to indulge; this helps psychologically, and a burst of food also may help the body not go into starvation mode due to reduced food intake.

• Red Oval Wheat Crackers with Chevre (goat cheese), 9:00 AM
• A 1/3-pound burger with lettuce and tomato and mustard, 2 pints of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, 1:00 PM
• Red Oval Wheat Crackers with Dubliner cheese, Multivitamin, Calcium pill, 3:00 PM
• Shrimp and Mushroom Burrito, Corn Chips, a little bit of Refried Beans, Margarita, and four mints, 7:30 PM
• 2 Large Glasses of organic Apple Juice, 10:00 PM

I feel pretty guilty about the food, now, as well as the relative expense of the day, but we'll see how it works out; the crackers were absurdly caloric. I also made a batch of homemade protein bars, which was also a significant expense to buy into--ingredients as well as equipment. In for a penny...

Food 9/22/2007

No workout on weekends, at least for now.

Today I ate:

• 2 Eggo Frozen Waffles, plain (I actually prefer plain waffles), 9:00 AM
• Clif Vanilla Almond Builder's Bar, 12:30 PM
• Turkey and Spinach Sandwich on Whole Wheat toast with a drizzle of Flaxseed Oil, 1/2 cup of Black Olives, 6:00 PM
• Ham and Spinach Sandwich on Whole Wheat toast with Mustard, Diet Root Beer, one teaspoon of Nutella (and then I threw out the jar), 9:00 PM

Tomorrow is my "free" day, I intend to have crackers and cheese (I bought Chevre and Dublin Cheddar), a burger and a couple beers, and there's a Mexican restaurant in La Jolla I have wanted to try since I moved here, I saw it a week after I arrived and have never been there since. I also intend to bake the Good Eats Protein Bars tomorrow.

Food 9/21/2007

Today I ate:

• Apex Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Square, coffee with sugar and creamer powder, 9:00 AM
• Turkey and Spinach Sandwich on Whole Wheat Toast, one piece of Fruit Leather, one barbecued Pork Rib, 12:30
• Maximum Protein meal-replacement shake, 3:30 PM
• Apex Fix Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar, one piece of Fruit Leather, 6:00 PM
• Spicy Salmon Roll and 6-piece Tekka Maki roll, handful of peanuts, multivitamin, 9:00 PM

The Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars are pretty much empty calories but it makes a nice change of pace.

Workout 9/21/2007

I worked out this morning. I was running only 5 minutes late until I noticed a suspicious charge on my bank account and it took 10 minutes to track down that the dating site I use changed its billing name.

Today was lower body day:

• Warmup on recumbent bike, 7 minutes
• Leg Presses (hamstrings/glutes/quads) at 220
• Calves, at 200/200/220/220
• Quads, at 90/110/110
• Hamstrings, 90/105/105
• Hip Adductors, 160/160/160
• Hip Abductors, 130/130/130
• Floor Bridges, 3 sets of 10
• Recumbent Bike, 7 minutes, plus one minute on the cooldown cycle

It was a pretty good morning, I was efficient with my time and effort and I felt really good about the exercises I did, I was glad I made the effort to get off the Cybex machine for the Leg Presses, and I am left in a good mood for the day.

Food 9/20/2007

Today I ate:

• Apex Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Square, coffee with sugar and creamer powder, 9:30 AM
• Salmon Avocado Roll and about 1/3 order of Vegetable Yakisoba, 12:45
• One Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, 3:00 PM
• One Fun Size Butterfinger and one Snickers Miniature, 6:00
• Two Lean Pockets Meatball... Pockets, I guess, 2 medium glasses of Orange Juice, and a multivitamin 9:30 PM

Long day, in a meeting with a publisher most of the day, and I was lazy about it. Less than 1900 calories or so.

Workout 9/20/2007

I worked out as ususal, today was upper body day. I ran 20 minutes late and was kind of slow at the gym, too.

• Warmup on recumbent bike, 7 minutes
• Chest Presses, Cybex machine, 70/70/75
• Dumbbell Shoulder Press, 20/20/20, but my form was pathetic
• Dumbbell Front Raises, 17.5/17.5/15, similar problems
• Dumbbell Lateral Raises, 15/15/15, similar problems
• Seated Rear lateral Dumbbell Raises, 10/10/10, similar problems.
• Dumbbell exercise I can't find online, 10/10/10
• Barbell Curls, 40/40/45 (using the "fixed-weight" barbells)
• Lat Pulldowns, Cybex Machine, 90/90/95/95, my form was bad at the end--I wasn't able to get the bar all the way down to my chest for most of the last 2 sets
• Cable Seated Row, 90/90/90
• Recumbent Bike, 7 minutes (I was running late at this point, and I had some technical difficulty with the pedals and straps, which caused the machine to cancel my cooldown cycle)

I'll write more later, I need to get ready for a big meeting.

Food 9/19/2007

Today I ate:

• Apex Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Square, 9:00 AM (they were on sale, are tasty, and had the most protein), a sliver of Russian honey cake (I shaved down one end), and 4 small gourmet chocolate covered cookies, for which I feel guilty, somewhat...
• Turkey, lettuce, and tomato sandwich on Rye with mustard and a side of sauerkraut and a diet coke, 12:30
• Apex Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Square, 3:00 PM, and one more cookie at 4:00
  
• Stouffer's Frozen Lasagna and 2 tall glasses of Orange Juice (and a multivitamin), 8:00 PM
• I will have a banana and a handful of peanuts about 9:30 PM.

That's five, again, and wildly divergent.

Damn those cookies.

Workout 9/19/2007

I worked out this morning. I was a half hour late getting moving again, damn it all, but once I was at the gym it was productive.

Today was lower body day. I did:

• Warmup on recumbent bike, 7 minutes
• Calves, at 180 (should go up next time)
• Quads, at 70/70/80, and 80 was about right
• Floor Bridges
• Hamstrings, I don't remember the setting
• Leg Presses (hamstrings/glutes/quads) at 230
• Hip Adductors (145)
• Hip Abductors (70?, I don't remember exactly)
• Recumbent Bike, 7 minutes, but I also did the whole 2 minute cooldown for a total of 9 minutes, which is what I was planning to move to next week.

I did everything on machines but the floor bridges. Friday I will do leg presses with free weights on a leg press rig.

Tomorrow is upper body and I want to mix in a couple new exercises for variety, so tonight I will have to research. I also need to find an abdominal excercise I can actually do with my bulk.

Food 9/18/2007

Today I ate:

• 1 Banana, and coffee with cream and sugar, after workout (9:00 AM)
  
• 1 Clif Builder's Bar (protein bar), noon
• 100-calorie pack of cheese ducks (like goldfish, but organic and bland), 2:00 PM
• Peanut Butter Sandwich on white bread--screw the natural PB, please--6:00 PM
  
• Frozen Boston market Turkey Medallions and Stuffing dinner (490 calories, and it was delicious, thank you very much, and loaded with salt). Also a couple dozen organic green grapes--I needed to eat them, they are on the verge of going bad because I forgot I bought them, and I don't want to throw out the whole bag... 8:00 PM
  

I realize that's only 5 meals, and that pack of cheese ducks was pathetic, I need to get this act together.

I refuse to be reduced to only bland food, dear God let me be able to do this while still having an occasional tasty item like that frozen dinner.

Personal Training 9/18/07

This morning I met with a personal trainer at 24 Hour Fitness for the free session I got with my company's group membership. After some brief introductions to general fitness, most of which I already knew, he recommended I do more free weight exercises than the fitness machines, since I would have more room to move around and be less constrained, considering my not-inconsiderable size. I like the machines because they make it more clear to me what I am accomplishing, and the "gadget" quotient tickles a few neurons, but the hardcore fitness people seem to do free weights more; I know that supposedly it takes more balance so you are affecting all the muscles in your body, and the machines isolate the muscles more. My question is always whether they are being somewhat snobby about the machines, or if there is more benefit to free weights. When pressed, the trainer said the machines were fine, but is he a reliable witness, since his employer stocks a huge building full of the machines, and he can't be too forceful about it? How opinionated can these people be?

On a similar note, one of the things the trainer mentioned was that I should consider trying some of the Apex Fat Burn 1/2/3 and meal replacement products. I went back to the office interested in it, after checking the products out in the weird "vestibule o' things to buy" at the club. After talking with the fitness gurus in the office, it seems the Apex product line is a division of 24 Hour Fitness, though a web search finds a bunch of places to buy the Apex products besides the gym. Unfortunately I only find one mention of the stuff anywhere you can't buy it, and while it is critical of the Fat Burn, it doesn't give any details. Typical of enthusiast forums, where people choose to display their expertise by talking tough and being unhelpful. Your sad little life doesn't impress me, dumbass.

Anyhow, I might try the meal replacement from Apex, and compare it to some stuff recommended by GNC. One thing he did convince me of was to try to adopt the 6 small meals a day plan that has been so heavily advocated by the fitness industry lately. Again, the profits reaped through this "latest development" make me cringe, but I'll give it a shot, and the trainer mentioned far more real food than he did the pseudofood I am nevertheless considering as a linchpin of my weight loss plan.

Probably the most directly beneficial part of my session with the trainer was he showed me a few deltoid exercises with dumbbells. Unfortunately, it exposes me to the lower back pain that has provided me with an all-too-convenient excuse not to exercise for years. At least he taught me an exercise called the floor bridge that I can do that should help strengthen my lower back, and he thinks my hamstrings are too tight which contributes to the back pain; I'm not sure what that means, but it sounded clever.

Dang it, I was looking for links for the deltoid exercises and it turns out I think I misunderstood him, one of the things he taught me seems to be rotator cuffs. Rear Delts are something for which I can find no exercise that will be comfortable with my tremendous belly, as they all seem to require leaning very far forward and raising weights up sideways.

It's a surprising amount of work to learn all this crap.

Weight Loss

I wonder how many hundreds of people have done this on Blogspot, but I'm going to try starting a journal of my weight loss. I just had my weight checked this morning at the gym, and I'm up to 471 pounds. That's absurd. Seriously, how the hell did I let this happen?