Cycling to work

Started back on the bike today. I thought I'd be much slower have lost the legs for it, but I did OK. I also wasn't pushing myself as hard as I could because I want to make sure I'm not too sore to ride in every day.

259.2

Signed up at 24 Hour Fitness again. Well, I got one of those 3-month-free passes in the mail from a class action lawsuit related to their continuing to charge people after they tried to cancel their membership. My wife and I cancelled our memberships months apart, but both had a month or two extra show up on our billing. It's funny when you get one of those legal letters in the mail and it describes something that you thought only happened to you.

Anyway, maybe I'll continue my membership after the 3 free months, but I'm thinking of hitting the gym as much as I can in these next 3 months, then signing up at a BJJ place again.

260.8 I'm back...

Hello. My "one month in Aurora, IL", turning into 2 months in Detroit. That was 2 months of working all day, every day (16 hours a day, 7 days a week). I just about lost my mind, but I made a lot of money which will hopefully allow me to focus back on my exercise program.

I'm back to my regular desk job and trying to restart my routines. I got sick about 2 weeks ago, but had to work through it, so the effects of it are still lingering on. I was trying to get completely un-sick before hitting the gym again, but I don't want to wait around any more. It is supposed to rain all week, so I can't start my bike commuting back up just yet.

I gained 10 lbs in the 2 months, but that was actually pretty good considering the working conditions. Most people in my line of work eat fast food 3 times a day when working on the road and I only ate fast food once in the 2 months.

My 30th birthday is in March, so I have plenty of time to reach my original goal weight of 220 before then. With any luck, I'll reach that and have enough time to re-evaluate my final target weight and then reach that before my birthday.

But I'll be OK with just reaching 220.

250

I cut my hand on Monday, so I've not been riding my bike this week. I thought I might "balloon up", but so far I'm still slowly losing.

I have to go to Aurora, IL for a month starting Monday, so I'm going to try to use that time away from home to workout a lot.

250.8

I've been holding steady for a while, trying to get it together for an attack on the next 10 lbs.

Still riding my bike to work every day, doing about 350 to 400 miles a month for the last 3 months.

252.6

Cycling totals for June:
414.90 Miles in 29h 01m 23s

I also ran 6.13 Miles

I'll have to start running more sooner or later. I'm still feeling lazy.

252.8

Slowly but surely.

253.4

255.4

The weight isn't flying off, but based on my cycling commute times, I'm getting in much better shape.

A month ago I had to really push it to get under 45 minutes for my 10.2 miles commute. Then I tried a little harder and set my new best time of about 42. For a few weeks I routinely had 42 and 43 minute commutes. But I crushed that time a few days ago, with a 38:26 and have made it in under 38 minutes every day since. It's weird how you try to do something and fail a bunch of times, but when you finally do it then seems routine.

Of course, I could probably shave a lot more of that time if I wasn't commuting over 100 miles a week (like if I only biked in every other day), but the cardio/weight loss is still my #1 priority. Once I get closer to 220 I'll consider shifting towards a performance based program.

256

I just got some Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar, we'll see if I notice anything from taking it daily.

256.6

Dieting is funny. I'll cut way back on calorie intake and lose a bunch of weight. Then it stalls. So I exercise like crazy and lose a bunch more weight, but then it stalls again. So I eat more and exercise less and lose even more weight.

I'm sure in 5 lbs or so it will stall again and I'll have to change something to get it going.

I'm sure there are ways to slowly and consistently lose weight, but I'm too impatient. Even when I try to do it the slow and easy way, it doesn't seem to work for me (but that's probably because I only give it a couple weeks before deciding I need to workout 3 times a day).

257.8

Well I guess eating more was the right thing to do.

260

I was feeling more and more run-down over the last couple weeks, and I figured I was either over-training or under-eating. Probably a bit of both.

So I've toned down the exercise to just my daily commute (about 1 1/2 hours of fairly high intensity cycling) and will run at night maybe once or twice a week depending on how I feel. I'll still have a hard training day on Sunday.

I also tried eating a high carb item just before my commute and I destroyed my previous record for my return commute last night and my ride in this morning.

Previous best time commuting in (10.2 miles) - 42:33
This morning's commuting time - 40:14

Previous best time commuting back (same distance but slightly more uphill) - 48:32
Yesterday evening's commute time - 43:30

My goal is to get both of these times into the mid-30s.

But those huge improvements (considering I've been done this same route 37 times and always push myself to beat my best time, suddenly shaving several minutes is huge), I have to admit my nutrition was the main factor.

So I'm eating a bit more, but my weight is holding steady. However, my weight was holding steady for almost a week before I started eating more, so I'm going to keep at this level of exercise with the increase in calories and see what happens.

I do seem to do best with a few weeks of extreme diet and exercise, then a week or two off, then back on. Ideally I'd like to find a middle ground though.

258.8

I've taken the last few evenings off, as my legs were having a harder time making the commute each day. Or I was just looking for excuses. Either way I'm going to start running again, maybe do another in-gym sprint triathlon tonight. My gym membership expires in 2 days, so I'm trying to get the most out of it.

Then I'll be looking to get some swim practice in the ocean. I've been researching the recommended spots and it seems Santa Monica beach, around guard tower 28 is the place to go. I haven't decided if I'll get a wetsuit now or try to just tough it out.

259

I took last night off (still biked to and from work). Will probably do another Sprint Triathlon tonight at the gym.

My weight is holding at the moment, but I expected it to go back up over 260, so I'm OK with holding at 258 or 259. I'll just have to ramp up the exercise.

258.8

Did a bike-to-run training session last night.
12.7 miles in 51:43
1.5 miles in 18:19

Total for May:
Swim: 710.85 Yd - 30m 25s
Bike: 345.76 Mi - 27h 51m 06s
Run: 29.57 Mi - 7h 41m 30s

258.6 - w/Photo

Just finished a sprint triathlon in the gym (just the distance, not competing with anyone).
.4 miles swim
14.1 mile bike ride
3.3 mile run
(above are the distances for the LA Triathlon - Sprint Course in October. I'm considering entering, but I'm very likely going to be called to work out of state during October).

Total time 2 hours 8 minutes (that includes the transition times, which were taking the elevator up two floors, since the pool is on a different level than the rest of the gym).

I'm guessing it was at least 25% easier in the gym than it would be outside, but it sets a starting time to work on improving. Swimming was harder than I remember.

Here's what I looked like at the end.

Exercise log for the last 4 weeks

There's some info missing, and the full 4 weeks doesn't end until tomorrow (that is my rest day though), but here are the numbers from my first 4 weeks of tracking my exercise:

Bicycle: 318.66 Mi - 25h 25m 23s (all while commuting to and from work)
Run/Hike: 24.77 Mi - 6h 41m 11s (about 10 miles hiking, 14.77 running)

Not bad for a fat guy.

Actually, last night while I was running and convincing myself to keep going, it occurred to me that running continuously for 5k (3.1 miles) would have seemed impossible. I knew I could build up to it, but the first time I tried running around the block, I made it 1 block. Not once around the block, but one length of one side of the block, before I had to take a walking break. Then there were weeks of only being able to run to the corner and back before needing a break.

I've been fairly active most of my life, but have never been near the condition I'm in now. The last time I ran continuously for 3.1 miles was when I was 12 or 13, and I think I only ever did it once without having to walk large portions of it.

So, as much as it sucks to feel heavy and slow, I occasionally have to remember how far I've come and how quickly I'm progressing.

Here is my 5k route.

259.6

Crossed into the 250s. If I can hold below 260 through the weekend, I'll consider it official.

I ran 3 miles last night, it went way better than the last time I ran the same route.
Here is my GPS info from the run:
41 mins, 00 sec
3.1 mi
Average speed: 4.5 mph
Max speed: 9.1 mph
Pace: 13:13 min/mi
Altitude gain: 43.0 m

I changed my blog format...

Some people find it annoying to read white text on a black background, so I'm trying a more "normal" setting. Also changed the font to the one that appeared easiest to read.

261.6

Last nights bike ride home was the hardest so far. You would think that 4 days off the bike would have rested me up, but it didn't work out that way. I also probably didn't eat enough carbs yesterday. I was only 12 minutes slower getting home, but that translates to a lot of slow, exhausted peddling up even slight inclines.

This morning I had oatmeal (1/2 cup of dry oats), 1 egg on a small piece of toast (60 calorie per slice), 2 tbsp of low-fat cottage cheese and about a 1/4 cup of 1% milk in my coffee/tea blend (I mix coffee and tea 50/50 to get a light but not weak sort of coffee). My ride in this morning was one of my fastest (maybe the fastest, but I started my timer and then messed around with something before leaving).

Here are my GPS stats for the ride:
43 mins, 35 secs
Average speed: 14.0 mph
Max speed: 28.1 mph
Pace: 4:16 min/mi

262 - w/Photos

Got back from a 2 day trip to Dallas last night. The first day I spent with my grandparents, the second day was a business meeting.

Usually when I visit my grandparents I just give in to eating unhealthy, and try to manage portion sizes. They only know one way to cook and that is to fry as much as you can. Anything you can't fry can be soaked in butter or sugar. And nothing should be eaten without a biscuit. Actually, by southern standards, my grandparents are reasonably healthy as they don't add gravy to every meal.

By my significant weight loss, combined with my grandma watching a lot of The Biggest Loser and my grandpa being told to stop eating fried foods, I was able to talk her into baking catfish. The funny part was that catfish has been a large part of their diets their entire life, with it being a daily food for the last 30+ years (when they moved to a lake-front property and kept their deep freezer full of catfish at all times), but in all that time, my grandma had never baked it. She had never tried preparing it in any other way than fried in a cornmeal batter. Considering how good it is like that, I guess I don't blame her.

But I couldn't stop her from serving french fries, but she did bake them as well. And I'm not sure what is in her coleslaw, but she also insisted that there was "nothing bad in there".

My plan was to eat somewhat large meals, because it is hard not to without upsetting my grandma, but then keep myself busy so I only eat 2 main meals a day. I only spent 1 day there, but I did so much I felt like I'd been there for a week. I replaced some missing boards off of the dock, cut dead limbs of of a large tree and trimmed the trees/bushes along the 100 yard driveway (which required a ladder for the trees). I probably ended up doing 6 hours of manual labor. I also caught 3 fish, a turtle (which I was able to get off the hook unharmed) and a 4 foot piece of metal chain. The biggest fish I caught by accident, throwing in the net to catch bait fish and I hauled up a 3 or 4 lbs catfish. I would leave my hooks in the water and then run around doing other things and come back to check on it.

I also saw my first water moccasin. I was at the end of the dock and saw it moving in the water closer to land. I walked down the dock to get a closer look, but lost sight of it while walking. I was standing looking out into the water when I looked down and found the snake had swam right up to the rocks below me and was looking right at me about 3 feet away. He then ducked back into the water and I didn't see him again. It gave me plenty of reason to never go swimming in their lake again.

After the meeting the next day, I had about 4 hours until my flight. I had cancelled my 24 Hour Fitness membership, but they make you pay a first and last month when you join, so when you call to cancel, you still have a month. It doesn't expire until May 5th, so I looked up the nearest location in Dallas and got a good workout in. I did 15 minutes on the eliptical, then a 3 mile run on the treadmill at about 5 mph (I fluctuated between 4.8 and 5 for most of it, then did a couple minutes of 6 mph). I wanted to go longer, but I didn't want to push my luck with my flight time. It was good I left when I did, because I hit heavy traffic and got to the gate with only 15 minutes until they started boarding.

Anyway, with all that going on, I still managed to lose weight. I think there is still some extra sodium and other junk in my system, so I'm thinking I'll be below 260 before the end of the week.

Here is the turtle I caught.

262.8

Went out to eat and then to a bar. Only had one (large) beer, but the combo of the dinner and beer probably made this the highest calorie day I've had in a while. Decided to punish myself with a 3.3 mile run at midnight. The first half was a lot of walking to keep from throwing up, but the 2nd half went pretty well.

263.4 - w/Photos

No change in weight today, I also didn't run last night. My legs needed a mid-week break (translation: I was feeling lazy). I put together a better comparison photo, wearing the exact same thing. Still not the best, because the starting photo sucks, but you get the idea. I think the window light is also helping my chin look thinner than it is, but I'll take whatever I can get.

263.4 - w/Photos

I thought a photo comparison was in order. Both of these photos suck, but I think it gives a general idea.

The photo on the left is me at around 320. The one on the right is from today (263.4). I know they don't make the best comparison because the 2nd one is from much closer, but I didn't have anyone to hold my cell phone. I'll do a better photo later.


I only look like a glass-eyed pig half of the time. The rest of the day I'm beautiful.

263.6

New lowest weight in many years. Although I'll have to stop saying that, because with any luck that will be every day.

Had a rough time getting home last night. Each bike commute is getting harder and harder. I thought it would get hard, then I would get used to it. But after 2 1/2 weeks, it seems I need to adjust my diet a little to be able to make it home each day. I don't mind pushing myself past my comfort zone, but I find it gets a little too dangerous in the last few miles of my return trip each night. I start trying to make moves around cars in traffic, but my reaction time and judgement aren't at their best. I've had a few close calls in the last week (not that close, but I've had to slam on my brakes or pull to the sidewalk suddenly).

So I'm going to start the day with a higher carb breakfast (probably oatmeal) and have some high carb item before my return trip. I'm not certain what the return trip item will be, I'm considering chocolate milk or some sports drink. Chocolate milk is popular as a high carb & protein beverage that's a lot cheaper than the various pre-package protein shakes. For people looking to lose weight, the recommendation is to get 1% fat, instead of non-fat, as your body needs some fat to properly process and get the most out of the chocolate milk.

That's a topic I haven't fully researched, but there seems to be a growing theory that non-fat products aren't the best idea. Low-fat items seem to get the best combo of lower calories but still having the benefits of the item you are eating. I also read an article a while back that found increased cancer risk for people who eat a lot of non-fat foods.

I'm sure it's not the end of the world either way, as the one thing I've learned from all the studies I've read, they are all a little misleading unless you understand every factor that goes into the results. And as a casual reader, you never do.

264.4

Got rained on a little on my last two bike commutes, but that's supposed to be the last of the rain. I plan to ride regardless of the weather, but if it rains really hard it will make for a nasty ride since I don't have fenders. For anyone who hasn't riden in the rain, you get a continuous spray of black water whipping off your front tire. It always leads to a spray of road water getting in your mouth.

265

My current plan is to do as much cardio during the week as possible (minimum of 1:40 of cycling just to get to and from work every day), then take Saturday as my rest day, then a run/hike on Sunday. On Saturday I also eat a bit more, still healthy but larger portions and ensure I get enough protein to help with recovery.

So every Sunday or Monday I expect to weigh a pound or so more than I did on Friday, then go down about 3 or 4 lbs during the week.

Here's a photo from yesterday's 7 mile hike. This is at the top of the Burbank hills, at the radio tower.

264.4

This marks a new lowest weight in about 8 years.

To explain that, about 10 years ago I joined a volunteer group that had a military-esque schedule. Working just about all hours that I wasn't sleeping and eating 3 meals a day in a cafeteria. I didn't really exercise, but the constant general activity and strict eating schedule (I could eat as much as I wanted within 30 minutes during those 3 meals a day, but by just limiting the opportunity to snack it kept my diet fairly low-calorie). I lost about 130 lbs in under a year. I stayed with that group for 2 1/2 years, keeping my weight right around 200 most of that time (I'm 6'3", so that's about the right weight for me with average muscle mass).

Then I left, got married and slowly gained the weight back. I had never been in a relationship before, so it was easy to lose myself in doing whatever you think will make the other person happy. So we ate out a lot and both gained a lot of weight over the course of a few years.

So, with the exception of those couple years where I was in a circumstance that is very unusual outside of the military, I've always been 100 lbs overweight. I hit 200 lbs when I was 12 or 13. I hit 300 around 17 years old. My mom said she first noticed I was significantly overweight when I was 4. Oddly enough, I was a very active kid. I went to a boarding school where a retired Marine drill sergeant came each morning and made us run 3 miles (while he drove behind us in his Cadillac yelling various drill sergeant things) and do sit-ups, push-ups, etc. Through all of that I gained weight continuously.

I'm now trying to truly change my lifestyle to that of an active adult. I think my downfall as a kid was improper diet (not unhealthy, as my boarding school didn't allow sugar or any kind of junk food, but allowed me to eat as much fruit as I wanted, which I think was the main factor in my weight gain). Having experimented with a wide range of diets and found what works for me, I think I can maintain this for the rest of my life.

Not that my new level of activity isn't without challenges. I thought the hardest part of riding my bike 11 miles each way to work every day was going to be just convincing myself to do it each day. So far that's been easy, but I've been running into mechanical problems. I broke a spoke a few days ago, had that replaced. Broke a spoke again the next day, found that the whole wheel is going, had that replaced yesterday. This morning right after I got into work, a co-worker came to tell me that my bike had just scared her half to death when the tire exploded. I checked it out and found the valve stem had just about blown off on the new wheel. I'm hoping that these are all related to the original problem and once I replace that tube, I'll be all set for a while.

-Mike

266

The biking to work every day is paying off. I also went to the Burbank Highschool track last night and ran 1.5 miles then power walked .5.

Time for some photos

Here I am getting close with nature on a hike last weekend.



This is me kayaking by myself in the Everglades about 2 weeks ago.

My fastest time yet...

I wanted to see what my best time would be if I pushed myself the whole way. I hit an average number of red lights and other delays, but I stayed in a semi-tucked position for the entire LA Bike path section and much of the streets. I bought longer climbing bars that point forward so I can lean forward farther. I thought this would mainly be for reduced wind drag, but that position seems to help with peddling faster/at a higher RPM.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 10:33:41 AM
42 mins, 33 secs
10.4 mi

Average speed: 14.7 mph
Max speed: 29.3 mph
Pace: 4:05 min/mi
Altitude gain: 186.0 m
Altitude loss: 263.0 m
Altitude change: -77.0 m

267.4

My bike is repaired and I gave it a thorough cleaning last night, so hopefully it appreciated all that. I'm back to commuting by bike.

Not the best day so far...

I bicycle commuted to work every day last week and was planning on doing it again this week, but this morning I broke a spoke on the rear wheel. I'm going to try to fix it myself, but if I have to take it to a bike shop it will probably have to be there a day, which means I'll be driving most of this week. I can go to the gym to make it up those days, but I'm trying to establish the bike as my only mode of transportation.

268.2

267.2

I've got "The Look"

I like to dress like an idiot a lot. Most people in LA have never seen a real-tree camo hat, and definitely wouldn't wear one, so it's extra funny here.

266.4

Almost back to my lowest weight from about 2 months ago. The bicycle commute to work seems to be doing the trick.

267.6

Moving in the right direction.

Hopefully I can keep this up...

Round-trip bike ride to work (10.4 miles each way). Then got home and ran 3.5 miles. Hope my legs work tomorrow.

I shaved a few minutes off my commute already...

• Wednesday, May 05, 2010 9:28:31 AM
• 47 mins, 55 secs
• 10.4 mi
• Average speed: 13.0 mph
• Max speed: 26.0 mph
• Pace: 4:36 min/mi
• Altitude gain: 232.0 m
• Altitude loss: 309.0 m
• Altitude change: -77.0 m

Some of my recent routes...

Here is the GPS map of my bicycle ride into work this morning.

Total time: 50 mins, 25 secs
Length of route: 10.3 mi

Average speed: 12.3 mph
Max speed: 24.5 mph

http://www.sanoodi.com/routes/work-commute-268432/widgets/map/

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is the route from my 7 miles hike/run on Sunday:

Total Time: 1 hr, 43 mins, 22 secs (this and the distance are a bit off because I couldn't get cell reception for the first part of the hike to start the GPS tracking).

Length of Route: 6.1 mi (I estimate it was about 7 miles total)

Average speed: 3.5 mph
Max speed: 7.1 mph
Pace: 16:56 min/mi
Altitude gain: 987.0 m

http://www.sanoodi.com/routes/stough-268172/widgets/map/

(The green marker is where it started tracking my route, but the red marker at the end of the hike is where I started from)

269.2

After gaining back a few pounds while traveling, my weight is moving in the right direction again. I'm back in LA and will be home for a month.

I did another crazy hike/run last night. It was only about 7 miles, but I ran 4 and hiked/speed walked the other 3. I ran whole way down (which accounts for most of that 4 miles of running), which is easier than running uphill, but seems to actually be harder than running on flat ground. My knees started to ache pretty bad and the continuous jarring motion of trying to keep yourself at a resonable pace made my stomach unhappy.

But I made it and saw a family of deer (a rare sight in LA). I definitely pushed myself a little too hard, as I almost fainted (or maybe actually did) when we went to dinner after. I started to feel really light headed and sick, so I went to the bathroom so I wouldn't puke on anyone at the dinner table. I just sat in the bathroom for what seemed like a minute or two, but after dinner my wife asked where I had gone for so long. But I lived, so I'll chalk it up to a learning experience. I need to bring water and a snack to keep everything working right.

I want to run a few times a week, then do a hike/run once a weekend. Maybe mix in some kayaking too.

Back on the road...

I'm in Miami (Weston at the moment). I've been on the road for 8 days, the first 4 days were in Miami Beach with Jenny. We ate and drank a lot, but didn't go crazy. We walked a lot, so hopefully we didn't set ourselves back (at least physically. Financially we set ourselves back a good $1,000).

After Jenny flew home on Sunday, I've been trying to run as much as possible. Monday I ran 2.5 miles in the morning and about that much at night (I noted my exact starting and stopping points in the morning, at night I ran intervals between lifeguard huts on the beach).

Last night I ran 4 miles straight (it may have been 3.8 miles, I'm using Google Maps to calculate). My knees are feeling it this morning, but it was great to push myself that far. That's probably the longest I've ever run in my life. When I was in boarding school, we would run up to 3 miles each morning, but I don't think I've ever done 4. After years of thinking I was too big to run, or that it would be to high-impact to be a practical exercise for me, I'm excited to be actually running.

It's a funny activity, because I feel liking giving up about 5 seconds in, and still feel that way a couple miles later. But there isn't any one moment that is so difficult that I can't push through it. So I just keep pressing forward.

My plan is to keep pushing myself to see how far I can go. I would love to run a marathon or compete in a triathlon.

After our canoe adventure in the Everglades, I would like to get into kayaking. I'm going to check out places in the LA area that rent them and see if it's something I could do regularly.

272.2

I've been traveling for work for the past month, but fell off my program for a couple weeks before that. Not sure what triggered it, but being on the road has a way of making you wish for time hit the gym. It also gives you a great excuse to not workout, even though I could find something to do no matter where I am. I seem to have my diet in check though, I didn't really gain any weight in almost 2 months off of a strict program, so that is something.

I was in Boston for a few weeks, then Florida for a few days. I'm heading back to Florida for a week and then Texas for a few days.

I usually need a gym to workout, but I'm trying to start running a few times a week, maybe building up to a daily run. That's something I could keep up no matter where I am, but I've always hated running and found I got tired or was in pain so quickly that it was hard to get in a decent cardio workout. But I'm almost finished reading "The Unforgiving Minute" by Craig Mullaney, which goes a lot into the Army Ranger training and pushing yourself past the pain or what you think is your limit. Obviously my fat ass trying to run around in a park doesn't compare to anything in the book, but just the attitude of pushing yourself farther than you want to go.

I just got back from a hike/run in Brand Park. It was about 3 miles (the hike portion was 1.1 miles and then I ran laps in the flatter part of the park).

Photos

I keep wanting to add photos to this blog, because endless words get boring. But I am always the photographer, rarely in the photos. And when I am in photos, I usually do something weird, so who knows what people would think if they didn't know me.

Anyway, here is my Flickr page, www.flickr.com/genericamerican , with 2,756 photos. You can go comment on them all if you have a few days to spare. If you click on Sets, you can see them in categorized groups. That should make them less random. Some of them are concert/show photos, some random stuff I do, and some are studio shoots with various people.

-Mike

265.6

Getting there, one day at a time.

The BodyBugg has been a huge part of my recent weight loss success, but another factor that I don't think I've mentioned is my wife. Today is the 8 year anniversary of our first date. I figured our wedding anniversary would replace this anniversary, but I figured wrong. I just have 2 anniversaries to remember now.

She comes from a very innactive family. Her father and brother are musicians (with hippy leanings) and her other two brothers are computer programmers. Her mother is a hardcore knitter. In her entire childhood, I don't think there was a single camping trip, family hike, bike ride, football game, etc. I didn't consider my family that active, but when compared to her's, we seem like extreme athletes.

Anyway, throughout my several diet & exercise program attempts, my wife would either have no involvement, or follow along for a week or two. In her defense, I was always the fatter one, with my weight fluctuating heavily. She slowly put on weight, so it wasn't until recently that she felt it important enough to get on board.

Since I've started my program, she has followed along to varying degrees, but has lost about 30 lbs (which is very impressive considering I've lost 57 lbs in the same time, but was over 110 lbs heavier than her to start). She wouldn't tell me her weight for the first couple months, so I don't know exactly how much she's lost.

I'm looking to lose at least another 45 lbs, she has about 25 to go. At our current pace, we should both be there before the end of this year.

-Mike

267

Been fluctuating a bit, was down to 266 a few days ago. Still making decent progress, but falling behind my weekly targets. I guess its good that I'm still making progress even in the face of minor failures, I'll get there eventually.

The BB forum had a thread congratulating me (or who they thought was me) on losing 146 lbs. Turns out it was another guy with a similar sounding blog name. I don't have 146 lbs to lose (unless I drop some muscle and get down to 5% body fat), but I'm over half way to my goal of 100 lbs.

268

Now I'm getting some momentum. It's amazing how much difference it makes to get 30 minutes of cardio in before work. I also get to work fully awake, which isn't a bad idea.

I've got 42 days until my birthday, with the goal being to weigh under 240 by then. That means I need to average .69 lbs lost every day from now until then. That's not too much higher than my original plan of losing .42 lbs a day. I do tend to leave things until the last minute and then try to rush it all, so maybe falling behind will give me the urgency to get it done.

It's so crazy, it just might work.

269.2

I lost the battle (getting to 269 by last Friday), but I won the war. Took a few days longer to get myself back on track, but I got there.

I'm sure the science is out there, but I've found that cardio in the morning seems to have a bigger effect than cardio at night. Maybe getting everything going in the morning keeps you running at a higher rate, but exercising at night and then going to sleep may kill that effect. Not sure, but that's my working theory.

Right now I'm doing 20 minutes of rowing in the morning and then 10 minutes of boxing (working a heavy bag and double-end bag). The rower is great exercise, but takes continuous focus, not like an elliptical where you can zone out, so the 20 minutes on the rower seems harder than an hour on an elliptical. But I already have one at home (as well as the boxing setup), so I'm just going to have to get used to it. Doing something you don't like builds character anyway.

At night I'm doing an hour on an elliptical machine.

Anyway, the point was that I seem to see more results from the 20 to 30 minutes of intense cardio in the morning, than I do from the 60 minutes at night.

But those may be skewed statistics, because when I'm dedicated enough to work out in the morning, I'm usually also on my best eating habits. When I'm feeling lazy, the morning workouts are the first thing to go, followed by a slightly "looser" diet.

If every other month I can hit a dedicated spurt and drop 20 lbs, then maintain that weight for my lazy month, I can live with that. As long as this month is the one where I drop 20. I'm still set on making my goal of being under 240 by March 24th.

-Mike

271.8

1.9 lbs away from breaking into the 260 range. I think I can make my goal of being there by tomorrow.

Thanks to those who are following me and commenting on here. Until yesterday, the security settings at my office (where I do most of my posting) didn't allow me to respond to comments, but I figure out a way around that. Didn't want you to think they went unnoticed.

-Mike

273.4

Lost my momentum, still having some problems with my work schedule. Well, to be honest, the increased work schedule isn't helping matters, but if I was pushing myself as hard as I was before I would be in the 260 or 250 range by now.

I'm making some changes to overcome that. I told my boss that I will be leaving every day by 5:30pm, and will put in overtime from home as needed. I'll be going straight to the gym from work, so I get my gym time in as the top priority, then make time for extra work from home (instead of getting the work done first and trying to make time for the gym).

When I'm doing well on my diet & exercise, my general mood improves, which makes me more productive at work anyway. So I think shifting the priorities will work out better for both.

The goal for this week is to be under 270 by Friday. I tend to drop a few pounds quickly after each leveling off point, so I think I can do that.

272.4

Still making progress in the right direction, but the increase in calories and heavy lifting have slowed my numbers down. I've decided to go back to my lower calorie range and focus on cardio until I reach my goal weight. Then I'll switch back to focus on strength. That was my original plan, but when you're a big guy and used to lifting more than 90% of the other guys in the gym, the peer pressure to "go huge" gets to you. It's also fun to leg press 800 lbs, but I'll have to hold off on that.

Back to my original plan of getting below 240 by my birthday, March 24.

After months of trying to get friends into the gym, I guess the New Years resolutions are helping me, because this week I've had 2 friends sign up at 24 Hour Fitness and a 3rd came in to check it out (she says she's going to sign up, but we'll see). My sales guy at 24 Hour Fitness loves me now.

The friends have actually ruined my last two gym visits, as I've had to show them around and then basically run them like I was a personal trainer because they don't know what they're doing in the gym. But it's worth it in the long run.

273.6

Was holding steady at 275, was just about to consider lowering my calorie intake back down, but weighed in at 273.6 this morning, so I'll keep at this 2000 to 2200 calorie range.

Received my mini-bike

Might have to raise my desk up, but I'm determine to make this work. If I can get everything setup right, I think it will help a lot to keep my legs going for as long as I'm able to during the day.

I was impressed with it's construction and resistance level, considering some of the reviews.

I'll update you if I get pulled into any meetings to address reports of strange activity in my office.

Blogs need photos, so....

Here is me hitting a watermelon with a bat at a redneck themed party (thus the customized shirt). As you can see, I'm extremely awesome sometimes.

274.6

For some reason it's more fun to see the scale pass by the 5 & 10 lbs mark (like going from 275 to 274), than all the pounds lost in between.

Did my first heavy leg day last night, then my first heavy arm day today. I was going to give it a day between the two, but I felt like lifting. I'm not even close to what I was lifting at my peak about 8 months ago, but I'm not as weak as I thought I might be. The increase in calories/protein has increase my strength dramatically in just a few days. I guess I was cutting it too low before. Maybe so, but the first 46 lbs I lost aren't complaining.

Feels good to do deadlifts and leg presses again. Not sure if I'll get into squats again, it is the only lift that I've never really felt natural or comfortable with. I know my form sucks, but even when I've tried to focus on correcting it, I still couldn't get it right.

For now I'm going to have 2 heavy lifting days (1 arm & abs/core, 1 leg & back) with 30 to 45 minutes of cardio on those days. The other 5 days a week will be all cardio.

-Mike

275.8

Back on the wagon, full force. Counting every calorie, preparing all meals at home, eating 5 small meals a day.

I ordered the mini-exercise bike, so that should arrive in a week or so. We'll see if that makes a big difference, or just makes me look like the crazy guy in the office who's always doing something weird under his desk.

(copied over from a BodyBugg forum post I made, in case anyone cares)

My job was already fairly inactive, but a recent promotion has me completely chained to my desk. I probably don't walk more than 100 ft in an 8 hour work day.

I've been thinking of ways to increase my activity and have been thinking of getting a mini-stair stepper or a mini-exercise bike. I was having a hard time finding anything like that, even though I've seen them before. Someone gave me an Amazon gift card and I remembered that Amazon has just about everything on earth.

A few minutes of searching found several options. I think I'm going to go with the smallest one, even though it isn't the quietest one. I'm tall, so it will be hard enough to use under a desk with the smalled (10" high) model. The silent model is 15" high.

I read reviews on several other models, but came down to these two. Only common complaint is that they don't offer much resistance, but the main point would be to keep my legs in motion, and most reviews said that even with minor resistance they were able to get a sweat going at their desk if they were trying to.

Anyway, I thought I'd share the results of my research in case anybody else is looking to something like this.

Smallest model:http://amzn.com/B000LGAPZI

Quietest model:http://amzn.com/B000KE8ASK

Like you're supposed to, I'm thinking about changes to make for the coming year. I rethought my diet and exercise plan. I'm going to increase my calorie intake so my recovery time will be faster and I can work out harder. I'll update the specifics later.

278.8

Getting a little derailed by life.

The new position at work has required staying late every night. I've been in the office as late as 11:30pm, and routinely until 9pm. Hoping the workload calms down, but the hours aren't optional at this point.

Due to this schedule, I've only made it to the gym about 3 times in 3 weeks. I am able to maintain weight when not working out though, so that's good.

When possible, I like to workout like crazy and diet very strictly, but in the long run, being able to maintain or continue on a slow weight loss when that is not possible is a more valuable skill than being able to drop 20 lbs in a month.

January should bring a lightened schedule and I got approval to setup a company computer at home, so I can work from there, which will allow me to hit the gym on the way home, then put in whatever overtime I need to from home. Currently I have to stay in the office, and it would take too long to go to leave work, go to the gym, come back to work and then go home.

So it's all looking good, I'm just not quite as far along as I had planned.

-Mike

278.4

I broke through the 280 mark! I know that isn't a standard benchmark, but a few years ago I stuck to a very strict calorie counting & excercise program and got down to about 285, then got stuck and gave up. I slowly put the weight back on. When I got down into the 280s again, I seemed to hit a mental block, got sick and had some other stuff happen, so I was worried I'd level off, but I keep marching on. That's the difference the BodyBugg seems to be making, it keeps it all in perspective, so I can look at the numbers and know that I'm eating too much or exercising too little, and not convice myself that things have just "stopped working".

I've started a new position with my company and am rediculously busy. I've been having to work 60 hour weeks for the last month or so. I'm the Central Property Supervisor and am reviewing all the work of 42 adjusters. In our companies history, I'm not sure anyone has ever attempted to supervise this many people. But like many things with my company, I'm young, stupid and related to the owners, so they use me for experimentation and know I can sue them. It's not so much that the hours are long, its that I was used to working out twice a day and doing all kinds of stuff in my free time, so it's getting harder to fit the gym time in. I've still managed to do it though, and reduced my calories on the days I knew I wasn't going to make it.

I'm pretty determine to make it down to at least 230. We'll see how hard that is and what I look like when I get there. At some point I'm going to switch the focus from weight loss to strength training. Ideally I'd still see fat loss during the strength training, but I would have to significantly increase my calorie intake to start serious lifting again. I'm not even attempting any lifting right now, the risk of injury is too high and my recovery time would be longer.

Well, it's 11:28pm and I'm typing this from the office after having just put in 6 hours of unpaid overtime (see earlier paragraph about new position at work). I'm going home.

283.6

I'm back.

I went to Texas, maintained my weight, but got sick on the last day. Well, I got a little sick on the last day in Texas, but what nearly killed me was having to get up at 3am, drive the airport, fly back to L.A. (with a layover), then drive straight in to work and stay there until 8pm.

The day before that I was slightly ill, by the end of that day, I had a 102.4 temperature. It was some kind of stomach flu, I didn't have any congestion or sore throat (which I usually always get when sick), but I had incredibly terrible things going on inside of me. That's all I'll say on that. And I feel mostly better, but haven't totally recovered.

So, 2 weeks off from the gym, and I'm still holding at the same weight. Not bad. I went to the gym last night, didn't feel too bad, but I have been having continuous headaches since being sick. Hoping that goes away soon.

I like breaking it down into pieces, so my next goal is to be under 260 in 6 weeks.

Thanksgiving in Texas... - w/Photo

It comes full circle. I think the first photo on here is from Texas a few years ago and now I'm posting photos from Texas last month. We raked all my grandma's leaves into a giant pile and burned them. When you're from LA (where you can't even light a cigarette in many parts of the city), bonfires are pretty entertaining.

283.8

Had a wild weekend. On Friday I met a friend at a bar and just got drunk for no reason. On Saturday, my wife's parents rented a room at the House of Blues on Sunset and had a fancy birthday party for her dad. Free food and drinks.

I'm going to Texas for Thanksgiving, we'll see if I live through that.

282.8

I'm going to a German restaurant tonight, I'll probably enjoy a dunkel, but I won't go too far.

283.5

Still moving in the right direction, but I think I've been slacking off the cardio a little. I've been doing a circuit of 10 minutes on the rower, heavy bag work, double-ended bag work and v-slips under a rope (basically lunges with boxing in mind).

It's a great workout, but has a lot of peaks and rests, so I think a more consistent cardio workout would be better.

I still plan on doing the above circuit every morning (as I've been doing since I set up my home gym), but want to start going back to 24 Hour Fitness at night (instead of working out at home a 2nd time each day).

Here is a graph I've been keeping. I like to keep graphs because it helps to have a quick visual of your progress. Without it, those days where you go up .2 lbs can be really annoying. The general trend of the graph will show you if things are working:


The graph starts at 309.2 lbs on 10/6/09.

The last point is today, 11/19/09 at 283.5 lbs.

I keep this taped up above my scale and update it each morning after I weigh myself. That weird spike and then dip in the graph a few days ago was a glitch with my scale. The number kept jumping around, but I weighed myself several times in a row and the last few times it held steady at a weight 3 lbs heavier than I thought was correct. I marked it on the graph, but the next day it dropped back down.

285.2

My weight was holding steady around 288, so I decided to just destroy myself with as much exercise as I could possibly fit in over the weekend, and now I'm at 285.2.

I weigh myself first thing in the morning (naked if you must know), every day, for a very consistent measurement. I know a lot of the programs out there advise not to weigh in daily, as this can be discouraging, but when you are trying for a daily deficit that is equal to most people's weekly deficit, I think it's OK.

My wife was sick on Thursday and Friday, so she was still recovering this weekend and didn't want to do anything. That worked for me, because usually my weekends are the hardest times to workout because I never know what we're going to do or when. But I started working out around 2pm on Saturday and didn't stop until about 8pm. Well, there were plenty of breaks, but I would try to stay active during the "breaks", like one of my breaks was getting on the roof and clearing off a bunch of leaves that had built up. Another "break" was moving all the old stuff that was stored on our side yard to try to throw away as much old crap as possible.

On Sunday, I did the same thing, but longer and harder (no pun intended). I thought I might have over-done it, but I feel pretty good today. I think I'm finally in that mode where I can just keep pushing myself.

-Mike

P.S. - The title of each post will be my weight from that morning's weigh-in. Wasn't sure if that was obvious or not.

People love photos in blogs, so here are some...

This is me hitting a can of beer with a baseball bat at a redneck themed party.









This is at the Bonneville (is that how you spell it?) Salt Flats. I think the salt makes me look fatter than usual.

This was just a post on the BodyBugg website, but...

I ended up rambling on a lot longer than I intended, so I thought I'd copy it over here.

I'm at 288.2 as of this morning. It seems to hold for a day or two, then drop 2 pounds, then hold again.
-----------------

Slow and steady may win the race, but I can't get excited about a race that slow. I don't watch golf or sailing for just that reason.

I've been hanging out on this message board and don't see many people going on crazy "Biggest Loser"-style programs.

Just curious if I'm the only one.

I also know that I should probably keep my head down until I've managed to stick to this crazy program for a little longer, as anybody can start a crazy program, it takes a true nut to finish it.

Assuming I don't flake out, I'm off to a good start.

In the last month, I've gone from 312 to 288, which is actually short of my target, but I'll take what I can get.

I don't like to publicly admit failure, so I'm hoping the more I document my goals, the less likely I will be to quit and hope nobody notices.

I want to get back into competing in Judo or Jiu Jitsu. Maybe take an amateur boxing match.

I'd like to get down to around 225 (I'm 6' 3" and reasonably muscular, so that would be a pretty good weight for me), before I start all that training again. It is great exercise, but often leads to injuries that make it hard to keep up a really consistent weight loss. I want to focus on the weight loss for a few months, then focus on training.

Well, this ended up being a lot longer then what I had in mind when I started typing.

Anybody else want to add their plans/goals so everybody else can harass you if you don't stick to it?

-Mike

288.6

Finished the main parts of my home gym. Have a punching bag hung up and a rower. I've been able to do it really cheap because the rower was left at my house by an old roommate (who asked me to sell it, but I never got around to it) and the punching bag was my brothers.

Working out at home last night and this morning. It's a little harder to get a continuous workout, but I worked out a lot longer and in more intense bursts, so my total calories burned was actually higher than usual (for the workout period, the day overall wasn't that great).

I'm going to try to use the rower for 30 minutes in the morning (I only did 25 this morning because my shoes started rubbing the skin off my toes, I still need to work out a few kinks in the setup/attire to get on a roll). I'll then go to 24 Hour Fitness at night or do another 30 minutes on the rower and an hour on the punching bag (broken up into rounds).

290.8 - Rough weekend

290.8

Got a little crazy this weekend, had Chinese food and a few beers. My weight stayed the same, so I guess I didn't go too far.

Setting up a punching bag and rower in my backyard, so I can get a better morning workout without taking up too much time.

Additional photographic documentation of fatness

My screen seems to widen this photo, thereby maximizing my fatness, but I think I'm at least 5% less fat in person. This photo was taken about a year ago, but should be fairly close to how I appeared about a month ago (just prior to starting with the BodyBugg).

People like to see fatness it all it's glory

This photo is a couple years old, but it's still pretty cool. My brother and I were in Texas visiting our grandparents. I was trying to blend in (I'm the city-boy of the family, being the only one born in California). I don't normally look this cool/rednick-ish.



I'll add some more humiliatingly fat photos later.

The beginning (again)

After a year of considering getting a BodyBugg, I finally got one. I'm a cheap bastard and when they released the new black model, it made the old gray ones really cheap on eBay. Got one for $149 (which included a 6 month membership to the website).

I've been very surprised by how helpful it is. The biggest thing is that it keeps your mind on the task at hand. It's a constant reminder. Every time I would start a diet or excercise program, after a couple weeks it would seem like it was taking forever to see any results. But the BodyBugg is charting it out day by day, so you can see that actual time you've put in and your effort (or lack of effort), and pinpoint the problem instead of developing a feeling like nothing works.

I've been wearing it for almost 3 weeks now (I think the first day was 10/21/09). I had already started dieting for about 10 days before and dropped 9 lbs, so the easy "beginning/water" weight was already off. I've lost another 15 lbs since starting with the BodyBugg (averaging 5 lbs a week).

I always lean towards doing things over the top, I can't go the slow route. If someone told me they had a program that was really easy and I would lose a pound a week for a year, I wouldn't bother doing it. That's just me. I need to be able to go after something and see results now. It's probably not the best way to go about things, but it's the only way for me. That was the problem I've had with any programs in the past (like Jenny Craig), they always wanted to meet with you and set small goals each week. I could never get interested in those small goals.

In that regard, BodyBugg is perfect for me. It is just a measuring device. If you want to destroy yourself with a crazy workout and diet program, it will just track you body's output the whole way. And that's what I need.

For the 3 weeks I've been using it, I've kept to about 1,500 to 1,700 calories a day. Buring 4,200 to 4,800 per day. Going to the gym for 30 minutes in the morning on the way to work and another 1 - 1.5 hours at night. I'd like to start riding my bike everywhere as a way of getting in additional calories burned, but I'm still too heavy to do that (the bike seat destroys my ass. I've researched different solutions and tried 3 different seats, no luck). I rode to and from work once (about 20 miles round trip) and I couldn't sit down right for a week.

I've been using the BodyBugg website daily, and neglecting to update this one, so I thought I'd summerize what's been going on. I'll start updating this at least once a week to have a record of my progress.

-Mike

Enter the BodyBugg era

After a year of considering getting a BodyBugg, I finally got one. I'm a cheap bastard and when they released the new black model, it made the old gray ones really cheap on eBay. Got one for $149 (which included a 6 month membership to the website).

I've been very surprised by how helpful it is. The biggest thing is that it keeps your mind on the task at hand. It's a constant reminder. Every time I would start a diet or exercise program, after a couple weeks it would seem like it was taking forever to see any results. But the BodyBugg is charting it out day by day, so you can see that actual time you've put in and your effort (or lack of effort), and pinpoint the problem instead of developing a feeling like nothing works.

I've been wearing it for almost 3 weeks now (I think the first day was 10/21/09). I had already started dieting for about 10 days before and dropped 9 lbs, so the easy "beginning/water" weight was already off. I've lost another 15 lbs since starting with the BodyBugg (averaging 5 lbs a week).

I always lean towards doing things over the top, I can't go the slow route. If someone told me they had a program that was really easy and I would lose a pound a week for a year, I wouldn't bother doing it. That's just me. I need to be able to go after something and see results now. It's probably not the best way to go about things, but it's the only way for me. That was the problem I've had with any programs in the past (like Jenny Craig), they always wanted to meet with you and set small goals each week. I could never get interested in those small goals.

In that regard, BodyBugg is perfect for me. It is just a measuring device. If you want to destroy yourself with a crazy workout and diet program, it will just track you body's output the whole way. And that's what I need.

For the 3 weeks I've been using it, I've kept to about 1,500 to 1,700 calories a day. Buring 4,200 to 4,800 per day. Going to the gym for 30 minutes in the morning on the way to work and another 1 - 1.5 hours at night. I'd like to start riding my bike everywhere as a way of getting in additional calories burned, but I'm still too heavy to do that (the bike seat destroys my ass. I've researched different solutions and tried 3 different seats, no luck). I rode to and from work once (about 20 miles round trip) and I couldn't sit down right for a week.

I've been using the BodyBugg website daily, and neglecting to update this one, so I thought I'd summarize what's been going on. I'll start updating this at least once a week to have a record of my progress.

-Mike

306.8 - This whole "diet & exercise" thing might be a good idea...

After a week of limited calories and hitting the gym twice a day, I'm down to 306.8.

That's pretty good considering I was at 315 a little while ago.

I'm probably under-cutting my calories, but it's working for now and I feel ok, so I'm going to keep "eye-balling" my diet until things stop working, then I'll start actually tracking the calories and number of meals.

315.2 - Rock bottom for the 75,334 time!

Here I am. A big whiney bitch. 315.2 lbs. Jenny and I talking about fixing our lives.

But, luckily for me, I'm manic depressive. And all that depressive makes way for some manic. So here it comes.

312 - Got sick

I took a free class at 10th Planet Burbank, had a good time getting mauled, then got really sick the next day. That was last week, I'm basically over the sickness, but still congested.

Being forced to stop going to the gym always makes me want to start a crazy hardcore program, so that's what I'm doing.

Going back to basics, strict calorie counting (1850 per day) and doing strictly cardio. When I'm in better shape I'll mix back in some heavy lifting, but I stand to gain a lot more by being able to use the strength I have, then flopping and lumbering around as the fattest guy in the room.

I weigh about 312 right now. I haven't been able to figure out why I'm slowly gaining. I haven't been dieting or doing enough cardio to expect a big loss, but my activity level compared to my food intake doesn't seem to justify the slow gain.

Moving to a new house in Burbank, which has a large yard. Going to set up a gym at home, which should increase the odds that I'll actually get in 2 cardio sessions a day. We still have the rower, so I'm going for at least an hour a day on it (split into two sessions). Ideally I'd like to get up to 2 x 45 minute rowing sessions.

P.S. - tried to sign back up at XTC (BJJ/gym), but was told the girl I needed to see leaves at 2pm. Now I doubt I can afford it with the rent of our new house. So they can just sue me for the money they think I owe them.

306 - Well, here we are again

I suppose all thing considered, I'm doing OK. I'm down to 306, which is better than 321 in January, but is nowhere near where I should be.

After a long dispute with my BJJ place, looks like I'll be signing back up there soon.

Going to try to work out there once during the day and then attend BJJ class at night.

If this blog is any indication, I'm guessing I'll fall short of that. But you never know.

321

Got back from a month working in Massachusetts. Kept up the lifting there, but not much cardio. It's hard enough to go to the gym when you are living out of a hotel and working 14 hours a day, but trying to do cardio on top of all that wasn't going to happen (ok, it could have happened, but it didn't).

I'm going at it "Biggest Loser" style. Have stopped the heavy lifting and doing circuit training of lower weights, about 20 reps each with 30 seconds in between. I'm able to keep my heart rate around 145 between cardio sets.

Weighed in last Friday, 321 lbs, going to weigh in again tomorrow. Weighing in once a week, even though I want to weigh in daily.

321.5 - Let's make another go

I'm heavier than I have been in a long time, but most of that weight gain is muscle, as I'm also stronger than ever. At least I kept up the BJJ and lifting.

Current weight: 321.5
Body Fat %: 48 (I'm not sure how this thing is calculating, that seems a bit high, but a fat guy can't argue)

Starting calorie counting again. Cutting the oats out of my morning shake and measuring out the flax seed oil to 1 table spoon. Going to start at 2000 calories and maybe work it down a little from there (1,800 seems to work the best, but I wasn't as active when I was cutting down that low). 2000 by eating 400 x 5 meals per day. Also starting back on the cardio.

Those testosterone pellets made my days a little brighter, but haven't made any noticeable change on my weight, strength or anything else.

I've slowly improved my bench to 225 (2 reps), but I've not been focusing on that. I've been doing a general lifting workout, but then hitting the free-motion cable machines like crazy. I'm trying to improve rotational and core strength, as I think that will improve my BJJ more than regular lifting.

Lifting/weight update

After I gave up on my super intense weight loss diet, I started focusing on lifting and protein intake to maximize results.

I noticed a very big difference when I did that. I've put on a few pounds (weight is ranging between 308 to 312, weighing at random times), but have a visible muscle mass, strength and recovery difference. I've been lifting at least 1 or 2 times a week (really going for it, with maybe 1 or 2 additional light days - kettlebells, cardio, light lifting for muscles not worked in the previous lifting session). I've been downing a protein shake before bed (relatively low calorie, 180 to 250 calories, but with about 50g of protein), and find I feel much better in the morning after a hard workout the night before.

Two days ago I benched my new max, 210 lbs (2 unassisted reps, 1 more with a little help from spotter). Clean and jerking 135 without too much trouble (doing a few sets of 4 reps, then moving down in weight). Doing upright rows with 100 lbs (2 or 3 sets of 8 reps). Dumbbell bench pressing 160 regularly, have done 170. Trying to get to 200, mainly for the ego boost and bragging rights around my brother.

Still staying away from squats, as I don't feel the risk/reward ratio works out in my favor.

Making fast progress in BJJ, can hang with almost everyone in the class. Considering my size advantage, this isn't saying much, but it is a first step. Nothing worse than having the size advantage and still sucking. Albert (the guy who absolutely dominated me my first month) now seems to be rolling near 100% (or at least near 100% of normal practice speed/power) and we generally end in a stalemate, although he would still destroy me in points if this were a tournament. Last month, I submitted him (arm triangle) in one class, then he submitted me in the next class (arm-in guillotine), then we rolled until the 5 min time limit in the last class with no submissions.

Anyway, I'm at work and my hip feels like it's bleeding internally (probably from BJJ), so I'm going to go for now.

Catching this thing up....

So, I haven't posted in a while. Fell a little off the wagon. Actually, only by my standards, as I have still kept on a pretty solid diet and am working out 5-6 days a week on average (2 BJJ classes and going to the gym).

Started researching more direct medical solutions. I have always felt that I had some hormonal deficiency, but I hate people who blame their fatness on that.  However, it does make sense. Everything from weight gain (and how/where I gain weight) to my lack of facial hair indicates low Testosterone.

So I did a bunch of research and was mildly considering a run to Tijuana, but I don't think I could ever go through with that, at least not without some professional guidance. Since I don't know any steroid users, it was probably not going to happen. Then I made a joke about steroids to my mom, who informed me that she has been on roids for a while. She was taking injections, and now has a pellet inserted under her skin once ever 6 months to regulate her T and estrogen levels.

So I went down and got a blood test. Turns out my total T level was 231, which is so low it qualifies as Hypogonadism (basically your nuts stop working). Any result under 300 is considered Hypogonadism, with a normal/ideal range being from 800 to 1100.  My step-dad scored a 550 or so, so I have half the T of a 62 year old man. My free T (unbonded T) was at 7, and should be at 52 or higher.  My PSA was normal (so I don't have prostate cancer, no surprise).

Here are some of the symptoms of Hypogonadism (from Wikipedia, the source of all knowledge):

Effects of low testosterone in men may include: (not all are present in any single individual)
Word Finding difficulty
Memory Loss
Fatigue
Muscle loss/atrophy
Increasing weight
Glucose intolerance (early diabetes)

I have experienced all of the above in increasing severity for the last several years. Especially the word finding and memory. I have been complaining for a while that my mind is deteriorating at a fairly fast pace. Sometimes I said this as a joke, but it has been really concerning me for a while.

The remaining symptoms (which I don't show much of), are:

Dry Skin Cracking nails
Frequent urination without infection
Getting up at night to urinate
Dementia-like memory loss
Poor sleep secondary to achy muscles
Erectile Dysfunction

So, I went down to Dr. Jackson, who turned out to be an OBGYN, which my mom failed to mention. That's another story.

I got 6 pellets inserted in my hip (more like my love-handles, but whatever). I think my mom got 1, so her description of what the process would be like was a little short of reality. Mine was more like trying to force a few extra things into a trash bag that is already full. There was some pushing and shoving to get all 6 pellets into the small hole she cut into me. They were said to be the size of a grain of rice, but I don't know what rice these people are eating. It was closer to the size of a half inch section of a drinking straw. And six of them. So, about the total size of a #2 pencil chopped up and shoved into me.

Then she stitched me. I wasn't told stitches were involved. In the end, it wasn't all that big of a deal, and it didn't hurt, but compared to what I was told, it was a bit much.

Now I have a big bruised and bandaged hip. I have 1200 mg of T in me, which dissolves over 6 months, for an average of 6.66 mg per day. It's supposed to take a few days to kick in, so I'm waiting to see if I can feel any difference, or if it will be very gradual. At those doses, I'm not expecting miracles, but I'll take whatever help I can get.

To be totally honest, now that I have started down this path, I wouldn't be against more "aggressive" hormone/drug solutions, but still can't stomach any type of surgery. We'll see where this goes.

309 - Fuckitall

Weight is hovering around 309, but I've not been waiting to eat in the morning, so I'm sure it would be about 305 if I was weighing the same way as when I started this.

I'm just going to keep going forward with the focus on strength and BJJ and see where that goes. I'm going in for bloodwork to see if there are any hormone imbalences, so that will be interesting.

Going to ramp up the kettlebells. That way, I'll at least be a solid fat guy, instead of just a fat guy.

303

Weighed 303 today. Have given up on Chicken & rice. Still going to keep it to lean proteins and slow carbs, but chicken & rice was pissing me off. Maybe I gave up to easy, but usually I can tell pretty quickly if something is working. I also probably wasn't eating enough steamed veggies.

305 - Weekend and this morning

Weighed in at 305 on Saturday, 306 on Sunday and 308 this morning (this morning my schedule got thrown off by having to drive my mom to the airport, so that may have caused some the the increased weight). Not sure why it went up over the weekend, I didn't do anything that would cause that.

I have been taking creatine, but I'm not sure that would account for several pounds.

I'll keep doing what I'm doing for another couple weeks, and if there isn't a continued downward trend, I'll change things up.

I'm going to start measuring food out more, as I'm just eye-balling portion size at the moment.

I switched to Muscle Milk protein (over the Vitimin Shoppe store brand).

303.2 - Update today

Weighed 303.2 this morning, so if I can keep this pace it will be pretty amazing. I'm hoping to at least keep this pace for the first 10 pounds or so. We'll see.

Did 40 minutes on the rower this morning, then almost puked up my protien shake. That might have been because I used Cheerios instead of oats (I was out of oats and bananas, so I needed something to add texture, but it tasted more like peanut-butter for some reason). It was gross, but I chugged it.

Photos of current Fatness

Photos taken yesterday (7-24-08)

Some photos to document fatness

Fatness as seen on recent road trip (begining of July, 2008)

I look extra fat in this one, but I think it may be an optical illusion due to the salt flats behind me.

304.4 - Chicken and Rice

I started on Brown rice and chicken today. I've been working out pretty hard twice a day for the last week or so. Rowing and kettlebell routine in the morning, then BJJ or lifting at the YMCA at night. I cut my calorie intake pretty low yesterday and was going through a lot of ups and downs physically, feeling really good/energized, then getting light headed. This is the rough phase that lasts for about 3 days, then it smoothes out.

My weight this morning was 304.4, which is the lowest it has been since our Missouri trip a couple weeks ago (it went from 302 before the trip to about 311 after).

Since this is the first blog entry, I guess I will list off my current lifting limits, to compare down the road.
The most I've benched is 2 reps of 205. Dumbbell press is at 170 for 4 reps (two 85s)
Clean and Jerk at 155, but it makes my low back angry, so I'm probably going to ease off that or research technique a little.
Deadlifted about 250, but my left knees swells a bit when I do that, so I usually do reps with 185 or so.