alright! so as i had promised in here the other week, i've finally taken a more legible "current" pic to share with y'all in here. however, before i get to that i just wanted to post up a very brief update on my week 4 summary. once again this week i've surpassed my expectations both on the diet and exercise which i am super happy about! i've managed to pull off yet another 6 day workout week, and stayed at or below my calories all week long with no weekend screw up. that said, i've needed to mix up my cardio (which was mostly biking out on the greenway trails) with some interval run/walk because the weather has just been downright ridiculous out lately. been raining every f'n day, and the trails i bike on can get rather muddy. not a big fan of biking in muddy puddles! the only issue i have been experiencing is that my legs are feeling really sore. i guess my lower body just isn't used to the running right now, but that will gradually subside as my legs get stronger and i condition my body. just getting back to my diet real quick here if i may -- i'm now a month in w/o consuming any breads, cereals, rice, stuff like that. honestly never thought i could even last a week or two, now i'm at week 4. i'm thinking of going up to memorial day where i plan to break the streak and have a hot dog or something. anyway, i'll just keep it short and sweet for this week!
Congrats on the continued success Cy! Not sure how you have gone "carb-less" that long, I could never do that! Keep up the grind and I'm sure you're going to like what you see when you finally weigh in. For my summary from this past week: Went over my calorie limit 2 days, but they weren't horribly unhealthy choices at least I suppose. Worked out 5 days which has been my target that I've hit every week since I started. Starting to notice more changes in my body and see more muscle. Still a long way to go though. Finally in the 150's as of today. 159.9 to be exact, hahaha. Not sure if that even counts My wife suggested I go to a personal trainer at the YMCA because they're doing a special promotion of $100 for 3 sessions. Just get a routine from him/her and have them check my form/etc. Thinking about torching that $100 and just going through with it. Would help me get better results I'm sure. With the weather being nicer, I'm sure their are going to be more slip-up days so gotta get more out of my productive days. For instance, we usually go to city market every Friday, which is just a big outdoor area with a bunch of food tents, and other tents with products, etc. I'm sure I can find some healthier choices there instead of the personal woodfire pizza I used to get every Friday. Maybe some wings or something would be a compromise. But we usually go with a group of friends which means I'll probably end up having a few beers. Not sure how I'm going to handle this yet. Part of me thinks to myself "this is why you workout - so you can stay healthy while still enjoying time out when the time presents itself". The other part of me thinks "I'm just cancelling out all the hard work I did, what's the point". Gotta find a middle ground I suppose. The important point from thsi week though, back into the 150's for the first time in probably 5 years I would think.
thx for that T as always! your encouragement has been so amazing to hear throughout this process! haha, yeah i think i may be stretching this carb-less run a bit too far. honestly was only meant to go a week, two at max. did not even think i go the first week (the headaches were brutal!!), but then i got some pretty inspiring words from my uncle over the phone just as i was starting out who said that he did this for 35 days in a row and lost a good chunk, so now i'm kinda up to challenge myself to see if i can last as long as he did...only another week to go to find out. next monday i'll be able to get a better read on how i've progressed throughout this first month as i'll get my first weigh in since starting. although the # on the scale won't mean anything for me, but my goal weight for this first phase was to be at or around 200lbs. we shall see. wow 150's! well done and congrats T! really happy for ya that is pretty awesome that you've been hitting your workout targets every week since you started! talk about dedication right there man! booyah! really cool to hear you're noticing the changes in your body! following along your progress in this thread since you started has been so inspiring. keep up the amazing work, you got 'dis all the way!
Finally as promised last week, I did the weigh in first thing in the morning today so I could get the most accurate read on just how much I have progressed since I got serious with my plan, and boy it did not disappoint. Starting Weight (4/30/2018): 225.4lbs Current Weight (5/28/2018): 205.2lbs Down 20.2lbs in 4 weeks. T'was a very sweet Memorial Day gift for me as you guys might imagine and I'm really glad I decided to wait this out until today to get this # because it was a super nice surprise to wake up to this morning. I was actually expecting a big higher at 210ish or so, but to get below 210 was pretty awesome to see. That being said, I still have about another 5lbs to go to reach my first phase goal which was 200. I'm not sure if I ever got the chance to share my 3 phase goals with you guys but here they are for this year- Phase #1 Goal: 200lbs. Phase #2 Goal: 190lbs. Phase #3 Goal: 175lbs. ULTIMATE GOAL: 165lbs. I'd like to get to my first phase goal by sometime next month and maybe phase 2 by Independence Day? Hmm, 15lbs in 5 weeks might be a tall order though. I'm essentially asking myself to lose close to the same amount of weight of my first month. But, like I've always said, what the # says on that scale isn't really important. It's how I'm looking and feeling that matters the most. So, if I don't hit it the #, no biggie. It's definitely not a setback or a screw up by any stretch! That # is just there to gauge my progress is all. My expectations are quite low, so I'm really not thinking I'll get to that phase 3 goal until the end of the summer at the very earliest... Ultimate Goal? Hah. They always say the last 10lbs are the hardest. I'm really not sure I'll be seeing that # this year, but I can certainly try. It's worth noting that I haven't been below 170 since my teens! And no, I'm not kidding. Anyway, just a very brief summary of my Week 4 here: Once again this week I worked out 6 days, and my diet was clean all week (including the weekend). Had maybe one overeat day on Thursday, but it was on healthy stuff, no junk. With today being Memorial Day I've decided to take the day off from the daily grind, and I will also be breaking my 4 week carb-less streak in the process as well. Thinking of maybe having a hot dog or something. In honor of the holiday I thought I'd throw in a quick pic in here for you guys as well. Happy Memorial Day to all of my fellow Stockaholics as well as your families & friends!
Damn, congrats on the amazing progress so far @bigbear0083! 20 pounds in 1 month is quite impressive! You do that 10 more times and you'll weigh nothing at all! Again, keep up the hard work, like you say to me, it's inspiring to have someone else doing it "alongside you" for some accountability. Even if the carb thing gets too hard to continue and you have to ease up a bit, no harm in taking it slower with a lifestyle you can live with permanently. Keep on truckin'! ---------- Well I had a pretty poor weak. Well poor for exercise, but not really that bad of a week all things considered. Only worked out 3 times, but had a bachelor party to attend yesterday and we went paintballing in 95 degree weather for 4 hours. So I'd definitely say that was a much better cardio workout than anything I've done since starting working out 2.5 months ago. So I'd say I worked out 4 times which has always been my actual goal, though I've achieved 5 days every week but 1 (forgot in my previous post that I had the wedding that one weekend and only worked out 4 times that week). I ate decent all week, including yesterday at the bachelor party. Had 1 cheat day on Friday as usual, probably going to become a real thing, though I won't have desert in the future. Waffle cone was too much on top of the rest I ate that day. Down to 158.1 lbs now. So down 1.8 lbs this week, although I'm not sure if that weight can be trusted simply because I sweat A TON yesterday and was not feeling good and I'm sure was very dehydrated. I don't have a 3 phase plan like Cy does, but if I had to guess, my small frame probably has a target weight of 150-155 after bulking up. I don't plan to ever go under 150. At this point, I think I need to find some sort of personal trainer or nutritionist or something of that nature. I want to get his/her opinion on a program so I can be in shape (cardio), but also bulk up and have a body to be proud of. I don't really need the constant motivation from them, so it will probably just be like a 1 month thing before I continue on my own. Not sure how long it will be before I get off my ass and put a plan together for this. I've already gotten a lot more tone, but paintballing yesterday showed me that I'm still very out of shape. I know a ton of it was being dehydrated, hungry, 95 degrees, etc. but I was sucking a ton of wind, a lot more than a lot of the people I was with who I would say I appear to be more in shape than. When I transition to "bulking up" instead of "losing weight while getting tone", I don't just want to "lift more, cardio less" because being in shape is actually very important to me. I also don't want to spend hours at the gym though building enough muscle to offset the fact that I have to do more cardio to be in shape enough to do more active things. By the way, 2 weeks from tomorrow will be 3 months on my new "lifestyle". My diet hasn't really changed much from before those 3 months though to be honest. Just more calorie counting, but same foods. I try to limit carbs a little (not eat 2 carb-centric meals a day basically), have given up desserts I would say at least 13 out of 14 days every 2 weeks), and have mostly given up pop (maybe 2 pops a week - try to make them both diet if I drink them). Alcohol consumption is now MAYBE once a week if that, and has been pretty much 2-3 beers on that day that I have been drinking. I feel like I can fairly easily live with this diet plan permanently. So if it's possible to get the body I want on this "diet", then I should have no problem doing it. I'm sure it will just take a lot longer than if I got a much stricter diet plan. Hopefully when I get the opinion of a professional, they can decide if what I am doing is good enough. This got WAY longer than I thought it would be
Absolutely! 100% agree right there. It's cool having someone also doing this alongside of me and keeping up with their progress in here has been a yuuuge inspiration. Thx for the grats and everything T! Coming from you that really means a ton. Haha, oh yeah I definitely would agree with that and also count paintballing as a day of cardio workout for sure. I don't think I could last that many hours in the kind of heat. I'm dehydrated just reading this! I think I'll go have a nice bottle of cold water now lol. Nicely done! Hah, the case of the water weight! Hey, still counts right. Looks like you are getting real close to your targets there T, and we're still only in the month of May with plenty of time until your upcoming summer vaca. August I think it is right? You totally got this. Yeah, I'm kind of in the same boat there with you as well. Once I get closer to my goal I think I will look to transition into a bulk up phase a bit. Kind of just easing back a little on the cardio, and spending some time in the weight room. However, not going full retard lifting weights or anything like that! I'm only looking to build lean muscle this go around, I don't want to get too big. I also don't want to spend too much time lifting. Probably just 2-3 times a week or something. Alternating upper and lower body workouts. Shit, 3 months already?! I'm seriously impressed how you've managed to pull this off despite your crazy busy work schedule and working the overnights to boot, T! That gets GINORMOUS props from me man. Talk about serious dedication and commitment right here. You are a true inspiration! Nah! It was a great read Chris. Thanks for sharing this week's summary, and all of your weekly updates since you started in here with us @T0rm3nted. It's really good stuff. Keep up the amazing work!
@T0rm3nted & @bigbear0083 Well, you guys are certainly an inspiration to us beer drinkers...lol. I've yet to do a three day workout, but when I do workout, I usually do about 50-90 reps total per body part ( just trying to get the muscles used to moving weights again ). Trying to stay motivated while also trying to day trade for a living.... Gotta make money 1st, then worry about my workouts later. Cy -> Your body frame looks like a perfect candidate for power lifting. Just a suggestion. In 6 months of heavy lifting, you could be kicking sand in @IchiFutures face...lol
^^ haahaa oldie hmm...power lifting you say, eh? sounds like a good plan there! not sure if i'm ready for that kind of lifting right now, but that does sound like a good idea once the weather cools down and i can no longer hit up the bike trails or run out on the greenway. i'll be spending most of my time hitting up the weight room for sure! thx for that suggestion. think i recall my sister (who is a serious health nut) once said the same to me as well. anyway, i just got back from a killer run out this morning...almost 2 hours worth which is a new high for me this season. previous high was 90min. felt good! no weight in for me this week, thinking of just doing these every other week from here on out until i reach my 3 phase goals. only had 1 slight overeat day this week (monday - memorial day) aside from that my diet was clean and i was at or under my calorie limits each day. we'll see how this weekend goes, but so far i've managed to avoid potential screw-up's/overeats the past few weekends. hoping i can get through another one here this weekend. i worked out another 6 days this week...will be taking tomorrow off. think i can now handle doing 6 days workout per week as my body is finally getting conditioned to all the biking and running i've been doing for the past 5 weeks. we'll see what next week brings, with my next weigh in coming next weekend.
still sluggin' it out here! decided to wait until monday to get the latest weigh in, so i don't have anything new to post here on that front for this weekend. overall though it was another good week. i got real fortunate with the weather this week. absolutely no rain! shocking, right? yeah, that was pretty sweet. took full advantage of that and hit up the bike trail every morning...was even contemplating going out again this morning, but i kinda like to take the weekends to rest. absolutely need the rest or else i'll start feeling like i'm burning out and that's precisely the thing i need to avoid at all cost. i'm not very young anymore where i could go longer than 10 days in a row w/o resting. although, admittedly i hate taking a rest day when the weather is so pleasant out like it is here again this morning. oh well. as for the diet, for the exception of thursday which i overate just a little, i was within my calorie limits. thursday was just an overeat on healthy foods though. kinda had one too many banana's and greek yogurt. at this point being 6 weeks into this plan (or 6 weeks when i finally got "serious") i can definitely start feeling some changes in my body. it's still not terribly dramatic, but it's something at least...kinda feeling a lighter on my feet as well. it's a start, but i still have a loooooong ways to go here. i just gotta keep taking this one day at a time and not think too far out ahead. again, this ain't no sprint to the finish line...and really i shouldn't be calling it a "finish line" because there really is no end to this once i hopefully do eventually hit my goals...this really needs to be my new "lifestyle" if you will. anyway, i will just keep it short in here for this week. will probably add one more post on monday after i've gotten the new weigh in.
forgot to post my updated weigh in yesterday. i'm happy to announce that i have reached my first phase goal (and then some). i now have a 1-handle in front of my weight: 198.6 first time since 2015 that i was in the 190s. off i go to my phase 2 goal which is 190 ... i don't think i can sustain this rate of weight loss for long though ... at some point i will begin to plateau. so i'm aiming for around the 4th of july to hit that goal, but that might be a tall order. 8 lbs. in 3 weeks? perhaps the middle of july would be a more realistic target. anyway, just keeping it real short in here since this wasn't meant to be a full weekly update (already posted that on saturday ).
Congrats on the 100’s Cy, that’s incredible work so far! I’ll update later tonight, most likely with 3 month pictures as of today
Well I weighed in at 156.9 today, down 14.9lbs in 3 months from my starting weight of 171.8. The most I've ever weighed is 178, so down over 21 lbs from that. Being on this swing schedule has made me feel a lot shittier than I felt even when I was working 70+ hours a week (7 10 hour shifts a week) on day shift while going to the gym at night every night. 40 hours on swing shift is not good for me, I need to get to A-Crew in the next year or so when some of the older guys retire at work. That will make this way easier and make me feel better and be healthier. I think I'm fairly close to my ideal weight, I don't think I want to drop below 150 so I have about 6.9lbs to spare, but I need to start bulking up. I guess that means significantly more strength training. I'll need to find a program. Not sure if we have any experts here? I still want a toned body that you can tell is toned when I have my shirt off. Not sure how strict I need to be on the diet for that to happen, so not sure if I can get there or not. I don't want to "hate life" in order to have the body I want, so if I can't get it, I can't get it. I'm willing to continue counting calories, limiting alcohol to once a week (2-4 beers that once a week), limiting carbs, but I'm not willing to protein load while eating no carbs every day, etc. Anyways, here's the 3-month progress pics. Didn't think I'd actually want to post these, but oh well. Motivation is motivation I guess.
^^ holy cow. lookin' good there T! i'm really liking how you did the before and current side-to-side shots there! definitely seeing a noticeable difference in the two! i wish i did the same before i started as well. dang it lol. i'm really impressed how you've managed to pull this off Chris, i mean given your crazy busy work sched (working the overnights and still managing to get your workouts in is amazing!) this really deserves ginormous props imho! and hell ya to motivation baby! i too was feeling a little reluctant to post pics in here (especially that i'm nowhere near my ultimate goal yet) but like you i felt it would only be added motivation. so thank you for sharing! incredible work, T! your determination and dedication into this process is unbelievably inspiring! seriously cannot say that enough. it's been hella motivating following along your progress in here every week since you started. really fuels the fire to keep going.
Gotten lazy on posting updates in here, I'll keep the update short but sweet. Up 1.5lbs last week to 158.4lbs. Had a night out with friends Friday, a wedding, and then fathers day on Sunday, so I wasn't expecting a good week. Controlled myself for the most part and limited the damage. Been grinding hard this week so far, low carb, workouts every day. I want to transition to the weight room to make more progress. Has anyone had any experience with the 5x5 routines, or anything like that? Not quite sure if I should try that out. Also, does that tone your whole body? Seems like it would still require other exercises to get the missed muscles since you're only doing 5 exercises. I would need to do cardio on my rest days, but wouldn't be sure the amount of cardio I could/should do in order to bulk up but also be "in shape".
^^ haha ya i've gotten a bit lazy on the updates here too, but still going pretty strong as well! thinking i will just do an update every other week instead of every week until i hit my 2nd phase goal. speaking of that 2nd phase goal, i'm happy to say that i'm halfway there. did a weigh in this morning and came in at 195.2 aiming to get to 190ish by independence day, but if not no biggie. was thinking of taking a small trip for the holiday so it would be a pretty nice little surprise for me. anyway, the workouts and eating plan for me are coming along pretty well. more or less status quo since i've started this plan. in other news -- i'm gonna need to head out and buy me a new mountain bike pretty soon. it's literally falling apart. it's endured a lot of wear and tear over the years and i don't feel like tuning/fixing it up so just deciding to go for a new one. will be sad to see it go as i've relied on it for 7 years. it was a great bike. hope i can find something as good as this one. will leave this week's update short! and @T0rm3nted yeah i'm going to be in the same boat as you once i get down close to my ultimate goal. will definitely need to hit up the weight room a bit more. not looking to get super big or anything, but just tone up some. not something i need to think about now but i'm thinking around fall time i'll need to start transitioning into more lifting than cardio. keep up the great work as always!
I started the Stronglifts 5x5 program today. Full explanation - https://stronglifts.com/5x5/ To make it simple for those who haven't heard anything about it, there's 5 exercises that target the large majority of your body. You do 5 sets of 5 reps, and you'll work out 3 days a week: M-W-F to keep the example simple. They highly recommend you start with just the bar for all exercises (barbell row and deadlift you start a little heavier). The idea is that you do 5 sets of 5 reps (90 seconds between sets - up to 5 minutes between sets when you start to struggle). Every time you complete that weight, you add 5 pounds the next time you do that exercise. This trains your body that there will be more weight every time, and you're getting progressively stronger. Pretty much everyone who does this program sees good results. I'm hoping to report the same thing. It's a highly regarded program that is talked about all over the place. Here's the details of the workouts: Workout A: Squat 5x5 Bench Press 5x5 Barbell Row 5x5 Workout B: Squat 5x5 Overhead Pres 5x5 Deadlift 1x5 So this week will be M: Workout A T: Rest (I'm going to do light cardio - probably 1 hour of walking) W: Workout B Thu: Rest (I'm going to do light cardio - probably 1 hour of walking) F: Workout A Sa: Rest Su: Rest So with the weights that I'm starting with here's what week 1 and 2 will look like so you can see how the progression works. In terms of my goals for this program, this is where I'd like to get to. In 6 months (so I'll call it by the end of the year) I'd like to be at Beginner. At 12 months (end of June '19) I'd like to be at Intermediate I. I'm not sure if these are attainable for someone with my body composition (pretty small guy in general), but it sounds like these goals are achievable for most and that most get there even quicker. I have 2 concerns however: 1. My life schedule. My schedule for work flips every week, I need to have a life with the wife and friends, etc. Monday and Wednesday should be doable, but Friday will get challenging a lot of weeks. My plan is to make it a priority to get to the gym either Friday night or Saturday night after work. Every week most people take a 2 day break Sat-Sun, I don't think it will matter if mine is Thur-Fri instead some weeks. 2. August is going to really set me back a bit, hopefully I can stay on track. I have a bachelor party in vegas in early august, a 1 week trip to mexico in mid august, and a camping/float trip with friends in late august. Copious amounts of alcohol will be consumed at all 3, and I'm sure I'll lose quite a bit of progress. The key will be between each trip getting right back to the gym, and trying to limit myself where possible. As usual - this got way longer than I intended. Congratulations if you read the whole thing and made it this far. You are a warrior.
whoo! finally got me a new mountain bike! it's nothing too special, but i just wanted to basically replicate what i had with my prior bike. i think i did a pretty good job at that. gave it a test run this morning and it was absolutely amazing. i will miss my old bike, it did its job for the 8 or whatever years its been...but super happy about the new bike...been waiting for this day for a long time. anyway, i'll keep this week's update very short. everything is pretty much status quo for me here. nothing really new to share. i haven't weighed myself since my last post. will either get a new weigh in this weekend or after i get back from my mini-4th of july vaca. probably before would be better as it would motivate me not to screw up too much on the dang trip! anyway, the food plan is still going strong...albeit i had maybe one little screw up last sunday as i was out with some friends. exercise is also status quo for the most part as well ... albeit i took a bit one too many rest days this week (tuesday and yesterday) but my excuse was because i was out shopping for a new bike. i know, lame excuse right? lol. anyway, i'll try posting a new update in here after i've gotten the new weigh in. keep up the great work @T0rm3nted! thx for sharing that 5x5 stronglifts program! haven't had time to really delve deep into it yet but it looks pretty promising at first blush! good stuff!
In my last posted update I was 158.4, down to 155.8 now. I started the 5x5 program like I mentioned above. Going OK so far. Have completed all of my sets at the required weights (though they do have you start real low to work on form and get your body used to the muscle memory since it's a beginner-intermediate program). Adding 5 pounds to all lifts (10 pounds to deadlift) will make my next workouts: Workout B - Wednesday Squat 5x5 90lb Overhead Press 5x5 60lb Deadlift 1x5 120lb Workout A - Friday Squat 5x5 95lb Bench Press 5x5 65lb Barbell Row 5x5 85lb Haven't really adjusted my eating. Trying to eat around maintenance still. Not sure if I want to start trying to bulk now, or waiting until after August (because I have 3 vacations coming up in August). I think I will start my bulk after that until the end of the year and check my progress. I told my wife if I like the results from this program, the bulk, etc. I'm going to go hard next year and do a cut to try to get the 6-pack on top of everything else. That's a long ways away. I'm not looking forward to cutting out a lot of the foods/drinks I like COMPLETELY, so I'm only gonna pursue the 6-pack if I like how the rest of my body looks after bulking for awhile and building a lot of muscle that I've never had in my life.
going to just keep my update real brief for this week, and probably won't be adding another update until i've either reached my phase goals or get close to them. this past week which was a vacation week for me did not go quite as smoothly (diet-wise) as i had hoped...overate a bit (especially on the 4th!) and did not even bother weighing myself this past weekend lol. got right back on track to start this week thankfully, and will see if i feel up to getting a new weigh in this coming weekend. going to just be on cruise control for the next couple of weeks...will be keeping the updates less frequent until i've reached my goals. mainly will just be keeping up with what i've been doing since i started this plan in late april. aside from last week's screw up though, it's been steady as she goes if you will. hoping to continue this right through the summer. will see if i can post updates in here on every phase goals that i hit, instead of weekly updates. my last weigh in was 3 weeks ago at 195.2, aiming for at or below 190 this weekend. keep up the amazing work chris!
