Week 7 Progress Report - A Tad Late

Hello all! (basically just me, haha)

Anyways, so I'm a little late getting the weekly progress report up, but I'm glad to say that I made it to the gym 4 times last week. I still missed the elliptical, but I hit the weights M-Th. On Thursday night I left for Atlantic City. I came home Friday night $200 lighter, but I had fun and I got carded 3 times, so that's good!

In other news, when I walking Maya up the road here on Thursday, it was hot and I had my shirt off. I turned my head to see what Maya was sniffing and some girl drove by and went "Daaamn". I suppose that's a good thing. I hope she didn't mean to say, "Damn, put a shirt on". I don't think she did, and at any rate it felt good. I know women supposedly don't like it when men do that to them, but who are they kidding it's an ego boost. I felt like a piece of meat and I loved it! Just wait 'till those ladies see me next summer.

Catch 'ya later!

On Liking Foods I Previously Hated

So part of my trying to buff up has also been a larger commitment to lead a healthier lifestyle. Both physically and mentally. Obviously I can't go to the gym 4x a week if I'm eating like crap and sulking. The positive will cancel out the negatives. Therefore, I've been trying to eat a lot healthier. Using the LoseIt! iPhone application has certainly helped in this area. I can't believe how many calories are in some foods. I used to go to McDonalds for lunch a couple of times a week and have an Angus bacon and cheese burger along with large fries. When I saw how many calories were in this "lunch" I knew I had to change that habit. Not only was my "lunch" consuming almost 2/3 of my calorie requirements for the day, but this was just not healthy. So while I still go to McDonalds I now have two 4-piece nuggets and small fries. (By the way, it costs less at my McDonalds to get two 4-piece nuggets than one 6-piece. I'm not the best at math, but even I know which is the better deal). I'm still not eating tofu and bean sprouts, but I'm doing much better.

Another thing I've been surprised by is how much I crave my daily salads now. When I was growing up I hated salad. My parents only ate romaine lettuce and I only ate the "crunchy" leaves. Essentially I avoided the leafy green leaves. My father used to tell me this is where all the nutrients were, and the "crunchy" leaves were like eating water. Whatever, I ate my salad... shut-up! As I got older I ate less and less salad, and when I did have salads I wanted iceberg, which was just water in leaf form too. Anyways, one day I picked up some romaine hearts from the store and told myself that I had to eat healthier and this would be a good start. Flash forward a few months later and I've been having a nice big salad every night and I love them! They are so crunchy and refreshing, even the green leaves! Of course, I don't just have the leaves my salad consists of romaine lettuce, olives, cucumber, croutons, bacon bits, and a hard boiled egg, with a drizzle of italian dressing... tasty! Another side bonus is that my main course is much smaller since the salad fills me up quite a bit.

I'm hoping that like I now enjoy my salad I can eventually add a bunch more fruits and vegetable to the mix!

Catch 'ya later!

Week 6 Progress Report

Another week at the gym done. This time I went 5 days. Also, I walked my dog, Maya, 4 days this week on my 2.5 mile loop. That means I walked 10 miles this week. That's pretty intense. I could definitely feel the burn in my thighs after those walks.

Today at the gym was biceps and triceps. I did a new routine called Biceps21. Basically you take half of what you normally curl and do 7 reps going halfway up, then you do 7 reps going from the top of the motion halfway down, then you do 7 complete reps. It was pretty intense, and I was told by others that it will really help me gain size in my biceps. I hope they are right! My biceps could use it.

On another note, it's kind of sad that it's getting darker out earlier. I'm missing the long summer days. I need to move closer to the equator.

Catch 'ya later.

Week 5 Progress Report - A Bit Late!

So it's a new month, and as such, it is time for new photos. Nothing special here as far as I can see. One day at a time, one weight at a time, eventually I'll get to the point where I'm as big as I want to be. Funny thing is whenever I look at myself in the mirror I look much more defined, but these pictures still make me look like stick man. Aargh!

This morning I was put-zing around with LoseIt on my iPhone and realized I had royally screwed up somehow when I put in the nutritional information for the Muscle Milk protein powder. I had it down for way too many calories. Thus I was always struggling to stay under my daily calorie budget. Now it's not so hard. The negative here is that I was also not getting as much protein as I originally thought. Oh well.

Tomorrow I think I will try the circuit training at the gym. I've never done that before. It should be good to mix it up a bit. I have set a new record though. I did 40 legs lifts on the roman chair! Next goal is 50.

Also, I'd like to report that I got my check from Oxford for $200! You can apply for gym reimbursement and get a $200 check every six months as long as you go 50 times in the 6 months. My gym only costs $60 for 6 months so essentially I am making $140 and getting healthier and looking better. Wins all around.

Catch 'ya later!

Back From Vacation!

I've been absent for a week and didn't do my end of the month photos progress report... well that's because I was in Massachusetts for the week. I went to Boston, Cape Cod, Plymouth, and Martha's Vineyard. I also took a detour to Mohegan Sun. I won $45. Of course that's not great, but I also won it while playing blackjack for 3 hours, so I consider that a win-win. Got some money, and played some blackjack!

At any rate, while on vacation I didn't work out. I went to the gym on Monday before I left, and considered using the hotel gym, but just never got up early enough. I did get a lot of exercise from all the walking that I did!

I'm not going to do my monthly progress until the end of this week since I didn't go to the gym much last week. I know it sounds petty, but I want a decent result! On the plus side, I weighed myself at work on Saturday and am now up to 140! Only 10 more pounds to go to my next goal of 150. I know it's going to be a slow journey, but I'll get there!

Catch ya' later!