Switch It Up

I was lifting last week and I just could not get over that fact that my arms were not increasing in strength. I have been increasing in everything else but not that. So this week I switched the order in which I did my lifts and saw a huge improvement right away. For my arms, I was able to lift past 95 pounds for EZ curls and when I did my flat bench dumbells, I did an easy set of 90s. I am starting to feel sore today and that is only one day after the lifts, I am happy about that.

This just goes to show you that you have to switch things up and shock your system. Your body is the most adaptive machine on the planet so you have to treat as such and shock the shit out of it. I know I have preached this before but I sometimes lose focus on this and need to get slapped from time and time again so I can pay attention to it.

Data Data Data...Sometimes to much is to much.

I have been maintaining a couple of journals to keep track of my progress. I have now come down to using a little journal book that I keep in my back pocket. It is about a 3" X 5" book that has many lines on it which allows me to keep track of each day with the food that I eat and the weight that I weigh. I have evolved from that and am liking it.

I use to weigh myself every day and now I am waiting for every Friday to see my progress. With jogging in the morning everyday, I hope I see more results. I have also been watching my caloric intake to also help with that.

One place where I will not skimp out on tracking data and that is my weight lifting. I need to track the weight and intensity of all of my exercises so I don't forget and where I can see myself push myself to get past the plateaus.

Stretching in the Morning

For the last few weeks I have been stretching my hip flexors and also the rest of me for walking and jogging. I have been working more on my hip flexors because I have been having some pain when I turn to go to the left. The discomfort is primarily in my left hip and it is a sudden pain and then goes away. I was suggested to keep stretching my hip flexors and to also strengthen my glutes since I sit all day in an office.

Here is a good link to show how to properly perform the hip flexor stretch. I also use the method that allows you to use a couch or a bed which really puts pressure on your hip to stretch them out.

Jogging...that's what I said

So there I was, slightly jogging with my two dogs and then finding myself jogging farther and farther and then I was almost done with my route so I decided to keep going. The next day I did it again and I was almost enjoying it.....me enjoying jogging....never, but in this case I think it because of the weight that I have lost and stretching that I have been doing to my feet and legs. I stretch every morning now for about 30minutes before I go out with the beasts.

New Blog

I am going to be starting a new blog called Optimum Knowledge. I have started it as a on going journal of all of my thoughts and ideas. I wanted something to capture all of my interests and research. I have done a lot of research on energy savings, perpetual motion, aquaponics and of course weight lifting. I did have a thought in bringing this site over into it but I have not yet gone that far.

Does anyone have any ideas if I should bring this blog into that one?

High Weight Low Reps

This year I am doing something that I haven't done in a long time. Heavy weights. I typically do moderate to high reps with lower weight.

I want to bulk up and in doing so, becoming the threatening figure to any guy who is interested in my daughters.

Update:
After four weeks of following this routine, I have been seeing a lot of results like strength and definition. I need to take an update picture just so I can compare to my other pictures.

Starting it Up again. Goal is 200lbs.

I have started to watch my calories again and my new goal is to reach 200lbs by this years end. I am currently at 237 so I am down a total of 3lbs since I started on January 2nd. I have to make sure I get my cardio in somehow which I think will have to be every night for about 30-60min walk with the dogs. I want to upgrade that to a 30min jog but we will see.

My other goal is to also bulk up in muscle, for which I plan to do more low reps and high weight. My first goal is to find out my one rep max and then I can figure everything else out.

I also have to make sure I get my body fat percentage figured out before I get to deep into this. Because once I start bulking up, I want to see how much of muscle will be put on once my weight slowly goes up.

The Offspring - You're Gonna Go Far Kid

Katy Perry - I Kissed a Girl

The PussyCat Dolls- When I Grow Up

Lifting once again.

Last week Tuesday (September 2nd, 2008) I started lifting for the first in three plus months. It was great to get back into the gym and hit the weights. I was feeling not strong enough and adiquet to what I was use to. I want to hit the weights harder than ever so I can get big and strong and use that as a deteriant towards any boys that want to date my girls. I want to be known for being scary to all of the boys in the schools.

I guess I am just afraid that my girls will be hurt by the boys in any school and I want to be there to protect them.

I can talk myself into eating and doing anything.

I just wish I could talk myself into doing the right thing and keep to it. This last weekend, I talked myself into eating alot of fried chicken, ice cream and cake, and even more ice cream during the week, which really pissed me off because I was working on not eating anything like that but I felt I should because I was hungry for sweats. I have been really good for the last couple of days and I hope I can keep this up for the next 30 pounds. I really need to just keep my head down and get the job done because I know I will keep the weight off once I have hit my goal.

Been good all this week, 237!!!!

I have dropped down to 237 which makes me feel like I am back in control of my weight loss. I have been determined on my diet and am trying to keep my portion size down as much as possible.

Though I have not been weight lifting I feel like I still have some of the muscle still, but I can't wait for the winter hours to come back so I can lift all over again. I am feeling a little stiff which I am trying to stretch every morning and night. I think I will also try to get a stretch session in during lunch.

I have to schedule a physical appointment and see what they recommend for my hip and as a stretching regiment.

My Wife and I are doing it again, and I don't mean sex.

My wife has been saying how she is not happy with her tummy. I m also unhappy with my weight loss progress. So starting tomorrow. Her and I are watching what we eat again down to a caloric intake. I have also be taking out coffee from my diet for a whole month and also sweets like ice cream and candy. I am just going to take it out all together so I don't have any temptations. Wish us luck and I will keep you all posted.

Back Down To 239 Baby!!!

For the last 4-5 weeks I have been off the wagon and was at a constant 242 pounds. This week I have tried to stay on track better and now I am back down to 239. I was so happy this morning. I have been doing cardio during lunch and also back on track for counting my calories. I also have been biking into work add my endurance and stamina have gone up a bit. I have also noticed that my cool down is much quicker and my heart rate comes down a lot faster. I like the feeling of that.

First Day back on the Wagon...I suck!

I am currently on my first day back on the wagon. I have so far failed, miserably. After going through the whole day, I finally had two burgers and later on at 10:00pm I had some Eggo waffles, but the good thing is I am not gaining anymore weight. I have kept off what I have lost thus far. I will do better tomorrow. I am thinking about not having coffee in the morning but having it at night so then I can take in more water throughout the day instead of lacking on water like I did today.

I will try to do better tomorrow.

What do you do when you fall off the wagon?

I have fallen off the wagon but have not gained any weight. I have been finding myself justifying eating out and eating ice cream and everything. I have been also over eating and eating at night for the last month or so. I have been doing home improvements and "haven't had the time" to watch what I am eating or working out. My workout is really my home improvements but i have not been eating very healthy. The nice thing is that I am still eating in the same manner that I have been using to lose the weight, I am just eating more crap than I am use to. I chew my food completely before I swallow. I have also been drinking a lot of water which helps keep everything nicely lubricated.



This is how I plan on getting back on the wagon.



First, I have been reviewing why I went off the wagon and what was the main driver. Then I looked at how to stop those actions and get back on track. So I identified that I was eating junk food, eating at night, and also eating a lot of food in one sitting. Sometimes I would eat fast enough that I would get full...to full. My wife and I have also been eating a lot of beef for supper, mostly steaks. I have also been eating more than I need of that steak. So what am I doing to make sure that this does not happen again? I am posting my results from my FMEA on the refrigerator so my wife and my family can see my progress. It is harder to cheat when you have many people looking over your shoulder. So I am creating my FMEA sheet for everyone to see.

Engineering My Weight Loss

I was asked how I am losing the weight so I though I would share to you all what I said.

-My Article-
I have lost over 30lbs since January 1st of 2008.

In December I looked at myself in the mirror while I was at the YMCA getting ready to go swimming with my kids and I saw a large man with large love handles and a large gut. Even though I am an avid lifter and can gain muscle easier than anything, I have always had a hard time losing the fat. That night I thought for a long time, “How am I going to lose the weight in the way that works for me?” I then came to the conclusion to look at things in the manner as an engineer, which I am. I sat down and started creating my project plan with no dates, I just wanted milestone because if I had dates, I would fail due to inconsistencies found in the human body. Every person’s body is different so no date plan can be successful. I know if I missed a date, I would just give up on the whole thing. After creating my milestones, I then created and FMEA (Failure Mode Effect Analysis). This document allowed me to list out all of the possible means of failure to my weight loss. I had listed out several items that will keep me from losing the weight. A couple of them being my habit of eating at night, eating sweats, and also making sure that I stay at around 2000 calories a day. Now, I did put one more thing down as a possible failure and that was the adaptation of the human body. The human body will adapt to your lifting schedule and cardio schedule in time, so why would calorie intake be any different. I did some research on this and my theory was correct so I cycle my calorie intake of five days at 2000 calories and two days at 2600 calories, give or take an ice cream sundae.

After my FMEA and project plan was created, I then created a data sheet which will track my FMEA occurrence and avoidance, weight training and cardio occurrence and avoidance, weight for that day, and also a little journal spot to document any event or reason of inconsistency (Birthday Cake, Holiday Cookouts, etc.).

The last thing that I created was an IPO (Input Process Output) diagram to show how this all ties together to my body and goal. My inputs are food, workout routines, and environment. My processes are digestion, eating (chewing and eating slowly), and exercising and lifting. And as far as the outputs are…I don’t think you want to know the outputs…or care.

Weezer - Beverly Hills

Disturbed - Inside The Fire