It’s Been Awhile …

… but I’m still here. And actually, even though I haven’t been blogging a lot, I’m still faithfully working out and sweating my you-know-what off. In fact, I did 45 minutes of a hard workout just a little while ago.

Also, I’m still Smart For Lifeing, although highly modified so that I can work out hard (800 calories a day while working out just doesn’t cut it), and still Eat Stop Eating two days a week — in fact, I’m in the middle of an ESE interval as we speak. And toss a little Thintuition in, and I’m a happy boy.

I’ll post a more-complete report on my progress probably later Monday or Tuesday. Overall, I’m at 250 lbs., a 75 lb. loss from where I started last December 10th. Wow. What’s more, my fat % has been decreasing big-time ever since I’ve started exercising hard again. I’m back into what I considered to be my “skinny” size 40 pants — in other words, size 40 pants that I wonder if they’re 38s or not.

My scale weight hasn’t been dropping all that much in the past few weeks, but my measurements certainly have. I don’t need to see the scale weight drop as much as I thought I would, actually. My clothes and how I look are actually more important to me right now. The clothes look good. And from what I hear, I look much better than I have in years.

When I made the decision to start losing last December, I was in size 48s. Forty-frickin-eights! Man, I can’t believe it. It’s all really good, though, and I’ve been doing well.

And a quick follow up to my Well, Damn post: I’m going into the doctor’s next Monday to see how bad the cutting is going to be on my back. Even though I’m determined not to let this throw me off schedule, I am disappointed that I will very likely have to cut back on my exercising for awhile. I made a promise to myself, though, that I will get right back on the proverbial horse as soon as I can. Plus, I at least can walk and maybe even do cardio on the elliptical (probably as long as I don’t use the arm swingy thingies).

I’ll probably update next after my doctor’s appointment. Ciao for now.

Well, Damn

I visited my doctor on Friday, because some sebaceous cysts on my back were seeming to get bigger, and were definitely starting to bother me. Whenever I had to lay on my back for particular exercises, one would start to get sore. Ditto sleeping at night. And it is that one that was getting really big, too.

So I made an appointment, thinking I’d just go in and get the suckers drained, right? Nooooo. To really get rid of them (one of the two on my back was actually a returnee from my late teen years), I’ve got to go to a surgeon to get ‘em cut out. What’s more, he said the one is so big, that the surgeon will likely want to do it in the hospital (on an outpatient basis, I’m assuming — and knowing my cheap-ass insurance, will probably be).

So after that happens (I’m pushing to get it done ASAP), I’ll probably be out of fully working out for a couple of weeks, while I have stitches in two separate spots on my back. That won’t deter me in losing weight; I just won’t be able to exercise like I normally would. Hopefully I’ll still be able to do the elliptical, and maybe even kick up some of my interval training on that. Just won’t be able to do any resistance.

I don’t think I’ll be able to complete the Transformation Contest either, because of my situation. I just can’t see missing out a few weeks and still being competitive. I’ll definitely do the next one, though. And like I said, I’m still going to be on track for losing weight, so this thing truly isn’t going to get me down. I just won’t be able to be competitive this time ’round. No biggie.

If you’ve never heard of sebaceous cysts before, they’re pretty ucky things. Click the link to find out more. But in my particular situation, the doc said that they’re both getting more pronounced because I’ve lost so much weight (about 75 lbs. now and still going), and growing because I’ve spiked up my metabolism. This means my body is pumping even more gross stuff into them than before because my metabolism is up.

First more gout attacks because of my weight loss, then this … ? Weight loss can truly be a double-edged sword, my friends. But I still think it is worth it, and I’m still going to lose more. There’s just more challenges along the way.

Apologies for not posting as of late; we’re crunching at work, blah blah blah, punch and pie. The same ol’ story. But true!

Bad Attitude

I’ve got a bad attitude right now. Not about what I’m doing, in terms of losing weight — I’m pretty much on schedule with where I want to be and my exercising. I’m still pretty much motivated to do what I need to do, although I fall off the wagon every so often.

This past weekend is a good example of that. Did some popcorn at the movies on Saturday (Iron Man was the movie [great, BTW], and the amount of popcorn wasn’t nearly as much as it usually is). Dinner that night was pizza. Next day we did a pretty good breakfast, but then blew it with a Mexican dinner. Oh well.

My weight has been fluctuating up and down some (this past weekend excluded), and I may know why. I’m thinking it may be too few calories from my Smart for Life diet. I’ve already adjusted it for increased exercise, but maybe it is not enough.

But that’s not the main reason for the ‘tude. I think I’m on “accountability-overload.” I’m already accountable to this blog, my Turbulence Training postings (for the Transformation Contest I’m in) and the S4L doctors. Plus my wife and I talk about weight all the time. It feels like it is consuming my life, and I’m beginning to resent it. Although writing about it here is definitely helping.

I’m sure I’ll be back on the stick and feeling fine soon. Just a phase, I imagine. Thanks for listening.

Owww…

If you’ve been following my posts at TTMembers.com about my progress in the Transformation Contest, you’ve no doubt read that my legs have been sore almost all frakin’ week. Today’s the first day they’ve felt okay.

Turns out I probably overdid it last Sunday (yep, I know today’s Friday. I am talking last Sunday). The soreness was so bad it put my workout schedule off by a day all week long, and I had to take Tuesday totally off from exercising.

Thank goodness it’s essentially gone now. I did a light workout on Wednesday (still feeling fairly sore), went heavy yesterday (altho I shortened the routine because I didn’t want to go through the soreness all over again) and did light cardio this morning. Tomorrow, it’ll be heavy again before a fun-filled day of volunteering at a local festival, with “fun-filled” being serious and not sarcastic.

The good news? I’m down to 255 as of this morning. I’m also getting off of another Eat Stop Eat fasting interval. I’m hoping that because of that (along with a healthy dinner of sushi tonight) I’ll be down even more come tomorrow, which is Official Weigh-In Day for me, in terms of keeping track of all the #’s. Wish me luck on that!

If you want to follow my daily progress, sign up for TTMembers.com today.

Ohh … the Pain, the Pain

So I did my first “heavy” workout on Sunday, and my legs still haven’t fully recovered. They’re still pretty sore. But they’re better today than yesterday or Monday.

In fact, they were so sore that I didn’t even work out — period! — yesterday. I really felt like I needed a rest, so I took it. I feel that this is a long-term process, and I shouldn’t sabotage myself by just up and quitting at the first sign on trouble (like I’ve done in the past).

So I took my day off like a man, and got right back on that horse this morning, with 25 minutes of cardio. It went pretty well, actually, and I physically feel really good. Legs are still sore, of course, but feelin’ good otherwise.

It took me a long time to get all the way up to 325 lbs., and it took me awhile to get to my present 258, so it’s going to take more time to get back down to my goal weight. Now that that little point is implanted firmly in my thick skull, I’ll definitely succeed at this. Which is a good thing.

Turbocharge!

Today’s the first day of the rest of my life. Well, not really that long. Just for the next 12 weeks.

That’s because I’m starting the Transformation Contest today. For the next 12 weeks, I’m going to be working very hard to lose as much fat as possible, while getting into the best shape possible.

I cannot encourage you enough to join this contest. Besides having a chance to win lots of prizes (first prize, if memory serves, is $2,000!), it’s a way to really give a healthy kick in the ass to your fat-/weight-loss efforts.

The help and accountability at the Turbulence Training member area (via the membership there) is amazing. And Craig (the guy who came up with the whole TT plan and runs the site) is truly an inspiration and really helpful.

Here’s the deal, in terms of how I’m going to work this contest and this blog: I’ll post my overall progress here. But if you want to see my specifics (all of the specific figures, what exercises I’m doing, what I’m doing specifically with nutrition), you’re going to have to go on this journey with me. Yep, that means joining TT, becoming a member, following my specific posts in the forums there, and (hopefully) getting in the contest with me.

You don’t need to be in the contest to read this info, but I really hope you at least get started with TT’s “Turbulence Training for Fat Loss” program. The Introductory level workout is not difficult to do, yet it’ll get you started on the way (or should I say, “weigh” – I know, lame) to fitness and health.

You can do it; I know you can. That’s because I’m in the process of doing it. I got off of my lard ass last December and started losing weight with Smart for Life, and have already lost almost 70 lbs. with that, and now I’m entering the next phase of my Shrinking Man transformation with TC.

Wish me luck!

Weigh-In, 4/26

Well, weighed in at Smart for Life today. I came in at 258, which is a 4 lb. loss. Pretty good. What’s more, my morning weigh-in (the number I really keep track of) was at 257.

Weight, what a funny thing. A constantly moving target. You never truly know what your weight is, which is why you need to do your “keep track” weight at the same time when charting it/remembering it/whatever. Usually that’s first thing in the morning, after you’ve done any bathroom business you need to do.

This week was week 1 of the multi-layered week, in terms of what I’m doing exercise wise and nutrition-wise. To sum up:

• Exercise: Turbulence Training Introduction program for bodyweight/resistance and Pace Fitness for interval training 3x a week; slow-go cardio for 30 minutes the other 3 days
• Nutrition: Smart for Life w/1 extra protein shake daily; Eat Stop Eat 24 hour fasting for 2 periods; Thintuition to know when I’m hungry and how much to eat

I’ll keep this up (while switching the TT program to the Beginner’s program probably the week after next) for … well … for as long as it works for me. Hopefully, that’ll be for a really long time, as I really like doing all of this.

Another bit ‘ good news. When I weighed in, the S4L doc (a great lady, BTW) weighed me on the extremely high-falutin’ Tanita professional scale (that could help you hack into the Pentagon). While I don’t remember the percentages, my body fat was down from a month ago, but my muscle mass was up! This means I’ve lost even more fat than what the overall “scale” number indicates — which is why I hate our society’s over-dependence on the “scale” number. It’s extremely inadequate.

I may even have to add another protein shake in during the day, which would be cool. I think that it would spike my metabolism even more. I’ll give that a week or two, though.

She even said I’m “ahead of schedule” in my weight-loss efforts. Cool.

So all in all, a great week! Looking forward to another one this week, especially now that I’ll be working out in my home.

A “Big” Announcement

… I always hesitate using the word “big” in a blog about weight loss    .

Any-who, the big news is I’m going to join the Transformation Contest when it starts back up. Cash and prizes, plus the ultimate in accountability (a contest!) — you can’t go wrong. I’ll post details as I come across them. Click on the link to see the winners from the last contest. The winner is kinda hot, too.

Coming up tomorrow or Sunday … an update on my weigh-in this week — the first full week of Turbulence Training with some Pace Program tossed in, with side dishes of Smart for Life and Eat Stop Eat and a dash of Thintuition. Could I fit more things into my life right now? Eh, maybe. But for now, this’ll do, reader, this’ll do.

BTW – the weigh in? Let’s just say I have a really good feeling about it. After all, I’ve had a sneak peek at week-to-date results.

Niiiiiice

Just wanted to quickly alert y’all to a comment in the post immediately below this one (here’s the link to it, in case you’ve stumbled across this post and not the whole blog). It’s from Craig Ballantyne, the guy who came up with Turbulence Training. I’ll let the post explain it all. Enjoy!

UPDATE: Well, aren’t I becoming *the* magnet for health, workout and nutrition celebs! First, Craig comments at this blog. Then I get a comment from over at the ttmembers.com message board from Eat Stop Eat writer Brad Pilon. I’ve actually put that comment in the comments section from the above-referenced posting, since it directly relates there.

So, this blog post has been upgraded from “Niiiiiice” to “Very Niiiiiice”!