fitfather

A peeve of mine

Do people at your gym do this?  Do they take free weights off of the racks, go to a bench some ways away, exercise and then just leave the weights sitting there while they go on somewhere else?  Gah, this kills me!  People, put your weights back after you finish using them.

The Bally's that I work out at is adequate for my needs.  It has a decent selection of weight machines, cardio machines and free weights (though they really could use more than just two sets of all the lower poundage dumbbells.  Seriously, how many people are going to use those 70 and 80 pound sets?  Hardly anyone.  Those 20 to 30 pound sets though get used all the time.  So word up Bally's, get more lower poundage dumbells) as well as childcare.  I wish it had a pool, a running track and raquet ball courts but I don't need those to have a good workout.  What I do need, is for the people who also exercise there to be courteous.  Put your dumbbells back!  Don't leave weight plates strewn across the floor!  And for God's sake, wipe your sweat off the machine when you are done.  I can live with loud pseudo-sexualized grunting.  I can live with the Bally's house special music (though really, would some classic rock or maybe XRT be so bad once in awhile?).  It kills me to spend minutes of my precious time, work out after workout, tracking down an errat 25 pound dumbbell so I can do my bicep curls that someone has left half way across the gym.

Measuring Up

Chest: 47"
Waist: 45"
Hips:   45"
Upper Arm: 15"
Thigh:   26"
Calf:  16"
Neck:  17"
Weight: 229

That waist size is bad bad bad.  I am one of those men that carries most of his excess weight in his belly.  If you don't know, that is a very dangerous, bad correlate to a host of health problems.  I don't have any idea if any of those other measurements are bad or good or nothing in particular.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that I need to do more than I am doing right now.  I must be subconciously sabatogueing my weight loss efforts by eating more food than I used to eat before I started weight lifting.  I do purposefully eat a snack after each workout that incorporates some simple carbohydrates (chocolate milk, for instance) as well as something a little more substantial (like almonds) to give my body some fuel to build more muscle - perhaps it is just these extra snacks that are offsetting whatever increase I might have made to my metabolism.  For whatever reason, I am not loosing any weight.  The weight lifting is starting to pay dividends - I can lift more weight than I could when I started, and those parts of my body that aren't covered by fat are showing tone and definition, but that weight number, it hasn't budged.  Oh, some days it's a couple pounds lower but other days it is higher.  I am about ready to start dieting seriously.

My plan all along has been to gradually incorporate the elements of fitness into my own life and by doing so, make them permanent healthy habits that I can follow.  Weight lifting as primary exercise was my first habit goal, and in that respect my plan has succeeded.  Still, I expected that I would have lost a little bit of weight by now, so the loss of no weight has been disappointing.  The other two main physical healthy habits that I want to achieve are fitting in regular cardio workouts (right now I rarely do cardio, which I know I need to do for optimal health and fitness) and to revamp my dietary habits.  Revamping the diet is going to be by far the most difficult thing to do.  I have years of sloppy eating habits to overcome, and I am dreading the process a little.

We (Jessie and I) might do the South Beach Diet.  Other than the initial two week period, the diet is pretty much an ideal all of the time sort of healthy diet, that would help me not only lose weight but develop the sort of healthy habits I can use for the rest of my life.  We might even do it with my mom.  I think we're starting on Monday - wish me luck!

On exercise

It's surprising to me, but I think I love working out.  I have certainly had a shift in my attitude towards getting out there and exercising.  All the other times (you know, going back years) that I have tried to start and maintain an exercise regimen it always felt like a chore, something that I had to force myself to do.  Now, I am finding myself looking forward to going to the gym.  I love the way my muscles feel after lifting weights for an hour.  That mildly fatigued-but-in-a-good-way feeling tells me that I just did something worthwhile. 

I have realized that lifting weights and working out is one of the most important, and most enjoyable things I can do with my time. 

It is an investment in my future health, sex life, energy level and drive. 

I have realized that it is more important than spending time on the computer. 

I have realized that it is more important that watching another hour of TV. 

I think it is more important than doing housework (Jessie might not agree!). 

It is more important than napping.

At this point, I am working out three times a week, exclusively lifting weights each time.  I stay at the gym for 60-75 minutes each time, and exercise each body part at least once.  I know that I need to start mixing in some cardio work.  My plan is to start taking Katie to the gym's child play area, so I can workout during the day.  Right now I am usually going during the evening, which means that I end up staying up late because I have all this post workout energy.  It would be nice to put that to more productive use during the day, and be able to spend the evenings with Jessie.

I am starting to see some results.  The muscles I have that aren't covered with fat (arms, upper chest, shoulders, legs) are looking larger, more toned and more defined.  I am also lifting more weight and doing more sets for each exercise.  I should take some before pictures.

Swallowing my pride, getting back on that horse, happy birthday to me

So, it’s been over two months since I have written an entry, and in that time I have not succeeded in losing any weight. In fact, I have pretty much bounced back to my starting weight. I’m not sure which is more… humbling? Humiliating? That my weight-loss journey is going to be two steps forward, one step back, or that the step back happened so damn quickly.

It’s easy to understand why I got off track. I was away for a week, for a conference, and eating cafeteria food, plus banquets and such makes smart dietary choices difficult. Furthering the problem, the conference schedule was so packed that I just didn’t have any energy (or really even the time) left to get in my regular workouts, even though the hotel had a small gym. When I got back home, my Bally’s guest membership had lapsed, and we couldn’t afford to add me to Jessie’s membership just yet (fun car repairs!). My arrival home also corresponded to Jessie’s birthday week (yes, we like to stretch out the festivities) which meant much cake, eating out and general merry making. Through all that, the bad eating habits started coming back, and my weight crept back up.

On the plus side, when I did finally get my full-fledged Bally’s membership (about a month ago) I started going religiously, and I am starting to notice that the muscles not covered by fat are getting more toned and defined. The other major plus is that I am still in the weight loss mindset. Through the last two months I have never fully let myself go – weight loss and fitness have a permanent spot in my head now.

I had originally wanted to write this entry last Monday – my twenty-ninth birthday, but well all that birthday merry making was going on and it didn’t happen. Here it is though now, better late than never.

Focus? This entry don't need no stinking focus!

Has this ever happened to you?  It's hot - you're marinating in the humidity, your car is broken, you're trying to decide to do with the stray kitten you took in who is really sweet but you really don't want another pet right now, your toddler has just decided to empty her dresser onto her bedroom floor for the third time today, not to mention all the other crap she's strewn throughout the condo and Baby Bach is repeating for the... 4th?  5th? time that day (and woe to the father who turns it off!) and now that toddler is whining at you because she's really tired but she won't nap, so you just have to head to the kitchen and grab a diet coke and that Almond Joy you bought at the store last night, because right now, you need Need NEED that Almond Joy.  Who doesn't need a little Almond Joy once in awhile, right?

I eat for comfort.  I know what I'm doing, when I'm doing it, but you know what?  When I need that food comfort, I do not care.  Luckily, I don't usually need much eating comfort - this isn't a typical, or usual, thing for me.  What is more dangerous in my experience, is the eating because I'm bored, which since I've started this blog and been so much more concious of my dietary inputs has mostly stopped.

Weigh-in after my workout late last night:  225.  In a little over two weeks of eating right and moving my body more.  I can tell I am on the right track.