Back Squats - 205lbs. x 5, and 3 reps. 185lbs. x 3 sets of 5 reps.
Side to Side Pull Ups - At bodyweight, sets of 6, 4, 6, 4, 4, 4, and 4 reps
SLSGRDL - 135lbs. 2 sets of 6 each side, 1 set of 4 each side.
Bent Over Row - 135lbs. sets of 5, 4, and 4 reps.
Notes
What a crap session tonight. I'm pretty beat though. I've done 4 full body sessions in 7 days, and 7 full body sessions in the last 14 days. I'm looking forward to taking two days in a row off. I'm not sure if this frequency is the reason, but I really struggled tonight. I had intended to do a couple more sets, plus some overhead presses.
Next week is going to be a weird work situation. I'm going to be spending Tues, Wed, and Thursday on foot in a downtown area (that I'm not familiar with) selling to businesses for 6-8 hours each day. Plus, I'll have about a 5 hour total commute and anywhere from 2 to 4 hours worth of meetings each day. I suspect that I won't train much. I'll workout Monday, the night before I leave. And, depending on how my feet feel, I'll workout Friday.
A 5 hour total commute?? And I thought I had it bad!!
You probably said this already, but are you following a particular workout plan?
2.5 hours each way! But, thankfully its just supposed to be for three days. I'm usually about 25 minutes from my office. But, I'll be driving ot a different city, and with the state of the economy the company isn't willing to spring for a hotel.
I'm loosely following "power training" by Dos Remedios. It's the only thing that I can follow with my limited equipment. Once, I'm no longer on a deficit I'll be going on his 12 week strength program.
OK, so this is the first time attempting to control myself on my "cheat" day. This morning I weighed myself at 173.4. Compare this to the last few Monday morning weigh-ins; 176.8, 176.2, 175.8, 178.8, 178.8, and 183.0. Thats a substantial difference. I've generally blamed the huge weight gains from my Sunday feasts on water weight, and to a lesser degree glycogen. I suspect that I generally eat around 400-500 gram of carbs on my cheat days. At least that has been the case on the few occasions when I've actually tracked my cheat days. Well, Despite eating far fewer calories I did eat 400 grams of carbs. Yesterday was one of my best friend's son's birthday party. So, there was cake and burgers! Yet, despite eating the same level of carbs I gained sustantially less weight. Perhaps its just that there was less excess calories to store and breakdown.
Typically on the few days following a cheat day I will lose most of the weight that I gained on Sunday. So, If I start the week at 178.8 its not at all unusual to end the week at 173.2. It will be interesting to see what happens now that I didn't have the big leap in weight! I'm starting at 173.4 this week. I highly doubt that I'll lose five pounds over the course of the week.
I made a decision not to lift tonight. Well, the decision was made for me, in part because of a huge lack of time. There was an immense amount of work to be done (still to be done in fact) and I have to get up at 4:30am to leave for work. I'm not worried about it. I'll spend the next three days walking and spending several hours on foot in the city. I'll burn plenty of calories. And I'm not worried about losing any muscle mass. I'm sure the last several sessions will get me through this week!
Oh yeah, I should mention that there is a chance that I may be too busy over the next few days to post. So, if you don't see anything from me don't worry. I haven't robbed a Krispy Kreme truck or anything!
Well, I'm walking the streets of the Golden Triangle, the power center, of Washington D.C. Isn't wireless great! It's looking like these couple of days will include about 5 to 6 hours of walking the streets. I'm not covering a lot of ground. It's a great deal of stop and go walking. So, despite the length of time on the street I'd suspect that it will be a total of about 3-4 miles traveled. I don't have a pedometer, so I could easily be wrong.
Finding quality food hasn't been an issue. There are plenty of places with fresh fruits, and vegetables, and quality meats, etc. But, It's still difficult to track calories. I tried to bring my digital scale but it was just impractical! I'm guessing that I'm at 1180 calories so far. But, it could be a hundred less or two hundred more?
Don't worry about calories when you're walking 6 hours (!) a day, you should be fine! And if you're looking for quality food, try a supermarket. Suprisingly they'll have much the same food that you would buy at home :p
Well, I'm back. The trip wasn't all that successful from a business point of view so they let us go a little bit early. I ate like an idiot while I was out there. It was hot. I was wearing business clothes and standing on the streets each day. I weighed in at 172 even this morning despite eating like a fool! I ate junk while I was out there. I was so hungry! I ate about 2,600 calories on Tuesday, and about 3,400 on Wednesday. I've eaten about 1,600 today so far. That's more than I wanted, but given the mileage I was able to get away with it. I'm not sure what my overall deficit would have been. These calorie totals are guesses, and I have no idea of knowing what kind of calories I expended.
Juleske, there were no Supermarkets where I was located. They did have a CVS, but I ate in the restaurants.
It just sort of worked out that way. I had been doing M-W-F full body workouts, but Friday had been slipping to Saturday. I wanted to correct that and I either had to skip a session or do 4 in 7 days. Since I knew I'd be missing sessions this week due to travel and work situations I decided to push through.
I'm doing full body sessions because I'm in a situation right now where I don't have time to do 4 push/pull sessions.
Not a great diet day in terms of food choices. I chose to eat fast food rather than to hunt down a healthier option. But, I did OK on the calories. I still hit a good deficit. I find that I tend to have my worst diet days when I get tired. Over the last few nights I've been getting very little sleep. And then driving for several hours, and walking for several hours on top of that. Thats why I'm also not working out this week (I might tomorrow). I figure that adding more to what is already going on, and with the lack of sleep, will do nothing positive. I'll just jump back into a normal routine next week.
I've been doing awful on the water thing. I lost my water bottle, not that I'd have carried it with me all day anyway. I bought a new one tonight. So, I have no excuses tomorrow!
Weight: 172.0 No Change
Cals: 2517
Pro: 169
Carbs: 203
Fat: 121 Water: 3 liters! Back on the wagon!
Exercise
Deadlifts: 4 sets of 6 @ 285lbs. A New PR!
Neutral Grip Pull Ups: 4 sets of 6 at bodyweight
Jump Shrug: 1 set of 3 at 95lbs. Didn't feel right. Stopped.
Overhead Press: Sets of 5, 5, and 4 at 95lbs.
Push Press: 1 set of 3 at 115lbs.
One Arm Row: 4 sets of 5 @ 105lbs.
Single Leg Squats: Sets of 4, 4, 4, and 2 each side at Bodyweight plus 25lbs. Form could be improved. Depth is good, but I often lose my balance, or come up in stages (straightening leg, then hips).
DB Swings: Sets of 25, 25, 22, and 25 reps at 25lbs.
Lateral Raises: 4 sets of 5 reps with two 25lbs DB's.
Alt. DB Curls: Sets of 10, 10, 9, and 6 reps on each side with 25lb. DB's.
Yes, I did curls and lateral raises at the end of my workout....It was brotastic!
Notes
I've been struggling lately with keeping control of my food intake. It could be related to several things; lack of sleep, disruption in routine, etc. But, its frustrating to be 7 pounds shy of my goal after losing 73lbs. I'm so close but I don't seem to getting any closer. I know that it will come. But, I'm having the occasional doubt.
Congrats on the PR and the increased water intake!
I find weekends are terrible for tracking calories but I'm going to have to make a concerted effort otherwise, as you have found, it just stops the scale moving downwards. We can do it!!
Had to stop by and thank you for this idea. I had a much smaller serving at lunch today, as it was a side dish to complement my tuna sandwich (and I wasn't entirely sure I'd like it). Half cup 4% cottage cheese, 1/4 cup pumpkin, 1T flax and 5 strawberries. No sweetener needed and I devoured it in no time flat! Already on the menu for breakfast on Tuesday!
Had to stop by and thank you for this idea. I had a much smaller serving at lunch today, as it was a side dish to complement my tuna sandwich (and I wasn't entirely sure I'd like it). Half cup 4% cottage cheese, 1/4 cup pumpkin, 1T flax and 5 strawberries. No sweetener needed and I devoured it in no time flat! Already on the menu for breakfast on Tuesday!
I'm glad you liked it. I just finished a large bowl with some blueberries myself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by poppypixie
Congrats on the PR and the increased water intake!
I find weekends are terrible for tracking calories but I'm going to have to make a concerted effort otherwise, as you have found, it just stops the scale moving downwards. We can do it!!
Thanks for the motivation! I seem to be going through a phase where I'm more hungry than usual. I think it honestly might have to do with the days where I stopped drinking water. But who knows. I can sometimes go for days on end where I barely get hungry, and other times it doesnt seem to matter how much I eat I'm still starving.
I take consolation in knowing that I'm not ruining my progress, just stalling it.
Weight: 173.8
Cals: 1462
Pro: 166
Carbs: 145
Fat: 26
Water: About 2 liters....maybe a bit more.
Exercise
Hang Clean @45lbs. 2 sets of 10.
High Pull @ 45lbs. 2 sets of 10.
Jump Shrug @45lbs. 2 sets of 10.
Deadlifts @290lbs. - Sets of 6, 6, 5, and 5 reps. Does it count as a PR if you don't get all the intended reps? This was supposed to be 4x6.
Overhead Press @ 85lbs. - Sets of 7, 6, 6, and 5 reps.
Chin Ups @ Bodyweight - Sets of 8, 6, 6, and 5 reps.
Notes
Form on the deadlifts was the best its ever been! I figured out something about how I hold my shoulders and neck and how it effects my overall form.
I didn't feel very hungry today. But, not having more calories may explain why I was so wiped after what was actually a shorter than usual workout. I omitted some of my normal exercises. But, still there were 18 working sets and a few warmup sets which I don't normally log.
Less than 1500 calories equates to a deficit of about 1200-1500 calories. Thats a good jumpsatart for the week. Perhaps I've gotten through my "holy crap I'm so hungry" phase and I can get back to dieting.
Weight: 172.6
Cals: 1477
Pro: 136
Carbs: 141
Fat: 46
Water: A little over 2 liters.
Notes
I didn't train tonight. I'm going on stay-cation next week and I'm trying to wrap up some paperwork, loose ends, etc. before I go. Tonight was the only night that I could do that without having to take care of the baby. My wife took her out tonight to show her off. I can't decide if I'll work out tomorrow and Saturday to get three sessions this week. Or if I'll skip it and pick up on Friday.
Right now I'm more concerned with getting my calories where they need to be. I've had some real struggles lately with compliance. If I have to lay off of a session or two to get my dietary compliance back, so be it. I'm 7.6 pounds from my goal after losing well over 70lbs. I'm not going to accept a stall at this point! I'm too close.
So far this week I've probably accumulated about a 2,500-2,800 calorie deficit. And its all about the deficit. I'd like to try to get about a 5,000 total deficit this week by Sunday. It's my daughters baptism this weekend and there will be catering! So, if I'm going to eat at a surplus....and it will be impossible to avoid it....then I need to make sure that the deficit leading into Sunday is substantial. If I get to a 5,000 calorie deficit by Sunday then I'll be able to eat a 1,400 calorie surplus and still lose a pound. Not that I intend to eat at a 1,400 calorie surplus, but I'd like to be prepared.
Right now I'm more concerned with getting my calories where they need to be. I've had some real struggles lately with compliance. If I have to lay off of a session or two to get my dietary compliance back, so be it. I'm 7.6 pounds from my goal after losing well over 70lbs. I'm not going to accept a stall at this point! I'm too close.
This sounds very sensible, laying off on sessions if you feel you should. And check out your weight loss! So good and so close to your goal! Very impressive.
This sounds very sensible, laying off on sessions if you feel you should. And check out your weight loss! So good and so close to your goal! Very impressive.
Thanks! It's strange but I find it easier to be in compliance sometimes when the calorie deficit is larger. I find it harder to maintain a 500 calorie deficit on a daily basis.
Also, I've come to realize that at this point the training aspect is here simply to make sure that I'm not losing lean body mass. Sure, I'm making strength gains while in a caloric deficit. But, if I'm prioritizing strength gains then I'm finding that I need to eat more, and that ain't the goal. The goal is 165lbs.! I'll sacrifice a little strength to get to that goal. Obviously, I don't want to lose muscle mass, but I'm not really worried that this will happen...at least not to any appreciable level.
Whoo! Hoo! A new weight PR! Well, you know what I mean. I haven't been below 171.4 until today.
No training at this point. I've been working crazy hours trying to get ready for vacation. In fact, I'm still working. I'll have plenty of opportunities during my vacation to train. But it just didn't workout this week.
Congrats! I know you are so committed to losing those last 5 lbs. It amazes me really because you have so much going on in your life (with the family and kiddos) and you must feel and look great . . . so putting forth so much effort to achieve a number that won't drastically change you from what you are now, is very commendable.
**2 points for the longest run-on sentence yet!
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If you weren't born drop dead gorgeous, be thankful for the opportunity to develop character first.
Congrats! I know you are so committed to losing those last 5 lbs. It amazes me really because you have so much going on in your life (with the family and kiddos) and you must feel and look great . . . so putting forth so much effort to achieve a number that won't drastically change you from what you are now, is very commendable.
**2 points for the longest run-on sentence yet!
Thanks, I do feel good. And I look better than I have in years. I think that those last five pounds are going to make a big difference in my body composition. It seems that as you get to lower body fat percentages the more impact every pound has on your total body fat. At the same point in time, each pound is harder to lose!
Well, I'm back from vacation. Today is my first day back to work and back on the diet. I didn't even try to track my food while I was on vacation. It was restaurant's every night, and most days for breakfast as well.
The weigh-in! 176.4 pounds!
It's actually not as bad as I thought. The reason why it didn't turn out as dreadful as I'd expected is because I was so active. I only worked out for two days during the vacation. Each session was a full 90 minute 30+ set workout. But, only two sessions. Still, I mowed lawns, pulled weeds, clean the garage, moved all my gym equipment, went to the zoo, went to a museum, went to the park, went to a party, walked around Philadelphia for hours, packed, unpacked, etc. I was sore for a couple of days and it wasn't from lifting!
Tommorrow I start Power Training in earnest. My buddy will be showing up at my house at 4:50am and we'll get to it!
This morning was my first official session with "Power Training." My training partner came over to the newly renovated garage gym at 4:50am. I'm glad to have him back.
1A-Explosive: High Pulls - 4x5 at 75lbs.
1B-Vertical Push - Bilateral: Overhead Press - 4x10 at 75lbs.
2A-Knee Dom - Bilateral: Front Squats - 3x10 at 95lbs.
2B-Horizontal Push - Unilateral: Offset Pushups - 3x10 each side.
Core - Bridging: Side Plank - 60 sec. Right Side, 45 seconds Left Side.
Notes
I'm not used to doing ten reps. So, while I don't generally like doing higher reps I have to admit its a good workout. I'm sure this its probably better for my fat loss goal than 4 sets of 6....?
I'm still getting used to front squats out of my precarious squat rack. I'm sure that they'll improve. But, I'm still working on the wrist flexibility and technique.
I love Power Training! If you are interested, Dos has some great spreadsheets that spit out your workout for you. They are excel and they have dropdowns where you choose which exercise you want and it puts each workout on a nice sheet you can use to track with. They are awesome!!!
I love Power Training! If you are interested, Dos has some great spreadsheets that spit out your workout for you. They are excel and they have dropdowns where you choose which exercise you want and it puts each workout on a nice sheet you can use to track with. They are awesome!!!
I saw those sheets, but I wasn't willing to buy them. I can do alot of that on my own (except the drop downs). But, I think I would likely do a handmade sheet anyway. That way I can increase the size and space so that I can write it down while training.
One Arm Pull Downs - 2x10 at 50lbs. 2x10 at 60lbs.
Windshield Wipers - 4x10
Notes
I'm a little disappointed that my vacation weight hasn't come off more quickly. I was expecting to lose more weight in the first few days. I guess I did more damage than I thought. I'm now nine pounds from my goal. It feels like I'm going backwards. Oh well, I'll get there. I have to say that I've never looked better!
I'm still getting my bearing on the right weights to use for some of these exercises at ten reps.
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