W7D0 - BABC

I did ok last week.  Not great; just ok.

I looked at the heading for this series I've started.  7 weeks!  And nothing to show for it.  SEVEN WEEKS and nothing to show for it - not a pound lighter, not an inch smaller (I don't think - also reminds me today is measurements day).

I'm disappointed in myself.  7 weeks ago I intended to do so much more.  Each day comes along and I don't.  I feel like I'm going to look back when I'm 60 and not have done anything I wanted to... I'm very upset with myself.

This week I have an appointment with a CHT.  I'm excited b/c the last time I worked with a CHT I quit smoking.  This time, I want to get rid of my anxiety in all of my life and not care what others think of me and doing so should increase my focus and concentration as well as allow me to lose weight by enabling me to just do it.  Right now, I'm so paralyzed by fear in my own life that I don't do the things I should.

I'm going to cut my workouts down b/c I'm not getting anything done.  I'm going to ride a bike for 30 minutes and do the PUP.  I'm not going to worry about Cize right now - if I have the time during the day then I'll do Cize.

	27Jul15	17Aug15	23Aug15	6Sep15
weight	285	282	283	285
neck	16.25	16.25	16.5	16.25
chest	42.75	42	43	42
navel	50.75/49.25	47.5	47.5	47
waist
hips	51.5	51.75	51.5	51.5
thigh	29.75	28.75	29.25	29
caliper chest	38	38	38	40
caliper abs	44	42	42	38
caliper thigh	40	36	38	38

W6D3 - BABC

Well today was f'crazy.  I ate well.  I had a pop tart and 2 dr peppers.  I have immense cravings.  I am a sugar addict.  I don't want sugar to taste bad (if I go for hypnosis for it) - what I want is to just not crave it - oh and I had a quesadilla - which was more just a single burrito flour with cheese in it... so it's loosely qualified as a quesadilla.

I didn't sleep worth a shit last night - I have a sleep app called 'sleep cycle' which is wonderful and measures my sleep - I didn't sleep until almost 2:45 this morning.  I was so tired today and just didn't want to move.  I didn't want to exercise - I barely wanted to stay awake.  I promised Lucas that we'd go ride the southern greenway in springfield over by "my old house" - the last time we rode that greenway was about 6 years ago - he was sooo tiny.  I wanted to just not do it and then do it Friday sometime when they come over for the day.  I sucked it up and Lucas and I spent an hour riding that greenway.  I was happy with it and felt great about it.  I'm glad I did it.  I wish I'd still done the TRX workout for the day and cize... however, I'm not too disappointed - I'm ok that I didn't get them - I would've really liked to; in the future, I will be able to do them all without a problem and I'm ok with that.  The fact that I sucked it up and did what I needed to at the end is good.  Each time I workout means that's one more day closer to craving workouts and not craving sugar.

I did also put together some checklists for the weeks and the calendar.  So I can keep my pages down on my desk clipboard and be able to track my reps, sets, circuits, etc.

I'm tired and my butt hurts from riding so much.

W6D2 - BABC

Yesterday was good-sucked.  The day, overall, was great.  The day, workingout, was shit.

I've decided not to delay the workout today.  I'm heading down to ride the bike while doing my professional development (I can read and watch example videos while I ride).  At noon, I'm punching the TRX in the face.

30 min bike ride while reading about AngularJS - check
TRX Feelgood Full Body Workout - check
Cize - check

Today was an fn good day!  I am having a dr pepper to celebrate - I know, ironic.

I learned one thing from Cize - I can't dance; and to prove it I recorded the first 10 minutes... it was bad; so bad, in fact, that I started laughing during the workout.  Shaun-T makes it look easy; I make it look like it's hard.  The workout was enjoyable though - the time flew by.

I feel accomplished today.  I completed a lot of workout.  I ate very well.  I've already showered.

W6D1 - BABC

I had an extremely crappy week.  Below is a repost I wrote in a support group of friends.

"I got tired of having these old Army shorts and using regular tshirts to workout in. The shorts were a bit too small (read: nuthuggers) when they used to be regular shorts (you know, back when I was 200 pounds lol). And I've ruined a bunch of tshirts bc I've worked out in them.

I bought 8 pairs of bcg mesh shorts (3XL) and 5 bcg moisture wicking shirts (XL) that I love to workout in b/c they're comfortable. So, for the first time since Iraq I have dedicated workout clothes that fit correctly and I spent 78 bucks (that I barely had).

In other news, this week has sucked ass. I have managed to get one workout in and that was Monday morning. Monday afternoon I took a half day and drove Lucas to the other side of Tulsa for a BMX racing camp and drove back. Tuesday, I started a new project and was so exhausted I didn't even attempt a workout then went to BMX racing that night. Yesterday, I didn't get in my bike ride. I had changed into workout clothes and was adjusting my skates when I got a call that my dad broke his leg at the nursing home so I changed and rode down there another half day gone. I've not eaten how I wanted. I've not worked out the way I've wanted. This week has sucked. I'm getting ready to bake my skates (actually using a hair dryer) to make them fit a bit better. Then, I'm going downstairs for my scheduled workout.

This week, I've learned that I need to get all of my meals ready for the day either that day or the day before and make sure they're available so if I need to run off then I can still take them with me - they're pretty easy to do and don't need to be refrigerated so I have no excuses. I also need to make sure that if I can't do my workout as planned that I have a backup plan for a workout. For example, when Lucas was at the BMX camp on Monday I could've strung my TRX up to my car or something.

over the last 5 weeks, I have noticed that even riding the bike 30 minutes a day 5x a week has improved my brain function (not concentration, yet) - so my brain is more active than it was - not remembering more, nor concentration/focusing more, but very active."

	27Jul15	17Aug15	31Aug15
weight	285	282	287
neck	16.25	16.25	16.5
chest	42.75	42	42.25
navel	50.75/49.25	47.5	49.5/47.5
waist
hips	51.5	51.75	52
thigh	29.75	28.75	29.5
caliper chest	38	38	40
caliper abs	44	42	42-44
caliper thigh	40	36	40

My current weight has gone up - and I'm going to tell you it's for 1 reason and 1 reason only... I've not been eating correctly.  This last week I stuck to absolutely none of my times nor plans.  This week, I'm sticking to them all.

I recorded my first videos this morning.  One was me attempting a pull up; the second was a 15 min intro to what I'm doing and why.  I will have to store and catalog this footage so I can make sure to accomplish my goal.

Ok, today went ok - not great, just ok.  I managed to get in a ton of water today.  I ate the way I intended.  I got in my 1-5 minute workout every hour.  I had nothing left for my noon workouts and I didn't get in a bike ride.  I'm disappointed by those last three.  So it's 6pm - I've got 4 hours until I'm going to bed.  I got a ton of work done today so I have nothing left there.  That means that I can budget at least 1 hour for working out tonight - either jumping on a bike or the pull up program or whatever.  Let's see how it goes.

I did nothing.  I was wiped out.

W5D3 - BABC

This week has sucked, so far.

Monday, I did my ride on the phone call.  Then I had to leave about noon and drove my son to a location in Oklahoma (3+ hours away) for a BMX camp... then drove back.  I ate like crap and didn't get in any exercises that I planned on.

Yesterday, I didn't get my ride in and was exhausted.  I didn't eat most of the day and felt hungry all of the time.  I did have something from Burget King for lunch :(

Today, I have to get back on track.  I've got eggs for breakfast and I'll get the apple and almonds.  At least I know what I'm going to eat - normally, I wouldn't know and probably wouldn't care.

Let's get the day started.

I got tired of having these old Army shorts and using regular tshirts to workout in.  The shorts were a bit too small (read: nuthuggers) when they used to be regular shorts (you know, back when I was 200 pounds lol).  And I've ruined a bunch of tshirts bc I've worked out in them.

I bought 8 pairs of bcg mesh shorts (3XL) and 5 bcg moisture wicking shirts (XL) that I love to workout in b/c they're comfortable.  So, for the first time since Iraq I have dedicated workout clothes that fit correctly and I spent 78 bucks (that I barely had).

In other news, this week has sucked ass.  I have managed to get one workout in and that was Monday morning.  Monday afternoon I took a half day and drove Lucas to the other side of Tulsa for a BMX racing camp and drove back.  Tuesday, I started a new project and was so exhausted I didn't even attempt a workout then went to BMX racing that night.  Today, I didn't get in my bike ride.  I had changed into workout clothes and was adjusting my skates when I got a call that my dad broke his leg at the nursing home so I changed and rode down there another half day gone.  I've not eaten how I wanted.  I've not worked out the way I've wanted.  This week has sucked.

This week, I've learned that I need to get all of my meals ready for the day either that day or the day before and make sure they're available so if I need to run off then I can still take them with me - they're pretty easy to do and don't need to be refrigerated so I have no excuses.  I also need to make sure that if I can't do my workout as planned that I have a backup plan for a workout.  For example, when Lucas was at the BMX camp on Monday I could've strung my TRX up to my car or something.

over the last 5 weeks, I have noticed that even riding the bike 30 minutes a day 5x a week has improved my brain function (not concentration, yet) - so my brain is more active than it was - not remembering more, nor concentration/focusing more, but very active.

W5D70

You can see some good changes being made in my waist area.  I spent the whole weekend eating badly.  Tomorrow, I will rejoin eating correctly tomorrow.  I made some great progress on two applications today so I'm very happy.

Last week, I attempted to get in some heavy workout on Monday and screwed that up for the rest of the week.  This week, I'm just going to add the regular workouts without the weighted vest.  I AM going to add the weighted vest to my walks though.  So all day except when working out I'll wear the vest.

Follow the PUP and FGFBWO and Cize every day at lunch; the hourly mini workouts; and the 30 minute bike ride on the phone callsl;and eat when and how I'm supposed to.  That's all I need to do this week.

I have a plan to help my pull up workouts - I'm going to try a Y hold and use one arm to pull more horizontally than vertically and see how that goes.

	27Jul15	17Aug15	23Aug15
weight	285	282	283
neck	16.25	16.25	16.5
chest	42.75	42	43
navel	50.75/49.25	47.5	47.5
waist
hips	51.5	51.75	51.5
thigh	29.75	28.75	29.25
caliper chest	38	38	38
caliper abs	44	42	42
caliper thigh	40	36	38

W4D1 - BABC

I was going to do measurements every week and then pictures every 2 weeks.  I have slacked off a bit in remembering.

I've been logging everything in myfitnesspal.  I've been eating quite well save yesterday morning and saturday night - they were my designated cheat meals.  I had a dr pepper sat night and donut holes on Sunday morning.  They didn't taste good at all.

I've found eating the same things each day to be incredibly nice, again.  I loved juicing b/c it was so easy to do.  I knew what juice I was going to drink and when.  I like that structure when it comes to "dieting" as it is.  With BABD it's the same thing.  I know what my bricks are.  I know when my bricks will be eaten.  I know when I'm working out.  I know everything about my day except for work.  That's comforting to me.  I guess I don't know everything about my day - there could be curve balls - specifically when it comes to food and workouts I know what's going to happen and when and I don't allow the distractions.  Saturday morning I went to Haley's Hope (3rd or 4th year to troop that event) and took apples and almonds with me.  I didn't make eggs and I didn't take tuna.  When I got back from that event I had my next meal and still felt great.

I've been bicycling at least 4 days a week during my morning meeting.  My schedule says 5 days a week.  I always over schedule workouts and then get in about 1/3 of them.  Today at noon I'm hitting the Pull Up Program and Cize.  I'm looking forward to it.

Below are my measurement comparison.  If I had done one in the middle you would've seen a peak of weight up to 290.

	27Jul15	17Aug15
weight	285	282
neck	16.25	16.25
chest	42.75	42
navel	50.75/49.25	47.5
waist
hips	51.5	51.75
thigh	29.75	28.75
caliper chest	38	38
caliper abs	44	42
caliper thigh	40	36

So far, today's workouts haven't quite gone as planned - not bad, just not as planned.  The bike was ok - almost no pain in my butt from 30 min of riding.  The Pull Up Program - I couldn't do more than one set and that set (along with the normal hour workout) took 30 minutes to do.  I also did the Pull Up Program with a 40 pound weight vest and I'm a little sorry I did.  My rep max was 15 squat rows.  I hit the end at 8 Y-Fly-to-Biceps-Curl-to-Low-Row reps and 6 body saws almost took me apart.  I was able to do 3 pull ups at level 0 - so a lot of leg use. (sit on the floor and pull up until my thighs kick in about parallel with the floor and finish the pull up.  I thought I was going to make a regular pull up - I was wrong.  I haven't done Cize, yet.  that'll be in a bit after my shoulders have quit telling me I was stupid.

I finished strong last night and felt great.  I also noticed that my brain is running at speed again.  That's nice.  I'm glad it's not just depressed on the couch.

W3D4 - BABC

Wow has this week sucked for workouts.  I intended to get in the workouts continuing the roll from last week and the week before.  I was distracted by vacation with the kids. I thought about working out every day and did so with the kids; however, I did not do a workout - I did whatever activity we were punching through.

So week 3 day 4 is here.  I've f'n wasted 2.5 weeks.

This morning has sucked butt, so far.  I hopped on the morning call, then hopped on my bike... then I found out my computer acquired a virus sometime last night.  I didn't let it go out to the bar to pick up other peripherals so i'm not sure how it managed to get infected.  The good news was the virus was a minor trojan (note the difference between a trojan virus vs a trojan condom) and was easily squashed by Symantec.  I still had some browser extensions I had to quash.  So my phone call was crap and I'll have to reschedule my morning bike ride for later today.

Noon workout (the Pull Up Program/Feel good and Cize) may also have to come in later tonight as I'm planning to take a motorcycle ride at lunch - we'll see.  I may still do the workout and ride later tonight (depending on if lucas is doing bmx tonight - if he is then i'll have to run his bike to him, if not, then it's a leisurely ride somewhere, anywhere).

No motorcycle ride and only part of the Feel good Upper workout - no Cize, yet.  However, I did do all of the exercises for the FEGUP workout with a 40 pound vest;which I weigh 334 pounds with workout clothes and the vest on.  Which means my standing weight naked is close to 290 - I don't like that at all - however, some of that weight is due to being "full".

We'll see if Lucas is doing BMX tonight - if he is then I don't know when I'll get my workout in.  However, I've eaten perfectly today, so far - that's a huge bonus.

I ate perfectly today.  I didn't even stray into the Dr Pepper zone.

I did not get in the workouts I wanted to.  I managed to get in 20 mins of my planned workout; 0 mins of my bike; and 0 mins of cize.

I feel good about today.  Tomorrow will be better.

Also, I can't fit comfortably into my riding jeans for my motorcycle -- so this needs to get fixed.

W2D2 - BABC

Yesterday was good and bad.  I managed to get some things moving in my digestive system; however, I also added more to the system so I didn't do what I intended to.  At the end of the day, I was right back where I started at.  I really need to flush my system and maybe I'll do that tomorrow or Thursday.  I have too much to do around town to do that today to be trapped in my car to have a need to go to the bathroom.

I did get in my 30 minute bike ride.  I pushed really hard the last minute of my ride; up from 30s yesterday.

W2D1-BABC

I did crappy logging my workouts and eating for last week.  I got things put into myfitnesspal, but not here.

First, an admission of badness - I ate like complete crap this weekend.  I didn't eat one vegetable that didn't come as a tater tot, quesarito, or at one point a french fry.  I am not sure what I was thinking about, but eating better wasn't really one of the thoughts.  Most of the time, it was just "my wife is out of town and we have no food in the house and I don't want to mess with making the kids food"

Second, I worked out this weekend, but not in my home gym.  I cleaned out my garage and spent about 4 hours doing so in the heat Fri night, Sat, and Sunday.  I sweat a lot and was sore from moving crap around.  I wouldn't say that I worked out vigorously for 4 hours - maybe 30 minutes of vigorous workout is what the 4 hours could be compressed in to.

Third, my body needs to be flushed.  After I eat I have intense heart burn and hiccups.  That's usually due to being "full" in the intestinal regions.  Today was a colaise day and lots of water.  I think when I had the protein shakes that caused some stoppage.  I had plenty of water, but I think there was already the start of a blocker.  This is also evidenced by the rapid gain in weight that I've got going on from 176-179 up to 190 in about a week and a half.  Now, I've eaten crappy, but there's no way an 11-14 pound weight gain happens with me in a week and a half... then I noticed my bathroom visits haven't been productive... so if colaise isn't kicking in then I'll have to call for MOM (update I had to call MOM).

In other news, the bike seat isn't hurting as much as it did the first two days.  I'm not sore when I sit in a regular chair after so that's good too.  I've also been paying better attention to my phone calls while on the bike b/c I literally can't do anything else.

I biked 30 minutes on my call this morning.  I need to get in my 30 minutes of the Pull Up Program and setup the camera to record my doing Cize.

I've outlined my eating plan for tomorrow so I need to make sure I stick with it.

W1D1 - BABC

It has been smoking hot the last few weeks.  The AC in the house has been keeping the house cooler.  By cooler I mean not the 90+ outside, but 77+ inside.  It's been rough for a guy with a lot of fat, like me.  I have been watching Survivor with my wife on Amazon Prime - I could not have watched this show each week on regular TV - the commercials, waiting, etc.  I also hate some of the people and look up wikipedia to see when they go.  In any case, I'm pumped up.  I challenge myself to some things in life and all of the ones I can think of involve something cerebral.  I've never challenged myself to anything physical except in BCT and AIT.  My only physical challenge has been to do a pull up, one single, solitary pull up.  I want more.  I want to go out in the heat and not be so hot b/c of fat.  I want to go out and be able to do things with my kids like ride a bike up a hill without stopping or walking my bike.  I want to be able to do the things they do at cali-move, or al kavadlo, or frank medrano.  I can do it.  I want to be able to climb a rock wall.  I weigh too much to be on a rock wall.  I want to be able to look in a mirror and be happy with what I see.  I know a lot of my depression and issues with not feeling worthy play into not working out as well as get aggrivated by not being able to look in a mirror and see what I think should be seen.  My thighs are bigger around than my waist was in 1993 when I graduated from BCT.  I don't want to hear stupid shit like "you should be happy with who you are" and moronic crap like that.  I should be - I am not because how I am now is not who I am.  I don't give a crap what others think of how I look or how my clothes fit.  *I* care and that's the important part.  It's time to make the difference so I'm happy with seeing what is in the mirror.  There are so many things that are difficult to do at this weight and size.  Im not unhappy with me and I'm not unhappy at this size.  I am unhappy that I'm unable to do all of the things I want to bc I'm not in shape.

I did mostly well yesterday.  I did not have my full workout plan done until the evening.  I ate ok for almost the entire day then at the end I had Dr Pepper.  So tomorrow, I start over with eating correctly.

I wrote out a workout plan that figures out how to get in 4 workouts most days:
30 min bike ride
30 min cize
30 min pull up program
45 minutes pull up expansion which is done 5 minutes every hour from 8-5

That's a lot of workout for the day; however, none of it impacts my day.  I ride the bike during my conference call.  I do cize and pull up program over lunch.  And every hour I need to get away from my desk and drink water so I take 5 mins and get in a mini-workout.  According to myfitnesspal the total caloric burn is 2359 - and my total intake for the day is going to be a lot less (1200-1800).  We'll see how this goes.  I'm excited to do it, but I'm also apprehensive about it being too much.  However, I figured it up for 4 and 8 weeks.  So all I need to do is push for 4 weeks and then I'll be used to it so then I can push to the 8 week mark.  I can do anything for 4-8 weeks.  After that, I'd cut the exercise time down.  So we'll see how my body reacts during the next 4-8 weeks.

W1D0 - BABC

This is the start of my final run at becoming healthier.  I'm not going to add much of anything to the previous post.  I will say that I bought Shaun-T's Cize... I can't dance.  However, I've decided to do something that I hadn't thought of before; I'm going to record my workouts, especially those doing Cize.  If I record the workouts then I'll have an exact record of what I did do and when I'm done.  Then I'll be able to take the footage and show what I looked like starting and what I am able to do when I'm done.  Below is the basic plan.  It's not complicated.  The hardest part is going to be getting started.  Once I've started then this plan won't stop... For me, it's like the walk before you start jogging or running.  There's a point where you're already walking and where you need to be to do your jog/run and then you pick up the pace and your feet move faster and then you're jogging/running.  After that, you don't stop because you're already going.

5 min pull-up plan every hour from 8am to 5 pm
Cize w Shaun t daily
Pull-up Program/Feel Good Full Body schedule daily
Ride bike 30-60 min during morning phone call
Eat correctly following Badass Body recommendations
Drink a minimum of 8 8oz glasses of water
Meditation or Tai Chi and some Yoga
write in blog - weigh daily; measurements once a week; pictures every 2 weeks

Today, the first day consists of doing the first videos and recording what I can currently do.  This includes: pull up, plank, dips, cize, photos, and measurements.  I'll do a comparison with previous results, but only to show the backslide not in reference to this start.  In the last 5 months I've gone from 260-265 back up to 285 and my size has gotten back up (which we'll see below in the table of comparisons).  Essentially, I'm starting over - the measurements and pics will show just how starting over I'm going to be.  I find the following chart to be interesting.

	13May12	7Jun12	6Jun13	30Apr14	9Jul14	7Dec14	21Dec14	5Jan15	15Jan15	25Jan15	16Mar15	22Apr15	16May15	11Jun15	9Jul15	27Jul15
weight	270	272	270	284	279.4	286	275.6	270.6	273.6	272			270.8	279	282	285
neck	18	17.5	16.5	16.5	16.5	16.75	16	16	16	16.5	16	16.5	16.5	16.25	16.25	16.25
chest				44	41.5	43	43.5	42	42.5	42.5	42.3	41	41.5	42.25	43.25	42.75
navel	49	48.5	46.75	50	46.75	49.75	48.15	47.75	48	46.5	46	46.5	45.75	46.5	48	50.75/49.25
waist	46.5	48	43.5		45			46.5
hips	54	52.5	52	53	50	52.5	51.75	50.5	51	51	50.5	50.25	50	51.25	52	51.5
thigh									31.5	30.5	28.8	29	28.75	29.25	29.5	29.75
caliper chest											28	30	26	26	34	38
caliper abs											34	36	32	34	42	44
caliper thigh											34	30	30	32	34	40

Jan2010	May2014	July2014	19Jan2015	2Feb15	27Jul15

For a comparison with the last pics - here are the same two pics but with my stomach "sucked in"

W1D1

I have been wanting to restart my workout program for about 4 months.  I've been depressed, anxious, and a few other feelings that come from PTSD.  I know that this push isn't going to stop and I've been  a little reluctant to start up the workout cycles again.

On July 4th, 2015 I decided that would be my Independence Day against PTSD.  It's not that PTSD won't be with me; just that I'm tired of not doing the things I want to b/c I'm depressed or anxious or generally suffering with PTSD.  I've decided that this means I must eat better and workout.  My memory is really bad.  My focus is almost nonexistent.  My temper is quicker (not as bad as it used to be when I first came back).  My depression comes and goes but it seems like the waves of depression are bigger swells than the dips are into non-depression.  I'm not suicidal, just depressed (tired all of the time, lack of interest in things, etc)... and this depression isn't even close to as bad as my depression was in the past (pre 2009)... I'd call it more like "I need to eat ice cream by the pint".  It's probably unfair to blame it all on PTSD.  There's a lot of the depression and those feelings including focus and memory that I am very sure (but haven't proven) are weight and diet related.  There are studies that show working out decreases depression.  I'm pretty sure not weighing as much would decrease depression as well b/c I wouldn't feel as worthless b/c every time I look in the mirror I see someone who isn't worth much... including keeping in a shape that I'd be happy with.  Don't get me wrong my motivation for this is to be healthier and happier.  I am saying that I think my depression is part PTSD, weight, and diet... not exclusively one of those three.

The Plan
Workouts
I'm going back to the Pull Up Program and Feel Good Full Body Workouts 6 days a week.  I really enjoyed them and they were done in 30 mins or less.

I'm adding some hourly workouts too so I can get away from my desk for 5 minutes.  I liked these a lot as well and will include pullups, incline planks, incline press, dips, jump and hold.  Eventually, those will morph into hand stand pushups, planche pushups, etc.  For now, just don't them once an hour or every other hour will be more than enough.

I'm also adding a stationary bike to my day.  I have one status call that lasts at least an hour 4 days a week.  While I'm on those calls I'm going to ride the stationary bike (a regular bike on a mag trainer).  All of my conference calls will eventually be done while riding this bike.

I'm also going to start taking my mountain bike out more than once a week.  I usually ride with the kids on Wed afternoons and every other Fri afternoon.  I'm thinking about adding a Monday eve.  When I can't go out (b/c of weather like ice) I'm going to use the elliptical on the hardest setting.

I'm also talking with my wife about my designs for a climbing wall/American Ninja Warrior gym for the backyard (b/c she won't let me build a climbing wall in my office).  It's a good design.  I can't build it so I'm going to have to find someone who can and can do it fairly cheap.

Eating
I have struggled with food.  Not because I like eating.  I actually hate eating.  I eat b/c it makes me feel good... until I'm done then I don't feel as good.  It's like an addiction.  I get the high then come down from the high and it feels like crap then I eat again.  I'm against diets.  I don't want a temporarily uncomfortable way of doing things that gets results that won't last.  I want a comfortable way of doing things that gets results (even if slower) and do last - there's no "done with this diet" - I want something I can do and continue to do and like to do.  You would think as much as I like bacon I'd eat it all of the time, but I don't.  I actually don't eat many foods that aren't good for me.  The biggest downfall in my daily eats is the soda (currently it's Dr Pepper).  I haven't had a Coke since March... so I accomplished that goal.

I liked juicing because it was simple.  I knew exactly what I was going to eat during the day and when.  No questions, no figuring it out, no wasted time... just do it, 2 mins later it's done and I'm back to doing other stuff.  I also liked the fact that it tasted great and that helped me cut Coke.

I bought Christmas Abbotts Badass Body Diet book when it came out.  I like how she writes.  I also like the simplicity.  I like it a lot.  I got worried because the book is geared towards women then at the end there's a section on adjusting the book for men.  I've decided to follow this way because it's simple, I can eat the foods I like, and it doesn't feel restrictive in terms of "eat only rice cakes" or "pineapple only diet" or whatever.  I have a list of foods that I like to eat that match what she recommends... and there are a lot of them... bacon is not on the list, but I think a couple of slices after the first 21 days will be ok here and there :)

Chronicles
I will be journaling this journey as well.  I've managed to login to MyFitnessPal for 216 days already.  When that number hits 579-580 (July 4, 2016)  I'd like to be documenting a full year of workouts and big success.

This is about slow and steady.  I'm going to correct the mistakes I usually make where I add a bunch of stuff and excuse certain foods b/c I've been doing well.  I need to regain my brain and body.  I'm hoping that I'll see big improvements over the next 15-90 days to start with.

W8J5 - W4D5 (W2D3)

I was not well overnight.  I have a sore throat, major sinus pressure, and a horrific headache.  My son was over here for a couple of days with the flu and the same symptoms.  I did manage to get about 7 hours of sleep before I woke up at 5 and was awake for good.  I was dreading going to the scale b/c I was sure I had some extra weight going on and I felt horrible.

My weight is the same: 266.8 (7 pounds left to beat my goal!).  I decided to do some measurements to see where I am (approximately) mid-week.  I'm doing quite well.  My sizes have decreased another half to one whole inch.  Calipers are mm smaller on each measurement.  If I measured correctly then I've gained about a pound of muscle in about 4 days.  At my weight I could gain approximately 4 pounds of muscle a day.  I'm ok with not gaining a lot, I'd rather see the fat fall off.  I don't think my measurements are correct, which is why I'm scheduling an appointment with my former trainer to get accurate measurements.  I'm a lot stronger.  Last night I was doing moves on the TRX that a month ago (see W4D5 in the title) I couldn't do very well at all.

Today's workout plan (ETA 90+ minutes):
My Pull Up plan (1x)
Pull Up 5x
Incline Plank 2x10s
Incline Press 8 (with one leg down)
Dips 15
Jump and Hold 5x5s

My Ab plan (2x)
Hinge 15
Suspended Crunch 15
Mountain Climber 15
Pendulum 3 each direction
Standing Body Crunch 15

TRX Pull Up Program (4x)
Inverted Row 15
Wall Slides 15
Low Row - Biceps Curl - Y Fly 15
Pike 10-15
Squat Row 15

TRX Force (2x)
Squat Row
Chest Press
Plank 4x10s
Hip Abduction 15
Squat 15
Row LMH 15
Triceps Curl 15
Side Plan 3x10s
Biceps Curl L3 15
Hamstring Curl 15
Spiderman Push Up 8 each side

I'm not really doing well on my hourly mini workouts.  I need to do more incline pushups (like 10 an hour or something) and maybe something to do with the parallettes.

I did everything on my list except I only did one of the TRX Pull Up Program.  After the last one this week I'll probably drop those from the list and then add them back in after the 12 weeks is done.

I lost my energy most of the way through.  I don't know why this time, normally it's a pretty solid energy level - but not today.  I need to figure out what I want to do to add more energy to my workout.  I have been saving the apple shavings from juicing so maybe I'll eat some of those a half hour or so before I workout.

W7J3 - W3D3 (W1D1)

I'm currently 45 days without a Coke.  My only liquids have been juice (that I make), coconut water, vegan protein shake, water, BCAAs.   I've been juicing for 44 days.  I've been working out for 2 weeks now.

I haven't posted any workout updates in a couple of days.  I've also added a layer of complexity to my workouts.  I'm going to "up my game" so-to-speak.  I'm continuing with the Pull Up Program and the Feel Good Full Body TRX Workout.  I'm adding TRX Force and a few other exercises to help with the Pull Ups.  I think I can still achieve the full workout in 60-90 minutes.  I feel like the TRX Pull Up Program and Feel Good Full Body TRX Workouts are great.  They push me well for 30 minutes.  I can increase reps and get a better workout.  However, I want to add to my workouts.

I was looking at my pictures yesterday and noticed that I achieved great results with TRX Force and I've achieved great results juicing.  I already know that after my juicing is up in 18 days that I'll be doing more solid fruits and veggies and probably still either juice or make smoothies (either should cut down on my costs - which are about 200-240 a month in food bills).  What I want to do between now and 18 days from now (and don't forget I've got about 2 months before KC PCC) is get in some monster workouts that get me a bit more of a workout than what I've been doing (through no fault of the workouts, they've been great) and increase my muscle a bit more than I have been.  I'd like to achieve my 260 goal in 18 days - that's 7-9 pounds (I hit 267 this morning).  I believe that's doable.

In order to achieve that 260 - I'm going to adjust my workout as follows (for today, tomorrow will be different):
TRX Pull Up Program - Circuit D - 4 times
T-Spine Rotation 5 each side
Pull Up 8-12
Side Plank 4x10 each side
Body Saw 6-10

TRX Force - 1 time
Squat Row 15
Chest Press 15
Plank 4x10
Hip Abduction 15
Squat 15
Row (L, M, H) 15
Triceps Press 15
Side Plank 3x10 each side
Biceps Curl 15
Hamstring Curl 15
Spiderman Push Up 8 each side


My Own Additions - 1 time
Pull Up (Bar) - see what I can do  -- DID
Incline Plank 4x10
Incline Press 4
Dips (TRX or Parallettes) 15
Pike 8-12
Jump and Hold (Pull Up Bar) [count of 5] 10  -- DID 2

As you can see there's a lot going on.  The first section is to aid in doing a pull up (in addition to a regular PT workout).  The TRX Force is my regular PT workout.  The additions at the bottom are because I want to build some strength for the hand stand push up which I also cannot do, but I can do a plank or vertical hand stand (against a wall for stability) - so I want to work on that.

This will only be for the next 18 days that I add these additional works to my workout.  The main benefit is to add muscle which will hopefully burn more fat and drop my size and weight to at least the 260 mark.  After the 60th day of juicing and 18th day of these type workouts I'll re-evaluate where I'm at and see what to change.

By the end of my workout (58:30 later) my upper body was so tired it was exhausting to do any of the inclines, dips, or pike.  I started an incline plank, but my arms gave out before I could hold it for more than 4 seconds.  Tomorrow I'll do the regular Feel Good workout and the additional stuff before doing the TRX Force W1D2 workout.

I feel completely exhausted as far as my arms go.  My brain is quite tired too.  I feel like I could take a nap.

I smell ammonia - I need to do more research on that.  I'm taking BCAAs now too so I can curb any muscle-used-as-fuel that may be going on.  I have also realized I need a way to track my exercises in some sort of app that I can also use in a browser.  I am going to use My Fitness Pal and see how that goes.  I don't like typing it in here b/c then I have to refer back to previous days (which is what I'd have to do on MFP).  What I'd really like is a way to put in the exercises and what I'm supposed to do, but also see what I last did for reference.  I normally do this on paper, but I'm wanting to get away from that.  This may require me to write my own app or browser application (which I'm ok with, I just don't have a lot of time).

As for the rest of the day, I'll do the additional stuff over the course of the next few hours of work (about every hour or so do some of the exercises.  I really want to be able to do a pull up in 18 days and be at 260 pounds or better.  I can do this.

One last thing, for now, I'm going to schedule a meeting with my first trainer, Paul, to do a fitness test and get the calipers and measurements done.  Then every 2 weeks I'll schedule another one.

I weighed in at 267 this morning (that's 19 down from when I started juicing and 30 down from 11 months ago).

Here's a note I posted to my weight loss support group earlier:

I've been Coke free for 45 days only drinking juice that I've made, BCAAs, vegan protein shakes, and water.

I dropped more size as well:
chest 41" (18Jun14 it was 44" and 21Dec14 it was 43.5")
waist (belly button) 46" (1May14 it was 50" and 14Dec14 it was 48.75)
butt 50.5" (2May14 it was 54" and 7Dec14 52.5")

My pants are falling off - I almost fit into XL shirts (which I was almost not fitting into XXL shirts).

I have decided to push as hard as I can for the next 18 days (that'd be 60 days of juicing). I hope in that 18 days I can meet my goal of 260 - if so, then I'll reset my goal to 250 (and so on).

I also want to note that I've been eating some solids. For example, on cheat days I'll have some brats (just the brat) and daily I may have some black olives or an apple or two.

One final note, I'm getting closer to being able to do one pull up. That doesn't seem like a lot, but when you weigh 267 pounds, pulling that much weight up is not as easy as it may sound. I can pull myself up about 1"-2" right now, which is 1"-2" more than I was able to do 2 weeks ago.

W6J6 - W2D6 -- W6D7 - W2D7

I did not workout yesterday.  I chose, instead, to get some work done.  I wasn't feeling like the workout was the best idea.  I knew I should, but I wanted to take the time away from working out for the time being - I was not feeling like I had enough energy.

I woke up this morning at 268.2 - which is fantastic.  I need to stick with just juice for the next 3 weeks.  It's been 42 days since I've had a Coke and I don't crave one.  I don't even crave anything that I used to and I believe that's because the juices satisfy any of those cravings.

I did severely crave a burger made of ground chuck, apple brats, cheese, and bacon all ground up together.

I am still fine tuning my hourly miniworkouts and what I want to do before and after work - however, I'm almost done.  As I stated yesterday, I want to come up with a 10 minute or so pre and post work workout.  Then I want some 2-5 minute workouts I can do every hour or so.  I did this last year when I would do planks or work on my pullups.

Today I'm going to do one or both of yesterday and todays workouts and see what I can do about the miniworkouts.

W6J4 - W2D4

I am only slightly sore.  I've been feeling hungry since I am not having anything but juice.

I did two of the four sets I wanted to do today.  I did adjust my intake so that I had the protein and aminos 1.5 hours before my workout and my juice a half hour before.  I did have more energy - I also felt quite tired.

side plank 3x10 L1 both sets - I dropped to L1 from L2 b/c I wasn't able to hold L2 the last time without a lot of issues.
hip press 10 L2
Inverted row 10 L2
Pike 8 L1 - I did these on my elbows not realizing that I should have done them as a pushup.

W6J2 - W2D2

Today's workout came after 2 days of rest from a workout.  I lifted and moved boxes all this weekend, but I didn't do an actual workout.  I felt the soreness in my triceps and my body seemed to have relaxed some.  My lower back still hurts.

I attempted a pullup before my workout (like I do before every workout).  I was able to lift myself slightly off the ground, but not high enough to do a chinup/pullup.  I then jumped up and did a hold for a few seconds.

I did 4 sets of Circuit A of the Pull Up Program and I timed it so I'd know how long the sets were taking.  They felt like they took an hour in the past, but my actual workouts all took only about 7-8 minutes a piece.

Squat Row                                           15 each
PullUp                                                   6 L1 each
Body Saw                                              8 L2 (sets 1-3) 8 L1 (set 4)
Low Row - Curl - Y Fly                      12 L2 each

By the 4th set of pullups I was able to pull myself up once as an actual level 1.  Before that it was an almost level 1 where I needed more help from my legs.

On the body saws I was able to do the L2 where my elbows were on the floor and feet in the TRX.  In the 4th set I started at L2, but my lower back finally couldn't hold me up so I did them on the floor.  Once my back is stronger I'll be able to do the L3s like I like.

Times
set 1 (unknown)
set 2 - 7:24:02
set 3 - 7:10:05
set 4 - 7:52:48

W5J6 - W1D5

I was not feeling well at all last night.  I woke up feeling much better this morning.  However, I feel extremely tired - like energy has been sucked out of me and I've used all of my muscles - not like it's late at night and i'm sleepy.  Though I didn't get to bed until after midnight, so that could be part of it.

My muscles are a little sore.  I'm ready for today's workout.

I felt like today's workout was fairly easy.  I didn't have a chance to finish it.  I may do so later.

I plan to start moving my office out so I can clean everything then set it up how I want - so I may skip the last half of the workout and just count the heavy lifting as part of a workout.

TSpine Rotation - 2 each side
TRX Wall Slides - 15 both circuits
Squat YFly - 15 both circuits
Overhead Squat - 15 first circuit
PullUp - 8 first circuit.

I really need to start working out a little bit sooner so I have enough time to complete the workouts.

W5J4 - W1D3

I woke up a little sore this morning.  I also woke up with some incredible vertigo.  I experienced a lot of vertigo during my workout which I had to cut short.

Before the workout I attempted one pullup.  I could not lift myself off the ground.  However, I jumped up and was able to hold myself most of the way up for a few seconds before I dropped it.

I did Circuit B of the TRX Pull Up Program

Long Torso Stretch - 30s each side both circuits
Side Plank L2 3x10s each side both circuits
Hip Press L2 13 (in 35s) first circuit, 15 in 35s the 2nd circuit
Inverted Row L2 10 both circuits
Pike L2 8 first circuit 10 2nd circuit

While I was working out I actually felt stronger.  That's not usually something that happens.  I also felt like the vertigo hindered me a little.  If there hadn't been vertigo to the point that I had to lay down until it passed I would've completed the remaining two circuits that I needed to.