W8J2 - W4D2 (W2D1)

The scales tipped at 271 this morning.  After the weekend, I usually have some weight gain b/c I have my cheat day either Saturday or Sunday - in this case about 4 pounds of cheat still remains (and probably some muscle gain too).  Tomorrow I'll probably drop down to 268-269 then Wed I'll drop back to 266-267.

I did go ahead and do calipers this morning.

Yesterday's measurements were: chest 36mm, belly 38mm, thigh 42mm = 32% body fat
Today's measurements were: chest 32mm, belly 32mm, thigh 42mm = 30% body fat

This goes to show you that the measurements are either off [for two measurements] by a pencil eraser or I'm 4mm smaller today than yesterday.  This also goes to show why I think having another source for measurements is important.  If I have them measuring they're going to measure the same way each time where I might measure one way and my wife might measure another way.  In any case, I still like the measurements and with these next 10 workouts I'm sure I'll see a lot more progress.  I remember what my progress was like with TRX 12 weeks before - and that was drinking Coke - this is without.

These next 10 days (including today) are going to be primarily juice (no cheat days) and I have some extra apples.  I'm still going to have BCAAs and protein shakes as well as load up on water.  However, I will not be eating any other solid foods.  This will be an all vegetarian 10 days and 95% of that juice.

My workout today took longer than I thought it would.  I was able to pump it up a little bit as well as add a few new ab exercises so I could kick my belly too.

Today's workout:
Pull Up prep (one circuit):
Pull Up [bar] - attempt 5 pullups - pulled shoulders up 1-2"
incline plank 2x10s
incline press (1-leg down) 8
Dips (parallettes) 15
Pike (8-10) 10
Jump and Hold (pull up bar) 5x5s

Abs (3 circuits):
completed one set - need to finish up later
Hinge 15
Suspended crunches 0
mtn climber 0
pendulum 0
standing body crunch 15
body saw 0

Pull Up Program:
completed one set - need to finish up later
TSpine Rotation 5
Pull Up 0
side plank 0
body saw 0

TRX Force
complete each section then rest and do it again before moving to the next section (two circuits)
Squat Row 15
Chest Press 15
Plank 4x10s
Hip Abduction 15

Squat 15
Row LMH 15
Triceps curl 15
Side Plank 3x10s

Biceps Curl 15 (L3)
Hamstring Curl 15
Spiderman 8ea leg - could not do one - did 16 pushups

I ran out of time today to do the other exercises marked as zero (0) - as well, some of the exercises, specifically those where my legs are suspended and put strain on my back were stopped because I need to get more stretching in.  If I can't use my back or I injure it then I can't do any workouts.  I need to workout for the next 10 days.

Later tonight, I'll complete all of the sets and circuits I didn't complete at lunch.

I haven't been posting how I feel during the workouts like I used to (like "doing body saws was hard").  For the most part, the exercises I do are the max I could do at that time.
Like the Row LMH I do 15 of those, but I have to stop every 5 or so to give my shoulders a little break.
Planks I was able to do without trouble - though in the 2nd circuit my arms were a bit shakey.
Side planks were much more comfortable to do today than they have been.
Pikes were ok.  I had to stop after 4 to rest for a second, but I did them all without any other issues.
Incline Plank - I held straight without any issues
Incline Press - These were a little harder today.  I'll either do 16 tomorrow or increase the angle.
Dips - I'll probably stick with 15 for now - though I could do 2 circuits
Jump and Holds were a bit rough at the end of the 5th one.  I'll stick with 5 for now.
Hamstring Curls were rough as well.  I was having problems keeping everything up today.  the last time I did them i didn't have that problem.
Spidermans - I was able to do 1 each leg a week or more ago, now I can't do a single one.  Mostly because by the time I get to them my arms give out.  I could try doing these first tomorrow and see how I do.  Instead, I did 16 pushups with my arms extended out and knees on the ground.  If I have pushups again I'll do 8 regular pushups in a plank position and build up from there.

I was behind today and therefore didn't juice this morning (in addition to having a sick kid).  I did steal some apple juice boxes (100% juice) to make up for it.  I finally juiced for tomorrow.  I am going to skip the 2nd workout and plan tomorrows workout accordingly.

W8J1 - W4D1 (W2D0)

50 days no Coke and 49 days juicing.

measurements two weeks ago:

weight: 273.6

neck: 16

chest:42.5

bellybutton:48

hips:51

thighs: 31.5

measurements this week:

weight: 272

neck: 16.5

chest:42.5

bellybutton:46.5

hips:51

thighs: 30.5

This last week has been nuts. I started kicking my ass during workouts (more than normal) and have ended up unable to move much at all afterwards.

I have been doing caliper readings about every week as well as measurements.

I started at 35% body fat and 175 pounds of lean body mass

25 days later I am at 32% body fat and 182 pounds lean body mass.

I'm going to go to one of my former trainers and have him do measurements every week or two so I have someone who does them more often than my wife do the measurements.

I'm quite excited about all of the changes.

This week I'm adding some lower back and ab exercises to my routines this week to strengthen my back and abs and hopefully decrease my mid section.

W7J5 - W3D5 (W1D3) -- W7J6 - W3D6 (W1D0)

Yesterday, I kicked my own butt again.  When I was done I could barely walk.

My Pre-workout
Pull Up [with bar] - could not do one, but was able to pull my shoulders up by a couple inches.
Inclined Plank 2x10s
Inclined Press 4 (with one leg on the ground)
Dips 15 (with parallettes)
Pikes (cut from the pre-workout since I'll be doing those with the TRX Force workout)
Jump hold (with pull up bar - jump up and hold) 5 count x 3

Pull Up Program (supposed to do 4x, did 1)

Inverted Row 8-12 (I did 8)

Wall Slides 15

Low Row - Biceps - Y 15

Pike 8-12 (I did 8)

Squat Row - skipped because it's in the regular workout

TRX Force - 2x

Squat Row 15

Chest Press 15

Plank 4x10 on floor not L1 because of lower back

Hip Abduction 15

Squat 15

Row LMH 15

Triceps Press 15

Side Plank 3x10

Biceps Curl 15

Hamstring Curl 15

Spiderman Push Up (8) - I could not do a spiderman pushup - so I did 16 pushups

I'm working on my upper body strength to lift myself for the pull up or even do handstand push ups 

Friday (today), I did not workout.  I got wrapped up with work and not feeling great as far as muscles go.  They weren't bad, just sore.  So I decided today would be my break day.  Tomorrow I'll do the workout I planned for today (preworkout, Feel Good core and W1D4)

I did eat some tortellini today.  I can't wait to be smaller.

W7J4 - W3D4 (W1D2)

Week 7 Juicing Day 4 - Week 3 working out Day 3 - Week 1 TRX Force Day 2

Day 2 of the 18 days to kick my own ass is underway.  I just kicked my own ass.

I had some taco soup (beef, tomatoes, corn in a tortilla flour bowl shell) tonight.  I hadn't planned on it, but I felt like it was the right thing to eat.

I still did all of the juicing I needed to for the day.  I also had my standard veggie protein shake and BCAAs.  Still no Coke.

My work computer was down for the third day in a row so I was able to do a few things on my mac.  I'm still setting up my work laptop from the new hard drive that was installed.  That's not important it's just for reference when I look back through my logs to remember what day was what - after a while they all blend together.

Yesterday, I found that I could not complete my pre-workout, workout, and post-workout workouts without my arms being extremely tired.  Today I mixed it up.  I did the post-workout first, followed by the pre-workout, then the workout.

My Pre-workout
Pull Up [with bar] - could not do one, but was able to pull my shoulders up by a couple inches.
Inclined Plank 2x10s
Inclined Press 4 (with one leg on the ground)
Dips 15 (with parallettes)
Pikes (cut from the pre-workout since I'll be doing those with the TRX Force workout)
Jump hold (with pull up bar - jump up and hold) 5 count x 3

Feel Good Workout (Lower)
Abducted Lunge 12 both sets
Jumping Jacks 50 both sets
Lunge 12 each leg both sets
Jump Ropes 50 both sets
Balance Lunge 12 each leg both sets

TRX Force - W1D2
Hip Press 15
Overhead Back Extension 15
Lunge (none - I did Lunges during the Feel Good Workout)
Pike L2 12
Sprinter Start 15 each leg
Side Lunge 15 alternating
Hamstring Runner 15 alternating
Body Saw L2 10 with 5 done on the floor (L0?)
Half Kneeling Rollout 5 each leg
Burpee 8 each leg
Y Fly To T 15 each

Times
Pre-Workout - 7 min
Feel Good - 8:09 - 8:48
TRX Force - 29

I was going to go back and do the 3rd set of the Feel Good Workout but my whole body is exhausted and I felt like I was going to throw up.  I generally workout at the optimal time after my veggie protein shake and lunch juice - I haven't had any carbs since 7:30 and it's 10:30 now.

Another great kick my ass workout.  Don't tell him I said so, but Jo-Jo is my inspiration for this.  He kicks his ass daily.  When I think about quitting I think "what would Jo-Jo say?" the answer is "get off the f**kin' ground you pu**y" - I don't know why but I'm motivated to finish correctly (not cut corners) and get of the f**kin ground.

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.

Photo time

I thought it was time to update the photos.  I've been juicing for 43 days and no coke for 44 days.  I have noticed a lot of difference in my size, now it's time to see what that size looks like.

I copied the last post about photos with comparisons so I could put all of these side-by-side with todays.

Previous picture comparisons
http://elvisapocalypse.blogspot.com/2012/06/old-pictures.html
http://elvisapocalypse.blogspot.com/2014/05/picture-comparisons.html
http://elvisapocalypse.blogspot.com/2014/07/photos.html

Jan2010	May2014	July2014	Jan2015

Here are all of the pictures I took today - I wanted to show what I look like "unsucked in" and "sucked in".

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.