The Chipmunk Workout

The week began strong.  Monday through Wednesday, I got in some good workouts.  My back was much better, so I started adding more weight.  Zumba class was high energy and I even jogged a few laps on the track.  Then I got hit with some kind of bug, which put me down for the rest of the week.

As if that wasn't bad enough, we found that a chipmunk had gotten into the house.  We spent the weekend trying to get rid of it.  It zipped around, hiding under the furniture in the family and living rooms.  We finally came up with a plan of attack.  We opened the front and side doors, figuring if we gave it an escape route, it would take it.  We didn't know what piece of furniture it was hiding under, so I had to lift up each piece until we found it (This provided the resistance training part of the workout.).  My wife was positioned to force it toward the doors.  Then, I chased it out the door (That was the aerobic part.).

On Monday, I was still feeling like crap.  I was tired because I couldn't sleep.  My coughing kept waking me up.  I finally broke down and started taking cold medicine, which helped me sleep, but left me feeling groggy in the morning.

I started feeling better by Wednesday.  Thursday was my first good night’s sleep.  Friday, I felt well enough to give the gym a try.  Friday is a Zumba class night.  My normal routine is to first do 30 minutes of elliptical, to get warmed up, then it’s off to the hour long class.  I didn't think I could do both this Friday, so I went straight to Zumba.

By the end of class, I was a little winded, but I was able to keep up with all of the routines.  After class, I spent twenty minutes on the weights and machines, just to see how the muscles felt.  I just did upper body exercises, with bench press being the most strenuous.  I find exercising the lower body requires more energy than upper body work, so I decided to wait before trying those again.

The twenty minute workout went okay.  I thought about ending the session in my usual way, with core work and some yoga stretches, but I ran out of steam, so I just went home instead.

I felt pretty good on Saturday.  I did my complete workout and the Zumba class with no problems, except for the occasional cough.  I wanted to get up and go to the gym this morning, but I couldn't push myself out of bed, so I took today as a rest day.

I didn't have much of an appetite over the week, except for breakfast.  I had a full breakfast almost every day.  I’m talking potatoes, bagels, jam, sausage, bacon…the works!  I skipped lunch three or four times and didn't do my usual snacking.  I kind of picked at dinner, but ate quite a bit of comfort food to make myself feel better.

A Couple of Observations from the Week

Even though I was not feeling well, I really wanted to work-out each day and was very disappointed that I couldn't.  That reminded me just how large a role that fitness has come to play in my lifestyle.

After Saturday’s Zumba class, I was standing in the middle of the room, talking with another member of the class.  The front and side walls of the room are mirrored.  As we were talking, I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror.  Now, we look in the mirrors all of the time, both in the classroom and on the gym floor, but we're usually focusing on a specific movement or body part.  This time, I caught the whole package.  It was like seeing myself for the first time.  My muscles were pumped from the resistance training and my core was tight from the floor exercises and Zumba class.  I really saw the progress that I've made.  I know that doubt will creep in again at some point, but I’ll keep that picture in my mind to counter it.

Sorry for being so long winded, but I wanted to catch everything up with this post since I didn't feel well enough to write last week’s post.

One last thing. The song, "300 Violin Orchestra," by Jorge Quintero, pumped me up Saturday, when I really needed it.  Have a listen:

I’ll get back to weighing myself again next week.

An Uneventful Week

All in all, this has been a pretty good week.  I went through my first workouts without the muscle relaxants.  My back felt much better, though I did have a little bit of discomfort.   I couldn't do the dead lifts at the weight I’d done last week.  Other than that, every other exercise was fine.

We had one last (Hopefully!) snowstorm last week.  That was the only day that I didn't get out to exercise.  I also managed to keep up with the yoga stretches.  My Zumba instructors were on fire last week.  They definitely put us through our paces.

I cut way back on the treats, but still put away quite a bit of food.  I'm talking offensive lineman level eating.  I just couldn't seem to get full.  When the dust finally settled, I’d picked up 2 lbs.

I'm pretty satisfied with my progress to date.  The belly fat is stubborn, but its steadily shrinking.  I'm getting decent muscle development and my clothes are fitting pretty well.  I feel strong and my endurance is up.  I got a lot of encouragement and positive comments over the week, especially at the gym.  I was complimented on my work ethic and the progress that I've made.

All things considered, I think that I'm on a good pace.  I just need to keep it up.

Weight loss to date: 46.8 lbs.

Sometimes the Sweets Win

I was still dealing with some back discomfort over the week, but nothing like before.  I continued the yoga stretches into the weekend.  They definitely lessened the discomfort and helped with my mobility.  I was able to get in two workouts, two Zumba classes, and a couple of elliptical sessions.  I also did four of my afternoon walks.  All in all, I felt pretty good about my physical activity.

My diet, however, was another story.  It was all over the place.  I overindulged in some of my favorite foods; thick sliced pizza and ice cold Coca Cola.  Leading up to Fat Tuesday, I made the mistake of buying a half dozen box of apple paczki.  I didn't eat them all by myself, but I accounted for my share of them. Then, on Fat Tuesday, there was a small party which involved a large assortment of donuts.

Combined with last week’s inactivity, I assumed that my feasting would cause me to show a higher number when I weighed in.  Imagine my surprise to find that I’d lost 1 lb!  I’m chalking that loss up to having built up a faster metabolism.

I want to get back the experiment that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, but my main focus is not straining my back again.  I've been wearing my weight belt to help support my lower back when I do squats and some of the standing exercises, like dumbbell raises.  I also reduced the poundage.  Aside from squats, I felt that performing dead-lifts would give me a good idea of how much I’d recovered.  I was able to do four sets of ten, 135 lbs each, without any discomfort.  The most discomfort in the session came from an unexpected source:  Shoulder shrugs.  I guess I didn't consider the stabilizing role the lower back plays in that exercise.

For the upcoming week, I plan on continuing to take things slowly.  I definitely plan on eating better!

Weight loss to date: 48.8 lbs.

Adding Some Yoga To The Mix

This week started out well.  I got in a really good workout on Monday.  I had a conflict on Tuesday, so I didn't make to the gym.  Things went downhill from there.  On Wednesday, I experienced some back cramps that hurt like heck!  It was hard to sit, stand or lie down for long periods.  I can’t remember being more uncomfortable.

These spasms lasted for days.  Luckily, the prescribed muscle relaxants helped to manage the discomfort, but I was still pretty hobbled.  A few days in, I decided to try some yoga exercises to stretch my back muscles.  I've taken some yoga classes at the gym, but not consistently, so I knew that I needed some coaching.  I searched YouTube and found some videos that I thought would fit the bill.  After 45 minutes of stretching, I had a lot of my mobility back and much less pain.  I know that the results may seem unbelievable, but it’s happened to me before.  Years ago, I was dealing with knee soreness.  A friend recommended that I try hot house yoga.  After the session, the soreness was significantly less.

I plan on doing the yoga exercises daily for the next week or so.  I’m hoping that they’ll help me get back to the gym by the latter half of next week.

I've decided to call this week a wash, skip my weekly weigh-in, and start fresh next week.

Here's one of the yoga videos that I used.

Namaste.

A Little Experiment

Even though it started out below zero again, I had a pretty good workout week.  I got in most of my workouts, plus an extra Zumba class and a two hour snow shoveling session, which resulted in a .4 lb weight loss.

Some people have told me, that to them, my weight loss seemed like it happened all of a sudden.  I didn't pay much attention to it until I happened to mention it to my wife and she said something that surprised me.  She said that even though she’s been watching the process, it did seem to her as if I had a sudden weight loss.

This got me thinking.  I went back and looked over my spreadsheets and charts.  I remembered that I first started hearing these type of comments after the fast that I was doing in January.  Armed with this knowledge, I've decided to try a little experiment.  I’m going to incorporate elements of the fast into the majority of my meals next few weeks.  I’d like to see if I get a similar reactions at the end of next month.

An Interesting Article

Something to consider.

Man loses 37 pounds by eating exclusively at McDonald's for 90 days

Weight loss to date: 47.8 lbs.

Where's the Spandex section?

This week’s weather was pretty similar to last week's.  It started off in the low single digits, later warming up to the high twenties, then dropping back into the low teens.

I was only able to get in two workouts, two zumba classes, and four walks.  My diet was not great this week.  I think that I'm fighting hibernation mode.  All I've wanted to do is eat and sleep.  I picked up 2.4 lbs this week, though I refuse to believe that much of it is fat.


Undeterred and buoyed by many positive comments, I bought myself a couple of wicking workout shirts.  They don't fit nearly as well on me as they do on the model in the photo, but they're passable.  I can't wear them tucked in yet (They show off too many lumps!), but evidently they didn't look too bad untucked, based on the feedback I received.

I guess the purchase of the shirts was my "Buddy Love" moment.  In the Eddie Murphy version of "The Nutty Professor," super heavy Professor Krump had just changed into his fit alter ego, Buddy Love.  Excited to be thin, Buddy goes on a shopping spree at a sports clothing store.  His exchange with the store clerk went like this:

Clerk:  You Iookin' for any kind of clothes in particular?
Buddy Love:  Spandex! All Spandex! Where's the Spandex section?

I was kinda like that.  I'd seen some of the super fit at the gym wearing the wicking shirts and I'd wanted to give them a try for some time.  I finally decided that I'd lost enough belly fat to wear one in public and not feel embarrassed.

Wearing them has given me a new goal to add to my goals list:  Get to the point that I can wear the shirt tucked in.  I guess this would actually be a subset of the "Flat stomach/six pack" goal, but who's counting?

Motivation

• More positive comments and encouragement.
• Noticing people checking me out during my workouts in the gym.
• ...and the best motivation to date:  My three year old grandson spontaneously proclaiming, "Pop Pop has muscles!"

Special Motivation

This is Sam 'Sonny' Bryant Jr., a SEVENTY year old bodybuilder!!!  If this doesn't motivate you, I don't know what will!

Weight loss to date: 47.4 lbs.

Fitmodo - The Science of Fat

Gizmodo posted a great overview article on The Science of Fat.

It touches on questions like:

• How the body stores fat.
• Where the weight goes when you lose it.
• And my favorite, how to boost your metabolism:

"The simplest answer is by adding muscle. Muscle tissue, at rest, burns two to three times more calories than fat tissue does. So while cardio is certainly important for your overall health and stamina, if fat burning is your goal, then focusing a little more on weight-bearing, muscle building exercises will likely yield better results, and faster. Not because it burns more calories while you're working out, but because it turns up your metabolic flame so that it burns more calories all the time."

For me, this is one of the most important takeaways / confirmations.  You must incorporate resistance training into your weight loss / fitness regimen.  Too often, I see heavier people doing endless aerobics and countless sit-ups.  In my mind, I'm urging them to pick up a dumbbell so that they can kick their metabolisms into a higher gear.

I think that this is a well written article, filled with great examples and information.  I definitely recommend that you give it a read!