This week was pretty uneventful, except for the weather. The photos on the left show last Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday. I took advantage of the nice weather Sunday and went for a walk in the Metro Park, hitting some of the walking trails and climbing down to the creek bed. I ended the week with some more time at the beach (Yes, it warmed up again by the weekend!).
At the gym, I got in my usual workouts, plus I went back to the cardio kickboxing class. I think I’m going to make it a part of my regular routine for a while. I didn't have any issues with my diet last week, though I did eat more for breakfast than I did last week. I think that the extra food made a noticeable difference in my energy levels. I continued with my usual snacks, eating a small lunch and observing portion control for dinner. This all resulted in a one pound weight loss.
I continue to notice signs of progress. My shirts are fitting a little differently in the upper back and chest. I've started doing bent over dumbbell rows again. In the past, this exercise has been great for developing my upper back muscles. Depending on how I feel, I work with 60 – 75 lb. dumbbells, performing three sets of ten reps with each arm. I've also added incline presses to my chest work. I’m doing 90 – 100 lb. shoulder presses and 90 lb. shoulder shrugs. My shirt sleeves are starting to fill out, too. I’m up to 90 lb. reps on the preacher curl bench and 50 lb. dumbbell curls. Tricep exercises are in the 45 – 60 lb. range.
I feel like I’m on track to hit some of my body shaping goals by July 23, which will be the eighteen month point of my fitness restart. It’s possible that I may not hit the weight loss goals, but I consider that less important than reaching my overall fitness targets.
Inspiration
This time, my inspiration has nothing to do with me. I have a cousin who is a little older than me, who has had some fitness issues in the past. He managed to turn them completely around. He’s become a runner, averaging 5-6 mile runs. He eats very clean and has become a smoothie guy, making his own fruit and vegetable smoothies. He works out regularly in his home gym. He’s probably now in his best shape since his time in the military. His success helps to motivate me to keep working towards my own.
I managed to resist a number of temptations over the week. For the most part, I ate lean for breakfast and lunch. For dinner, I practiced portion control. The workouts went well and I even tried cardio kick boxing, which is no joke! We went hard for the entire hour, with no breaks. I managed to get in an hour of resistance training afterwards, but I was tired when I finished. Even so, the scale showed a two pound increase for the week.
I decided to try “the pants test,” to get a second opinion. I tried on some of my smaller pants and found them to be a little snug. So, this lets me know that I did get a bit larger. It’s hard for me to determine if my waist has gotten bigger or if I’m gaining size in my hip and thigh muscles. I've really been hitting legs. Using a weight belt has taken some of the strain off of my lower back, which enables me to increase the amount of weight and number of sets when I squat. This is just something that I'll need to keep aware of.
I cropped this picture of myself from a larger image. I liked the image because it was taken from a completely candid shot. No posing or standing completely erect or tightening the gut. It provided a nice opportunity for me to evaluate myself in a relaxed state.
The Evaluation
I've been focusing (obsessing?) on my gut, which I really want to flatten. As I've mentioned before, I sometimes see it as being larger than it actually is. The photo shows it as still pudgy, but certainly not as big as it was a year ago.
I can see growth and development in my biceps and forearms. My chest area looks tighter and more developed, too.
I think that I’m in a good place, right now, progress wise. As if to emphasize this, I ran into an acquaintance, at the gym, who I hadn't seen for a couple of months. He was impressed with the progress that I’d made since our last meeting.
It also appears that my “dimples of Venus” have become deeper and more noticeable. After doing some research, I found that this is probably partly a benefit of my increased core and lower back work.
We took the grandsons to the beach, the same day as the photo was taken. To get down to the beach, you have to use a long flight of stairs. On the way back from the beach, the three year old was tired, so I scooped him up and headed up the stairs. I passed some people on the way up. It wasn't until the rest of my group had reached the top that I realized I wasn't winded at all.
Finally, I thought I’d share a funny moment from the gym. I was on the elliptical machine, flipping through television channels, when I happened upon one of my favorite comedies, “Blazing Saddles.” People must have thought that I was crazy, as I was laughing all the way through my set!
I feel like I’m finally getting back to normal. I made it to the gym four times last week. I began adding weight to my exercises and only felt an occasional twinge in my back. My cold is gone and my wind has mostly come back. I walked on three afternoons and got in two Zumba classes. I also started the “little experiment” that I mentioned a while back. I've been tweaking my diet, trying to find the “sweet spot.” If I drop too many calories, I struggle with having enough energy to do a proper workout.
I weighed in for the first time since March 18th. I gained .8 lbs, which wasn't too bad. I assume that I probably gained a little weight during my inactivity, so I don't see this as a bad number at all.
I got to burn some additional calories when I went salsa dancing this weekend. I was looking forward to dancing to the music of one of my favorite Latin bands, Son Gitano. I’d also added a few more patterns to my repertoire and was eager to try them out. They all went well, except for one, which we will never speak about again (My wife's description of the pattern was: “Now, that was just crazy!” LOL)!
This happened to be an annual, semi-formal, event. I wore the same suit that I’d worn last year and it was huge on me! I ditched the jacket as soon as I got into the club and spent the rest of the evening tightening my suspenders between dances. So, it’s official: All of my suits are now too big for me and need to be replaced. This is kind of a problem, since I plan on shedding more fat, I really don’t want to buy any nice suits right now. I may have to invest in a couple of inexpensive suit separates for the interim.
I got some motivation from an unexpected source. I’d been going through old photos to post on Facebook for “Throwback Thursdays.” I came across some of my pre-flab pictures. While I don’t want to get that small again (I actually like having some size), the pictures reminded me of what I’d done before. Being as fit as I was, when I was younger, is harder to get back to now, decades later. But, I believe that it’s possible to regain much of it. In fact, I’m determined to make that happen.
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:
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.
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!
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.
