My journal: Go Seminoles!

B

benny2k7

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Hi all!

My name is Ben, and this is going to be my fitness journal. I am a 22 year old recent college grad. I'll be going to Florida State University in the fall for my master's. Here is my goal: look good taking my shirt off at a Florida State football game. The season goes until early Nov., but the first home game takes place the first week in September. That's 3 months away.

Right now I weigh about 190 lbs, 5'10". I'll post some pictures later today, but they're not necessarily "before" pictures because I've always been lifting. I'm not looking to gain muscle really except for the purpose of losing fat. I HATE running, but I found another form of cardio: the elliptical. I started doing cardio and more intense lifting the other day. Problem: right now I work 9-5 and sit at a desk for almost that entire time. I drink ALOT of coffee...lol. I'd like some encouragement, tips, etc. Anything to help reach my goal.

I will keep my daily (i'll try daily) workout routine and food for the day.

Wednesday, 6/6/07:
Breakfast: Large bowl of high-fiber cereal w/ 2% milk. Green tea extract supplement.

Lunch: 1 apple, turkey sandwich (wheat bread, wasabi, green peppers, turkey breast slices)

I'll update about dinner, and i'm going to do 30 min on the elliptical at the YMCA today.

~Benny
 
6/6/2007 afternoon

On Wed, this is what I did the rest of the day:
1)snack: 10:00 AM - one slice of Banana bread
5:00: about 1 3/4 cup of chinese food (chicken + veggies) and rice, and 10 or so corn chips

Dinner: 7:30 - Tortellini and salad, in moderate quantities and Green Tea extract

Exercise: 30 min on Eliptical (registered approx. 400 calories burned) and some light yard work

Snack at 10:00 - 1/2 muffin


How i'm feeling:
I feel fine, and I think I have more energy when I do cardio for 20-30 min. Unfortunately, I'm temporarily out of school so I don't get the added benefit of walking to class. I do drink lots and lots (and lots) of water throughout the day-maybe as much as a gallon- as well as coffee. I think this just makes me feel better, metabolism aside.

I notice that I snack alot. I don't realize it until I write down everything I eat. It's just extra crap, you know? Esp. the chinese food and corn chips, I should eat a banana instead or something. This office culture doesn't help either. Every time someone in this office has a birthday (about 3 times a week with a 200 person office), everyone celebrates by bringing trays of food. From my half-wall cubicle, i am staring down a precariously large cheese+saussage tray today at 8:50 AM.

Thursday:
Breakfast: 1 bagel w/ light assiago cheese.

Where is the encouragement, people?!?! lol.
 
Thursday/friday morning

Thursday wasn't the worst day ever:
Lunch: Turkey sandwich on a bagel, banana, apple, tea
Snack: 3-5 small cheese cubes, 3-5 strawberries
Dinner: 2 cups of popcorn, 1 cup chinese noodles/broccoli, 1/2 muffin, 1 cup cornchips, 1 virgin strawberry daquiri, 1 rice crispy treat

I didn't really have dinner like I should have, almost no protein. But my little sister had a get-together so I was pretty busy doing that. I am, though, starting to realize how much snackfood crap i eat. That's really helpful

Exercise:
Elliptical - 30 minutes (400 calories registered)
4 setsx 8 reps - chest pulls (what do you call it when you have cables on either side and you pull them together like in an arnold motion?? 2 sets were in this position, 2 were in the position where you start from low and pull up)
40 push-ups

I'll post some pictures for you when i'm not at work. I won't be updating this weekend because i'll be in columbus drinking, lol.

Friday
Breakfast: 1 egg, 1 piece of toast w/ butter, coffee.

I noticed a few people view this post. Thanks for the support!
 
The office snacking can be a challenge-- I'm usually in the office from 8:30 to 5:00...or 6:00 sometimes. I try and get up from my desk every hour or so for at least a quick stroll around the floor, but it can get tough.

I keep a bag of healthy food-- bring it every day. That gives me something to go to when I see the box of Crispy-Cremes in the breakroom.

The other thing I've done is started tracking everything using a Diet Journal-- here's the link to mine and you can actually create your own (free service). It makes me very concious of what I'm eating and how much.

Anyway-- looks like you're off to a good start. Keep up the good work and you'll be where you want to in no time.
 
Friday and the weekend:

Friday lunch was uneventful. I snacked on veggies too :) No substantiale exercise however. And this weekend I went to Ohio State to visit friends, so I drank, smoked and ate whatever I want (food: pizza, pop, italian sub, chips, lots of beer). Now its time to catch up....lol.

Sunday Dinner: 1 cup couscous, 1 1/2 chicken breasts. No evening snacks
Monday breakfast: 2 eggs, 1 piece of toast and margarine
Snack: 2 very small oatmeal cookies

Today i'll do the elliptical for another 30 min. I'm already feeling results, which is great. One pair of pants in particular is not nearly as tight around the waist, and my general size seems to be improving too, if just a little bit. I have more energy during the day it seems.

I think I may try to begin HIIT once or twice this week. Can that be done on an elliptical? if I just bump up the resistance alot and go super fast? Also, my heart rate has hit has high as 180bpm while on the elliptical. Are the HR monitors on exercise machines very accurate? I'm not THAT out of shape, so 180bpm sounds like a hell of alot.
 
So I didn't make it to the elliptical yesterday. It was time to catch up w/ old friends.

Monday Lunch: Turkey/Wassabi sandwich on wheat, apple.
Monday Dinner: Turkey burger (no bun), hot dog (wheat bun) 1/2 boca burger, 1/2 cup of baked beans, 3/4 cup of pasta salad w/ very light dressing.
Snack (11:00 PM): one small piece of pizza, 2 small cheese stick pieces.
Its the snacks!!! GRRR!

Exercise: 1 1/2 hrs of light basketball playing


Tuesday Breakfast: 1 small piece of pizza, 1 large bowl of high-fiber cereal with 1 1/2 cup of 1/2% milk.
Tuesday Lunch (in about 30 sec): 1 turkey sandwich on wheat, 2 oranges.
Also one small cafe latte.

I think on the whole, I eat pretty healthy, no?
 
Try spreading your calories over 5-6 smaller meals a day that way when you get hungry you're ready for your next meal. That said, I'm not sure you're getting enough calories to support your workouts (which probably should include a full body strength workout 3x a week), and you might want to limit the carbs and up your proteins (egg whites, cottage cheese, almonds, peanuts, fish and lean red meats). Choose whole, natural foods wherever possible - if that turkey you're eating is deli meat, a more efficient choice would be cooking some fresh turkey yourself and making your own sandwiches. Instead of the cereal, try oatmeal (NOT the instant kind).

Sorry about the patchwork advice, but those are the things that I saw reading over your entries. Hope this helps.
 
Stingo, thanks for the tips. I've taken a few to heart. I'll be adding another 2 eggs to my diet each day...though I like the yolks. The turkey is, though, most definitely deli meat. It will probably stay that way, since I derrive absolutely no pleasure from the act of cooking. The other problem with home cooking is that right now I live at home w/ the family, and though i'll soon be living independently, my schedule will be of the erratic graduate-school type. I'm surprised you seem to think i'm not getting enough calories, I certainly eat more than 2000, and my workout is only 30 min elliptical.

Also, I do engage in strength training twice a week, for shoulders, arms, chest, upper back, abs. I know this is a great workout, but I already have quite a bit of muscle. Now i'm trying to let it show. Though that would support the idea that I need more protein. hah.

Well, here is bringing you up to date:

Tuesday Snacks (throughout the day): 1 egg, large bowl of cereal and 1/2% milk, 1 cup of cheetos (bad, i know)

Tuesday dinner: double helping of turkey deli meat. No one cooked and I felt lazy. Along with my large sporadic snacks, I didnt really have a traditional dinner.
Tuesday exercise: Elliptical, 30 min. Registered 375 calories. I was probably slow due to my ill-timed cereal snack 20 min before.



Monday breakfast: 2 eggs, one slice of wheat toast (w/ margarine).
Monday snack (so far): 1 small bag of peanuts
Monday Lunch: Turkey sandwich with extra meat.
One hr later: apple

BTW: all bread i eat is organic, and free of high-fructose corn syrup. The eggs are organic as well.
 
benny2k7 said:
BTW: all bread i eat is organic, and free of high-fructose corn syrup. The eggs are organic as well.
Click to expand...

And the meat you're eating is processed/manufactured... Any idea what's in it?

You may be getting calories, but they have to be in the right distribution to have the desired effect. If I'm reading it correctly a substantial amount comes from carbs - protein probably should be higher. Also, there's no veggies that I can see, so that might be an addition as well.

I'm sorry that you don't enjoy cooking, but in all honesty, that's one of the best ways to ensure that you're getting what you want in your food.
 
catching up

I've slacked for about a week. No more excuses. I think i'm going to work on smaller goals. I really get lost in my long-term goals. So, here's a short term goal or two:

1) Do 30 min of cardio (elliptical) at the local YMCA 3 times next week.
2) Weight train at home twice next week.

I did two lengthy bike rides and about 5 miles of walking on Sat, Sun. respectively. But aside from that, I haven't worked out. I've been pretty low on energy for some reason. Eating basically the same thing, but i've tried to add non-processed foods: organic eggs, chicken breast, salmon this week. Stingo, thanks for the tips. Keep them coming. As for veggies, they aren't all too common in my diet. I'm more of a fruit guy. But i've ramped up my salad intake. Yesterday for dinner I had a very large helping of salad and about 4 huge pieces of watermellon, instead of another helping of spaghetti.

I'm going away for the weekend, so I won't be keeping a record, but i'll be sure to eat healthly. I'm visiting my girlfriend in DC, and she's pretty intense about organic, low-fat, etc. so i should be good :)

What i'm really worried about is going back to college(masters) in 2 1/2 weeks. In college as an undergrad, i found it extrememly difficult to eat right. The dining halls, small budget and a taco bell a few blocks away really make the college lifestyle unhealthy. Any tips from college kids on how they've beaten this?

I read a pretty interesting article in Men's Health the other day. It talks about a diet where you simply divide your plate 4ths. The 1st 4th you fill with protein, the 2nd fourth is filled with carbs, but 3 and 4 are veggies and fruit. And if you still want more food, you get another helping of veggies and fruit. It sounds pretty sensible to me. I also like tip of surrounding myself with healthy snacks so I don't eat crap. I've been packing an extra apple or orange every day to help when I get the 3:30 craving for the snack-room junk. That has curbed the bad snacking pretty well!

Thanks for all your tips, and keep them coming. I'll resume my journal on Monday! I hope everyone has a fun weekend!

~Ben
 
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