12packAbs Diary

Nope. Came second. But I was close.

And I was quite proud of myself to staying at my limit. But then today I had three drinks. Damn. And some not-so-good food too. But, I did get out for my ride yesterday (2 hours - mostly in the rain) and another 1hr 20min today for almost 7.5hrs this week. I'm pretty tired from all the training after a long layoff, but I'm glad I pushed myself this week. Now if only I could eat better on the weekends...

Well, good think the 6 week challenge doesn't start until tomorrow :)
 
sounds like you're off to a great start on the bike.... I've been a lazy bastard on the bike the last week or so. Keep it up man!
 
mike has not been a lazy bastard on the bike last week...he's been SICK!

I swear, you have to watch how these rumors get started!

Hi there 12pack, welcome to the forum - I've been MIA the past couple of days because I am preparing for *2* parties at my house...1 is a book club with a bunch of my martini sipping fanatic girl friends and the other is my WINE club party.

I'm doomed ;)

Seriously, I love beer (nothing beats Guiness imo!) Red Tail is making a nice, lighter substitute though ;) I have found though, since I've been exercising so much, I really don't want to drink my calories, so I've cut back a lot! Just about every picture I have has me with a drink in my hand! ;)

Good luck to you, it's so much about changing our lifestyle, and finding ways to change, but still incorporate what we love into our lives!
 
I have to say you are one of my favorites to see what you have wrote to others, you give some really good advice. Is cycling something you recently picked up or is it something you have done in the past? I am assuming you are road riding or are you mtn. biking? Do you use any performance products? I know quite a few cyclist, I was just curious.

Watch the beer, you know they are just empty calories.

But it sounds like you are doing really well. Is your wife supporting you or getting in shape with you? It can be alot of fun when you work together to achieve the same goal.

Keep it up I will be checking.
rfire
 
heh I must have had several kegs then before i started :D

I now have a six pack but its buried underneath a pile of blubber lol
 
Hey, thanks everyone for the words of encouragement.

I've always been a workout freak and was obsessed with bodybuilding in my early twenties. I got back into cycling about 6 years ago, and started racing about a year later. I do mountain bike races (although this year I took the year off from racing due to a lack of training and the weight gain). I do fairly competitive races as well as a 24hr team relay every year. The majority of my training is done on a road bike, but I really love to ride on the trails.

I actually started working with a cycling coach a couple of years ago, and I made some pretty good progress. I think at one point I was down to about 186, which was nice. At that point I was doing about 10-12hrs of training a week. Long hours at my job made training difficult, and I've taken some time off from the coaching. I also was submitting weekly food logs so that he could go over them and give me feedback on how I was eating, so I got to learn a lot more about nutrition and training.

Now I'm at a difficult decision (and I'm indecisive too, which is frustrating). I've moved to the same city that my coach is in, which would be a great opportunity to train hard and get in awesome shape. On the other hand, my brother-in-law is moving here and is in the process of opening up a karate school, so I've got an opportunity to train there pretty much on a daily basis. So I'm trying to decide if I'm goint to make a half-assed attempt at both, or concentrate on one and try to get better at it. Everytime I'm on my bike, I just love it. Cycling is my thing...but I do like karate too....decisions, decisions. In the end, the objective is to be active, and get lots of exercise.

My wife is fairly supportive. She does a different activity, but I can tell that she's disappointed that I let myself slide like this. She says that the extra weight doesn't bother her, but I was doing so well, and now my nice new clothes don't fit.

And ah yes, the beer...damn I love beer...but alas, all good things must come to an end...well at least only two per week :)
 
Good Morning!!!!! Good for you on having TWO Beers.!!!!! Thanks for drinking one for ME:D You Have a GREAT Attitude and Stay POSITIVE!!!! Keep doing waht you're doing! Have a GREAT Day and Drinkyour WATER:D
 
If cycling is what you enjoy the most then why not focus on that and just do a little karate on the side?

What activity does your wife do? Is it not something you enjoy?
 
The thing is that if I commit to cycling, then I'm back to getting coached and training 5-6 days a week, which doesn't leave time for other activities. The racing is what keeps me motivated. Cycling is such a competitive sport that I need to train that much to get better and even then, it takes years to develop the fitness to compete at higher levels. Coaching isn't cheap, so I want to make sure that I can fully commit to it before I resume. When the weather is nice its awesome. But in the winter time, it's lots of hours on a trainer (basically a stationary bike)...which is boring as hell, but necessary.

I just want to do everything. Bike. Martial Arts. Triathlons. Running. Swimming. All kinds of stuff. Too bad I only have so much time. There are many people out there that hate exercise - they're probably cursing me for not knowing what to do first :)

My wife rides horses, so we don't really have exercise stuff that we do together. But that's ok. We like having our individual hobbies.
 
So I guess the question is do you want to ride competitively or just for fun? It sounds like it would take up pretty much all your time... and hey wanting to do everything isn't a bad thing, you won't ever get bored with all those options.
 
Holy crap, great start!

I had such a good day today. Well, it started off not so good when I got on the scale for the six week challenge weigh in, and after busting my a$$ last week the scale told me I gained 2lbs. Huh? And don't get me started on the waist measurement. I wanted to crawl into the fetal postion and weep softly in the corner.

But otherwise, a great start to the challenge.

Breakfast: Bran flakes & All Bran Buds with 1% milk
No morning snack (weird that I wasn't that hungry)
Lunch: Turkey sandwich on 12 grain bread and some baby carrots
Afternoon snack: Mixed bean salad, cottage cheese, baby carrots and an apple
1hr 20min road ride
Dinner: Large salad (baby greens, broccoli & cucumber with low fat dressing) and a small can of tuna
20min weight workout (short and sweet) & some abs
And finish of the night with taking the dogs for a long walk

And just for spite, I got back on the scale after my ride, and I was literally 4lbs lighter than I was first thing in the morning. I would have lost water while biking, but I was drinking water as well. Ah well....
 
hey 12pack, you keeping track of your calorie intake? just wondering because by looking at your meals you had today I have to wonder if you're not starving your body with you being the super active guy that you are...

just a thought. Don't let that damn scale get ya down buddy... the results will come!
 
Hey thanks man...it just takes patience (something I seem to lack).

Actually I don't count calories. I try to make really good low fat, low GI food choices whenever possible and try to control my portions (something I have a problem with).

Yesterday does seem like a light eating day for me. I normally have a morning snack, light a banana and some almonds, and a salad with tuna for dinner is extremely rare for me too. And the bean salad I had was a can of mixed beans, so it was a lot of beans. I just wasn't as hungry yesterday as I normally am.

I normally have a HUGE appetite and as a result, sometimes eat too much, so not eating enought has never been a problem for me.
 
Well, Day 2 of the 6 week challenge went fairly well.

Breakfast: Egg whites, baked beans and a slice of whole grain bread with a little Becel
Snack: Banana and a handful of plain raw almonds
Lunch: Turkey breast on whole grain bread, 1/2 of my bean salad and a peach
Snack: Remainder of my bean salad, baby carrots, cottage cheese and a peach
Before ride: 1/2 a Clif Bar
Road ride: 1hr 22min
After ride: Scoop of protein powder, banana and some 1% milk in a blender
Dinner: Massive salad (baby greens, broccoli, cucumber and yellow peppers) with low fat raspberry vinaigrette and a yogurt
Snack: 3 pcs of watermelon....and a hot dog....damn....I had a craving...

So other than the hot dog at 9:30pm, I did fairly well today. I didn't have that big of an appetite yesterday, but I'm feeling pretty hungry tonight. I feel like I could eat a mountain of food right now...
 
Dont get too disheartened about weight gain at first. If you try and have 1 weigh day a week rather than every day it makes it a little more exciting to look forward too
 
wow. you're doing amazing! Way to show us how it's done. Can't wait to see some 12packabs. Going to post some after pics? haha Keep up the great work.
 
clif bars....

how do you like them? For my long rides I've been using powerbar gels... they taste like crap though.

aside from that, looks like your doing great. I miss getting on the bike! Being sick sucks. I'm also waiting on my order of degreaser and lube for the bike.... needs some tlc in the worst way right now.
 
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