Cord's Quest

Cord the Seeker said:
Hey there, it's time for another day in the life of Cord the Seeker!

June 30

Today felt like a pretty good day. Only one dietary slip, and it wasn't that bad. Exercise felt good.

Breakfast - steelcut oats with hemp seeds and agave nectar

Lunch and work snacks - 30 cherries, 1 apple, another one of those weight watchers turkey & mashed spud meals, some pretzels, 1 cup dry cereal, and, sadly, wayyyy too many peanut m&m's.
My plan was to buy a small bag and dole them out sparingly through my work week, but yesterday I just kept eating them - had at least 20 and probably closer to 30. It may not sound like much but I was annoyed at not having better self-control.

Pre-workout - ham sandwich (ww bun, lt cream cheese, ham), 1/2 cup milk

Post-workout - big plate of vegetables ( tomato, carrot, celery, snap peas), 1tbs buttercream icing, the rest of the ham (total 140g of ham between this and the aforementioned sandwich)

Fruit/veg servings - 7

Exercise - 30 minute walk during lunch break at work, then hit the gym in the evening:
warm-up - stretching and 5 minutes on the treadmill
seated leg press 270lbs 3x12
lat pulldown 80lbs 2x12, 70lbs 1x12
bent-over low cable row 50lbs 3x12
tricep pressdowns 70lbs 3x12
pec-dec 50lbs 3x12
DB shoulder press 30lbs 4x5, 25lbs 1x5
DB curls 30lbs 1x12, 25lbs 1x12, 20lbs 1x12
attempted 1 chin-up and failed
reverse flys blue band) 3x12
good mornings 20lb body bar 3x12
v-crunches 3x12
squats 40lb bare bar 3x12
cool-down - 5 minutes on treadmill, tried running at 5.5 mph and managed it for 2 minutes before slowing down to 4mph but increasing incline to 7 deg.

I was pretty wiped after that, and sore, but feel fine today.
I am trying to increase the weight on many of these exercises.
I think I am going to incorporate trying a chin-up every time I go to the gym.

Edit: Big day tomorrow - my 3-month questiversary!
It is my weigh-in day, my measurement day, and I will be taking comparison photos (I took some when I began the quest).
Click to expand...

Wow congratulations on sticking to it this long! :party: Looking forward to seeing the progress!
 
Im thinking of you Cord... You have been working hard with lots of ups and downs..but increasingly going in the right direction. You are making a difference to your body, not just the outside, but all of your insides are going to be pretty damn happy with the good food choices and exercise you are doing. (if you look over your diaries the good far exceeds the oopses) Keep it up my friend ~ Michelle :)
 
Cord the Seeker's 3-Month Questiversary Post!

Can you tell I'm in a good mood today?

I'll post my journal stuff for yesterday later. For now, I'm going to talk about my questiversary.

3 months. It feels good, so, so good, to have stayed on track for this long. And I don't feel like stopping, at all. That's even better.

I really think that the changes I have made to my lifestyle are going to stick. It's not a diet, it's not a temporary workout kick. I think I have made permanent changes.
This is not to say it is always going to be easy. It is not to say that I won't have hurdles, stumbles, and challenges to face in the future. It is not to say that I don't still sometimes crave junk food and pop. I think that, for me, it is going to be something that is always out there, always having to be faced. But the key is to keep going on, no matter what.

I'm lighter, a lot lighter. I'm smaller - somewhat smaller. I'm fitter - stronger, faster, tougher. Heck, I went up - and down - 300 flights of stairs yesterday. If that isn't a sign of improved fitness, I don't know what is.

I'm quite a bit happier. There's no way to quantify that, but I'm happier. My wife definitely notices it.

Weight: My weigh-in this morning was 272 lbs. That's 5 less than last week, and a total of 39 pounds lost in 3 months.

Measurements: here are my latest measurements, in clunky table-like form that includes my previous measurements.

-------- 02 April -- 30 April -- 29 May -- 02 July
Chest: ---- 55 ----- 52 ----- 51 ------- 49
Waist: ---- 53.5 --- 50 ----- 49.5 ------ 47
Hips: ----- 52 ----- 51 ----- 50 -------- 49
Upper Arm: 17 ----- 16 ----- 16 -------- 15
Forearm: --13 ----- 13 ----- 12.5 ------- 12.5
Thigh: -----31 ----- 30 ----- 29 -------- 28
Calf: ------20.5 --- 19.5 --- 19.5 ------- 18.5
Neck: -----17.5 --- 17 ----- 16.5 ------- 16

I look at myself and I look the same to me, but that seems like a whole buncha inches.

Body fat - this is tough to measure accurately, and I'm finding there isn't much point in me putting a whole lot of stock in it. I have been trying both the impedance machine at the pharmacy, and the Accu-measure callipers I bought and have, I think, been getting better at using.
Last month I came up at 36%
This month I came up with 35%
I really don't know how much this means, given the variance between the two methods, and particularly the variance of the impedance machine.

So, what can I say after all this?

So far, so good.
 
Congrats on your anniversery! You've got some serious momentium with you now, and you sound like you are enjoying the new lifestyle, which is GREAT to hear!

I just wanted to comment on all those inches you lost. Thats pretty incredible, and it shows how dedication can payoff. Very inspirational stuff! KEEP GOING STRONG!
 
wow cord, CONGRATULATIONS on the great progress, your doing amazing...39pounds in 3 months! and all those inches, the tape measure doesn't lie so that's definitely a job well done! and most importantly i like you said your HEALTHIER and HAPPIER....i think that's what we're all in this for, and for you things are definitely on a roll! :hurray:
 
Thanks to everyone for the wonderful comments!

Some people say that inspiration and all that has to come from within, yadda yadda - screw that. Positive feedback is awesome!

It doesn't replace the inner fire that you need for this sort of thing, but it sure helps.

Anyway, I am a day behind on my journal posts, so here we go.

July 1 - Dominion Day

Today I went a little crazy with the exercise. The day was nothing unusual, but for my evening workout I went nuts and did something I didn't think I could pull off.

Breakfast - steelcut oats with hemp seeds and agave nectar

Lunch and work snacks - a lot of cherries, ww bun with almond butter, honey anmd hemp seeds, ww bun with roast beef and lt cream cheese, 2 nectarines, 1 cup of dry cereal, pretzels and a few peanut m&m's

Supper - salmon burger w/teriyaki sauce on ww bun, lettuce and tomato, steamed corn and broccoli

Post-workout hunger pang - McDonald's junior chicken and vanilla cone

6+ servings fruit/veg

Exercise - a 40 minute walk at work, then 20 minutes or so of casual kayaking - just tooling around on the lake.

In the evening - went up and down 300 flights of stairs in an hour. I had no iodea I could do that, and I was pretty wiped out and soaked in sweat afterwards, but not to the point of collapse of anything. I have to admit I impressed myself.

July 2

Feeling pretty good about the morning's weigh-in (details above), and extremely hungry after back-to-back evening and morning workouts, breakfast was a matter of giving in to cravings.

breakfast - 1 doughnut, 9oz steak, 1 banana

snack - 1" round pf watermelon

lunch - my wife wanted to go to the tea house donw the highway, so off we went, only to find that we had missed lunch and they were only serving dessert. So I had 3 cups of white tea and a big piece of chocolate cake

supper and work snacks - around 16 cherries, 2" round of watermelon, 1/2 cup dry cereal, pretzels and a few peanut m&m's, big bowl of lentil stew, 2 corn muffins with margarine

late night - 1 cup cereal, 1 cup milk

6-7 total fruit/veg servings

Exercise - tried a morning workout today, knowing that I wouldn't get much chance later. 45 minute swim - 1200m
 
Hi Cord, happy anniversary....great job on posting the numbers and stuff....and I think you are right that it is a new lifestyle and that it wont always be easy. I feel so great about myself right now that I dont ever want to go back. I feel very sexy but more important I feel in charge of my own body. Something that was really really lacking when I was at my heaviest...I just saw the journey as a "long road" that I thought I would never travel, now halfway to my goal (my ticker doesnt reflect my true goal) I am so proud...and the positive feedback here and in true life is the best motivator ever.

anyway...keep up the great work and thanks for the visits in my journal.

hugz and shizzzzz
me
 
Karebare said:
Hi Cord, happy anniversary....great job on posting the numbers and stuff....and I think you are right that it is a new lifestyle and that it wont always be easy. I feel so great about myself right now that I dont ever want to go back. I feel very sexy but more important I feel in charge of my own body. Something that was really really lacking when I was at my heaviest...I just saw the journey as a "long road" that I thought I would never travel, now halfway to my goal (my ticker doesnt reflect my true goal) I am so proud...and the positive feedback here and in true life is the best motivator ever.

anyway...keep up the great work and thanks for the visits in my journal.

hugz and shizzzzz
me
Click to expand...

Thanks, Karebare - and a pleasure to have you drop by!

NotSoSlim said:
Excellent! Keep it up cord!
Click to expand...

That's the plan. I'm feeling kind of unstoppable at the moment.
 
July 3

Took the day off from working out today - don't want to overdo it. My knee is feeling better today - I overtaxed it doing all those stairs and it had been hurting for a couple of days.
Didn't eat a lot of starchy-type carbs today for some reason. Just didn't happen.

breakfast - roast beef sandwich on ww bun with light cream cheese

lunch - pork button ribs (maybe an 8" strip?)

supper and work snacks - pile of cherries (around 20), 2 nectarines (had to eat 'em both before they went off), 2 more strips of button ribs, pile of vegetables (tomato, carrot, cucumber, snap peas), 1 cup dry cereal and a handful of cashews.

total fruit/veg servings: 7

Exercise: 30 minutes of hiking on some bike trails - lots of hills.

Today is my last day of work! I go on 12 days of leave starting tomorrow.
Among other things, I will be going to Vancouver and doing some serious hiking. As a result I won't be posting regularly after tomorrow. I will check in and catch up when I can.
 
Cord the Seeker said:
July 3

Took the day off from working out today - don't want to overdo it. My knee is feeling better today - I overtaxed it doing all those stairs and it had been hurting for a couple of days.
Didn't eat a lot of starchy-type carbs today for some reason. Just didn't happen.

breakfast - roast beef sandwich on ww bun with light cream cheese

lunch - pork button ribs (maybe an 8" strip?)

supper and work snacks - pile of cherries (around 20), 2 nectarines (had to eat 'em both before they went off), 2 more strips of button ribs, pile of vegetables (tomato, carrot, cucumber, snap peas), 1 cup dry cereal and a handful of cashews.

total fruit/veg servings: 7

Exercise: 30 minutes of hiking on some bike trails - lots of hills.

Today is my last day of work! I go on 12 days of leave starting tomorrow.
Among other things, I will be going to Vancouver and doing some serious hiking. As a result I won't be posting regularly after tomorrow. I will check in and catch up when I can.
Click to expand...

Woooo Hooooo, 12 days away from work is a great thing, Hiking in Vancouver, even better. Where abouts are you going to go?
I hope you have a great time away
 
brazenlysasse said:
HOLY CRAP.... Good for You Cord... exercise and beautiful scenery being had at the same time is perfect. :party:
Click to expand...

Yeah - with the changes I have been going through, I'm feeling kind of insane and want to really challenge myself. So why not go nuts and go for some of the best viewpoints around?
 
This will be my last journal entry for a few days, I imagine. I may get some computer access during this time but it will be sporadic and brief, just time to pop in and say hi.

July 4

Started week 2 of Omega's challenge today - had to drink a lot of water, over 4 litres

breakfast - steelcut oats with hemp seeds and agave nectar, 1 cup milk

lunch - 12" ham sub on honey oat bread with double veggies (which turns out to be a lot)

snack - 1 DQ Dilly bar

supper and work snacks - pork button ribs, cherries, 1/2lb blueberries, strawberries, 2 cups dry cereal, 1/2 cup cashews

late night - oven fries, 1 cup milk

Exercise: stretching and 5min warmup on elliptical
squats 80lbs 5x5
inverted rows 5x5 but I did them wrong, will do it right next time
chin-up - tried 1 and failed
pull-up - tried 1 and failed
lat pulldowns 90lbs 5x5
low bent-over cable rows 60lbs 5x5
tricep pressdowns 90lbs 5x5
pec-dec 60lbs 5x5
DB shoulder press 30lbs 5x5
DB bench press 35lbs 5x5
DB curls 35lbs 1x5, 30lbs 4x5
wrist roll-ups 10lbs suspended 1x5
squats 90lbs 5x5
good mornings 20lb body bar 3x10

Today I have been swimming, and now it is time for a day of yardwork.
 
Cord the Seeker said:
Can you tell I'm in a good mood today?

I'll post my journal stuff for yesterday later. For now, I'm going to talk about my questiversary.

3 months. It feels good, so, so good, to have stayed on track for this long. And I don't feel like stopping, at all. That's even better.

I really think that the changes I have made to my lifestyle are going to stick. It's not a diet, it's not a temporary workout kick. I think I have made permanent changes.
This is not to say it is always going to be easy. It is not to say that I won't have hurdles, stumbles, and challenges to face in the future. It is not to say that I don't still sometimes crave junk food and pop. I think that, for me, it is going to be something that is always out there, always having to be faced. But the key is to keep going on, no matter what.

I'm lighter, a lot lighter. I'm smaller - somewhat smaller. I'm fitter - stronger, faster, tougher. Heck, I went up - and down - 300 flights of stairs yesterday. If that isn't a sign of improved fitness, I don't know what is.

I'm quite a bit happier. There's no way to quantify that, but I'm happier. My wife definitely notices it.

Weight: My weigh-in this morning was 272 lbs. That's 5 less than last week, and a total of 39 pounds lost in 3 months.

Measurements: here are my latest measurements, in clunky table-like form that includes my previous measurements.

-------- 02 April -- 30 April -- 29 May -- 02 July
Chest: ---- 55 ----- 52 ----- 51 ------- 49
Waist: ---- 53.5 --- 50 ----- 49.5 ------ 47
Hips: ----- 52 ----- 51 ----- 50 -------- 49
Upper Arm: 17 ----- 16 ----- 16 -------- 15
Forearm: --13 ----- 13 ----- 12.5 ------- 12.5
Thigh: -----31 ----- 30 ----- 29 -------- 28
Calf: ------20.5 --- 19.5 --- 19.5 ------- 18.5
Neck: -----17.5 --- 17 ----- 16.5 ------- 16

I look at myself and I look the same to me, but that seems like a whole buncha inches.

Body fat - this is tough to measure accurately, and I'm finding there isn't much point in me putting a whole lot of stock in it. I have been trying both the impedance machine at the pharmacy, and the Accu-measure callipers I bought and have, I think, been getting better at using.
Last month I came up at 36%
This month I came up with 35%
I really don't know how much this means, given the variance between the two methods, and particularly the variance of the impedance machine.

So, what can I say after all this?

So far, so good.
Click to expand...

:party:

I am so happy for you! That's a ton of inches! :D :D :D Your family must be so proud of you, and you should be too! :Angel_anim: I know we all are!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top