Cord's Quest

[thecabbie]

Yeah, I like to swim. I like cycling, too, in an abstract sort of way. Problems are that my bike is a piece or crap that I am going to drop off at the local swap shed, that I am in such poor shape that the tiniest slope makes me get off and walk, and that I live on the side of a valley, which means any cycling I might do is going to be uphill.
Excuses, excuses, right?

I can totally relate to the hills. The problem with us larger folks is that we own a big piece of gravity. I can fly on the flat stuff, gime a hill, and I feel like my heart is gonna explode right out of my chest and my lungs are on fire! Gimme a downhill though...

I basically got into working on my own bicycles a while back so while at the moment I actually have a pretty substantial investment in them, I started off with the same bike I rode back in high school.

 

[Cord the Seeker]

Another day down, and a pretty decent one, too.

Nutritionally I was almost perfect. Got lots of water, plenty of protein, fibre, fruit and vegetables, etc, and even came close to my caloric target - less than 100kcal over (actually, I should probably recalculate my target calories, I'm sure I should be eating less given my lower weight these days).
The part that made me happiest is that I finally hit that ideal (to me, anyway) 40/30/30 balance in calories.

The only thing that would have made it better is if I had been able to resist the doughnut offered to me at work, but even with it I am pretty happy. And it was a yummy doughnut - a glazed blueberry cake doughnut.

Not as happy about the exercise, although I did make sure to get some in. 15 minutes of walking plus 45 on the stationary bike.

The best part of the day, though, was the feeling of being back in control of myself. I had really slid downhill on my previous holidays, and it is good to know that I can get back into it when I give myself the chance.

 

[Cord the Seeker]

Another good day for me.

The food all came together pretty well:
Breakfast: 6oz top sirloin steak (super-lean), big bowl of Heritage O's with milk

Lunch/snacks: 1oz cashews, 1oz peanuts, 2 cups blueberries, 1" round of watermelon

Supper: big bowl of lentil stew with added extra-lean grassfed ground beef, 2 baking powder biscuits (they are truly evil for calories and fat, but the ones my wife makes taste soooooooooo good)

Exercise: squeezed in a 15 minute fast walk at work, and hit the gym this evening:
warm up - stretching and 5 min elliptical (decided to try it out, used resistance 10)
chin-up: attempted 1, got most of the way up,eyes almost level with bar
pull-up: attempted 1, got about halfway
squats 150lbs 5x5
lat pulldowns 100lbs 5x5
tricep pressdowns 110lbs 5x5
upright row 100lbs 1x5 (too easy), 120lbs 4x5
DB bench press 45lbs 4x5, 1x4 (failed)
pec-dec 90 lbs 5x5
pec-dec reverse flys 70lbs 1x5 (too easy) 80lbs 4x5
good mornings 40lbs bar 5x5
DB step-ups 35lbs 5x5 (leading each foot)
wrist roll-ups 10lbs 1x5
v-crunches 5x5
finished up with 10 min on the elliptical at resistance 10

I increased a lot of my weights again today, and it seemed to go okay.

 

[changes]

Woo Hoo! Keep it up!

 

[cherrygarcia]

just thought i should pass by to say hey...i see your doing great!

 

[cinderelly]

Another day down, and a pretty decent one, too.

Nutritionally I was almost perfect. Got lots of water, plenty of protein, fibre, fruit and vegetables, etc, and even came close to my caloric target - less than 100kcal over (actually, I should probably recalculate my target calories, I'm sure I should be eating less given my lower weight these days).
The part that made me happiest is that I finally hit that ideal (to me, anyway) 40/30/30 balance in calories.

The best part of the day, though, was the feeling of being back in control of myself. I had really slid downhill on my previous holidays, and it is good to know that I can get back into it when I give myself the chance.

AWESOME!!!

I havent been anywhere near nutritional perfect lol...

My eating way better than it was before I wasnt so much bad as in junk food and etc...but I was eating alot of fat and eating chips...

I still have the odd high fat thing thrown in there but doing much better with it.

I love love love baking powder bisquits, my granny makes them and yum yum yum!!!HA HA HA, especially with butter and jam...I think we need to make some...

 

[kureransu]

hey cord my man, keep it up. i find it flattering that you actually find inspiration from my workouts! glad i can motivate you to keep trying! i plan on taking a current pic to go with my before, so that you guys can see the progress. so look forward to it!

 

[Andy2]

Cord,

Just dropping in to see how progress is going. Glad to see everything is going well. It seems like you have a pretty in depth work out routine! I completely understand the frustrations with the pullup/chinup. Youre getting really close though, and its going to be awesome when you hit that moment and complete the excersize.

You provide a great deal of support to many of the people who browse these forums, and you also inspire to keep up the hard work. It is much appreciated!

Have a great weekend!

 

[Cord the Seeker]

Hey, thanks for stopping in, everyone! I really appreciate it!

Woo Hoo! Keep it up!

That's the plan - and I have some even better news in my next post!

just thought i should pass by to say hey...i see your doing great!

Thanks, love, and I see you are on fire again! Yeah! I'm so glad to see that!

AWESOME!!!

I havent been anywhere near nutritional perfect lol...

My eating way better than it was before I wasnt so much bad as in junk food and etc...but I was eating alot of fat and eating chips...

I still have the odd high fat thing thrown in there but doing much better with it.

I love love love baking powder bisquits, my granny makes them and yum yum yum!!!HA HA HA, especially with butter and jam...I think we need to make some...

Ha, well, I had a "nutty crescent" this morning from the farmer's market (like a bread roll stuffed with ground almonds and other things that are probably bad for me) and a doughnut, and it's only noon.

hey cord my man, keep it up. i find it flattering that you actually find inspiration from my workouts! glad i can motivate you to keep trying! i plan on taking a current pic to go with my before, so that you guys can see the progress. so look forward to it!

Exercise-wise, you really are my primary inspiration, man. I read your workouts and say "I gotta get there someday - I have to try to do as well as Clarence does". It is because of you that I try to do the chin-ups/pull-ups, for example. And it was because of reading how you and Cherry rock out on the elliptical that I decided to give it a try last night.

Cord,

Just dropping in to see how progress is going. Glad to see everything is going well. It seems like you have a pretty in depth work out routine! I completely understand the frustrations with the pullup/chinup. Youre getting really close though, and its going to be awesome when you hit that moment and complete the excersize.

You provide a great deal of support to many of the people who browse these forums, and you also inspire to keep up the hard work. It is much appreciated!

Have a great weekend!

I don't know how efficient my routine is, but I try to hit the major muscle groups and do interesting stuff.
Before I started going to the gym all I had was dumbbells, and my weight routine was all dumbbell stuff. The earlier pages of my journal (May, particularly) would give you a good idea of what my DB routine was like.
I should probably get one of the exercise gurus around here to look at my routine and give me some feedback. Any volunteers?
I see myself getting really close to completing that first chin-up, and I tell you, when I do it's gonna be a big day for me. I have never been able to do one, in my entire life.

Thanks for the good words.

 

[Cord the Seeker]

A new month begins (okay, we're already a week into it, so sue me), and thus I take some new measurements - and it is also weigh-in day, so there is lots of crunchy goodness for you, loyal readers.

Let's start with the tale of the scale.

July was a funny month. My weight was yo-yo-ing (how do you spell that, anyway?) due to the holidays and trips I was on, plus the brutal heat threw my eating out of whack. But the overall trend was down, and whenever I went off course I came right back again.

So, my weight as of today is...261 pounds.

This feels great. It is 8 less than last week, and 6 less than 2 weeks ago, leading me to think that a lot of that weight gain is water weight, probably from eating too much salty stuff. It's only a theory.

This puts my total weight loss to date at 50 pounds. That feels pretty awesome. Although I think I said that my next incremental goal was going to be getting to 250, I still think that 50 pounds is a pretty good point to get to.

This also means that I'll be halfway to my stated eventual goal in 6 more pounds.


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

-------- 02 April -- 30 April -- 29 May -- 02 July -- 07 Aug
Chest: ---- 55 ----- 52 ----- 51 ------- 49 ------- 48
Waist: ---- 53.5 --- 50 ----- 49.5 ------ 47 ------- 46.5
Hips: ----- 52 ----- 51 ----- 50 -------- 49 ------- 47
Upper Arm: 17 ----- 16 ----- 16 -------- 15 ------- 14.5
Forearm: --13 ----- 13 ----- 12.5 ------- 12.5 ----- 12.5
Thigh: -----31 ----- 30 ----- 29 -------- 28 ------- 26
Calf: ------20.5 --- 19.5 --- 19.5 ------- 18.5 ----- 18.5
Neck: -----17.5 --- 17 ----- 16.5 ------- 16 ------- 15.5

As of last Sunday, I have been doing this for four months. That's also pretty cool.

Thanks to all of you who have come along with me so far, and who have offered support and advice along the way.

 

[cherrygarcia]

OMG cord, 50 freakin pounds in just 4 months! i'm so happy for you!

wow, and look at those inches go! looking at your ticker your pretty much almost halfway to your goal! good stuff...you really are an inspiration and i love how your always so positive. looking forward to seeing you move on to your goal weight. xoxo

A new month begins (okay, we're already a week into it, so sue me), and thus I take some new measurements - and it is also weigh-in day, so there is lots of crunchy goodness for you, loyal readers.

Let's start with the tale of the scale.

July was a funny month. My weight was yo-yo-ing (how do you spell that, anyway?) due to the holidays and trips I was on, plus the brutal heat threw my eating out of whack. But the overall trend was down, and whenever I went off course I came right back again.

So, my weight as of today is...261 pounds.

This feels great. It is 8 less than last week, and 6 less than 2 weeks ago, leading me to think that a lot of that weight gain is water weight, probably from eating too much salty stuff. It's only a theory.

This puts my total weight loss to date at 50 pounds. That feels pretty awesome. Although I think I said that my next incremental goal was going to be getting to 250, I still think that 50 pounds is a pretty good point to get to.

This also means that I'll be halfway to my stated eventual goal in 6 more pounds.


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

-------- 02 April -- 30 April -- 29 May -- 02 July -- 07 Aug
Chest: ---- 55 ----- 52 ----- 51 ------- 49 ------- 48
Waist: ---- 53.5 --- 50 ----- 49.5 ------ 47 ------- 46.5
Hips: ----- 52 ----- 51 ----- 50 -------- 49 ------- 47
Upper Arm: 17 ----- 16 ----- 16 -------- 15 ------- 14.5
Forearm: --13 ----- 13 ----- 12.5 ------- 12.5 ----- 12.5
Thigh: -----31 ----- 30 ----- 29 -------- 28 ------- 26
Calf: ------20.5 --- 19.5 --- 19.5 ------- 18.5 ----- 18.5
Neck: -----17.5 --- 17 ----- 16.5 ------- 16 ------- 15.5

As of last Sunday, I have been doing this for four months. That's also pretty cool.

Thanks to all of you who have come along with me so far, and who have offered support and advice along the way.

 

[changes]

That is absolutely incredible!

WELL DONE!

 

[Guest]

Hello! GTG lol, be back tomorrow or Sunday....Hope your Vancouver trip was a good one!​

 

[kureransu]

GREAT WORK CORD! i think you are on the same track i was.! i am about a week behind now though. I wanted to be 10 lbs ahead of what month it was, so when agust started i was supposed to be at -80lbs, but when week 2 starts who know i may be there lol! I've never done measurements, since its just me. but its inspiring to see! maybe i iwll post the blurry pic!

 

[Cord the Seeker]

GREAT WORK CORD! i think you are on the same track i was.! i am about a week behind now though. I wanted to be 10 lbs ahead of what month it was, so when agust started i was supposed to be at -80lbs, but when week 2 starts who know i may be there lol! I've never done measurements, since its just me. but its inspiring to see! maybe i iwll post the blurry pic!

I'm actually ahead of schedule. When I wrote my first journal entry, I see I gave myself to the end of July to lose 31 pounds. I know I was hoping to actually lose 40 by then, but I made my initial target ultraconservative, so that I wouldn't get discouraged. To have lost 50 pounds by this point is astounding.

Funny thing, though, and I guess this is common among really large people, who often have self-image and body issues, is that I still feel like a huge, disgusting blob. When I look at all my fat, I can't figure out where all those pounds are supposed to have come from. I've lost my daughter, or my wife's dog, in weight, and I can't figure it out. Sometimes I feel like the same mega-fat Hutt that I was four months ago. I still feel huge when I get out of bed, or out of the car, or off the couch. The only time I see a difference is when I am in the gym - I definitely see a change when I am lifting.

Absolutely I want to see your blurry progress pic! Heck, I think the whole forum is waiting to see it.

 

[Cord the Seeker]

Well, yesterday was... sorta disappointing.

I decided that I wasn't going to stress out about food too much, as long as I hit my nutritional targets. I pretty much decided that yesterday was going to be a "treat" day.

The "treat" part of the day was a spontaneous decision to grab some potato wedges and a couple of coated fried chicken thighs. Then my wife wanted to go to the local diner and have some fries so I went along and had some too, along with a half litre of chocolate milk.

As you might guess, all this made me pretty ill.
After months of mostly decent eating, greasy fried chicken really doesn't go down too well. It is a lesson I seem to have to learn over and over again as I go through this journey. Once eating well becomes your default status, your body starts rejecting that greasy, crappy food you used to enjoy so much. Every time I go into town I can smell the tantalizing aroma of KFC, but I know that if I eat some I will get ill. Heck, it used to make me ill even before I started changing my lifestyle - but I ate it anyway because it tasted so good.

I balanced out the fast food by eating only fruit and berries for the rest of the day. I still went way over calories, but since I was giving myself a day off from dietary rigour I decided that was okay.
But I still felt a little guilty - not because I had fast food, not because I went over calories, but because I 'wasted' a treat day on pretty crappy food. Had I truly wanted a treat I should have picked up something really good - that wouldn't make me ill. But sometimes we willingly do things that are bad for us.

Exercise was only moderate. In the morning I went for an hour's walk, and then later a 20 minute casual walk with the family.
I had earnest plans to get some exercise in at work, like maybe take my dumbbells in with me, or do some calisthenics, but I slobbed out and did nothing instead.

I suppose I could call it a sort of rest day...

 

[kureransu]

than rest day it shall be! I still am in shock i did absolutely NOTHING yesterday
left the house only for food lol, and came right back. i needed it though. so let it go my man, tomorrow's a new day!

 

[Cord the Seeker]

Gonna be solid today.

Had a good workout - weights and swimming.
With my standard chin-up attempt, I allllllllmost made it all the way up. My eyes were just peeking over the bar. It's getting closer.

After I was done in the pool, the cute lifeguard asked me if I was training for a triathlon!
I told her that it is an eventual goal of mine to be able to be able to do one.

I thought it was a great compliment, that she would ask me that.

 

[changes]

That is awesome Cord! Take that as a total compliment!

 

[cinderelly]

Isnt it amazing how fast our veiw point changes...

When we use to love and crave junk food/fast food that now once we eat it it is is crap and we dong like or we do like it but wish we hadnt wasted cals and so on , on it...I still love love love chinese food but most other faster foods i dont care for...

Im a pop feind too unfortunately, i go through phases but ive been bad again lately...Sometimes I just have to have it...