Fit by 60! - TomO's Pledge

It feels very weird! If you would have told me 6 months ago that I would get antsy and a bit irritable not going to the gym, I would have laughed at you, since going to the gym was what made me that way. But now it's reversed. On top of that, I was making really great progress with my cardio and lifting program, and it's hard to put that aside.

Steve has convinced me this is a good idea though, and I've read about it in other articles. Like Steve says, sometimes you gotta take a step backward to take two forward.

It's interesting that you're doing this. I absolutely would feel deprived if I got a back off order right now. I admire you for following your head here. It's true that all that physical labour should help you keep feeling good.

I'm really glad you're still getting to do the thing with your son after all. :)
 
Look at you!

Droppin' weight like it's hot! I understand about fluctuations, but usually when your weight drops, even if you go back up, it's still a prelude to what your weight will be soon, right? You are really getting close to 199 lbs, methinks--right on!!!

I'm so glad for you, getting healthy and losing excess fat. Keep it up! I like you--you're funny and cool :)
 
March Results

Monthly Summary for March

I'm doing this 1 day early, since we'll be on the road tomorrow.

I'm VERY happy with how I did this month. I really stuck to my nutritional plan, and

exercised about 23 days. It would have been more, but I'm now in my rest period.

Here's how it looked as far as my goals and what I achieved:

Goal: Drop 2.5 lbs. and hit 242.0 on rolling 5 day avg. weight
Actual: Dropped 5.0 lbs., 240.2 on rolling average (239.2 today)
Comments: I CAN'T F*#&#ING BELIEVE IT!

Goal: Drop resting pulse from 54.0 to 53.0 (average)
Actual: Dropped to avg. of 51.7

Goal: Drop systolic BP to 122.0 avg.
Actual: Went up slightly to 123.1
Comment: OK, so you can't make them all! I don't know if this is from the stress of the

past few days when my whole computer system crashed, or if it's because I ran out of my

cholesterol meds for a couple of days. At any rate, my systolic shot up the last 3 days of

the month. Otherwise, I would have made this goal easily.

Goal: Drop diastolic BP to 75.0 avg.
Actual: Went down to 74.8
Comments: Have no idea why I made this one, and not the other.

Goal: Average daily deficit of 300 calories
Actual: Average daily deficit of 402 calories
Comment: 402 x 31 = 12,462 calories, or 3.6 lbs., so that's where a lot of the weight came

from. I'm calculating my RMR on the low side, i.e. at 9.7 calories per lb. of body weight,

so I may have actually had a larger deficit than I thought.

Goal: Average daily exercise of 600 calories
Actual: Average of 650 calories per day in exercise
Comments: Again, it would have been more, but I've taken the past 4 days off.

MY GOALS FOR APRIL:

1) Drop 1.2 lbs. on rolling 5 day average to 239.0. This seems very low, but I'm taking

the first week off of April, with no FitDay, no way of calculating my calories, and no

regular exercise at the gym. I expect I may come back from SF with a slight weight gain,

so part of this goal is gettting back to where I am now. I'll still be ahead of plan for

the long term goal, though.

2) Drop body fat percentage from 26.6% today to 25.7%. I use this as a main benchmark now,

rather than the crappy BMI.

3) Drop average resting pulse from 51.7 to 51.0.

4) Drop average systolic BP from 123.1 to 121.0

5) Drop average diastolic BP from 74.8 to 74.0

6) Average exercise calories - 600 (650 for March). Again, taking into account 1st week

off.

7) Drop waist (belly button) from 41.5 to 41.3.

8) Drop neck from 17.2 to 17.1

9) Increase BB squat from 190 lbs. to 195

10) Increase bench press from 155 lbs. to 160

11) Increase 1 arm DB row from 65 lbs. to 75 lbs.

12) Maintain deadlift at 185 lbs.

13) Improve pullups from level 16 to level 15

14) Increase incline DB Press from 120 to 130

15) Increase standing military press from 100 to 110
 
I like the way you've organized your thoughts in that summary, Tom.

In the end a 5 pound loss too!! That's terrific! :D
 
hey TomO. just dropped by to say hello! it has been a month since you welcomed me to this forum. Thanks again!

have a nice day!
 
Hi Rashmi, glad you're still here. I hope you're learning as much as I have here, and making good progress on your program.
 
Monday, April 2, 2007

Had a terrible cheat day yesterday -- I ate a whole bunch of crap on the drive up to SF. Marlene brought some candied walnuts, and some of that trail mix with the M&Ms in it. I probably ate about 2,000 calories worth, and mostly sat in the car driving all day.

Oh well, we'll make up for it today. First, I'll get back on my nutrition plan pronto. Next, we'll go to the lumber yard, buy all our plywood, and start making the furniture. My son wants a whole bunch of stuff, but there's simply not enough time. So we're going to make a clothes cabinet and a desk for him, and put his bed on a platform. We'll have to haul six sheets of plywood and all my tools to the roof of his building, which is 6 flights up the stairs, so that will burn off some of those calories from yesterday.

I stayed up pretty late last night finishing all the drawings, and I think we'll just barely be able to make all this stuff before Saturday. He asked me what time I wanted to start in the morning. "5:30 am," I said. He laughed. "Sorry, there's no way I can get up before 8. My body just doesn't work that way."

I forgot that in your 20's, you go out at night! I'm used to turning in at 10:30 pm -- I haven't even been able to keep awake for a New Year's in 3 years. :)
So it looks like we'll start in a couple of hours.

Our little welsh corgi is all confused in the apartment. He keeps looking for the doggy door so he can run outside like he does at home. He was so upset he didn't eat his dinner last night.

My son has an internet connection, so I can visit here every morning. Have a great day, everyone!
 
I forgot that in your 20's, you go out at night! I'm used to turning in at 10:30 pm -- I haven't even been able to keep awake for a New Year's in 3 years. :)

Amen to that Tom...I definitely have to be at a party or out with a lot of friends to stay up that late...if I am at home, forget it...its lights out early.
Hope you are getting lots done and enjoying your visit!
 
Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Weight: Who knows?

Yesterday I jumped back in the saddle, nutritionally. Oatmeal for breakfast, turkey sandwich on squaw bread for lunch, steamed salmon and salad for dinner, broccoli and cauliflower with hummus for snacks. I have no idea what the calories were, but I suspect around 2,400.

Yesterday morning we went to the Home Depot to buy all the wood. The top of the car was loaded with plywood, and the inside of the car was filled to the brim with other wood. By noon, we got everything to my son's apartment, and then we had the fun task of carrying over 1,000 lbs. of lumber up 6 flights of stairs. Ever tried carrying a sheet of plywood up that many stairs going backwards (I was the guy on top)? Talk about a quad workout! So after about 90 minutes of this -- I figure 20 total round trips -- we have everything loaded on the roof.

After lunch, we're cutting wood, sanding, etc. for 5 more hours, until we were so tired, we could hardly move.

I'll say one thing for sure -- 6 months ago, just one walk up 6 flights of stairs would have exhausted me, even without a 60 lb. load of lumber. But yesterday I kept up with my 27 year old son -- not bad for an old fart like me!
But here's where the big difference in age comes in. If I'm doing an exercise that my muscles are familiar with, I can keep up with all you young whipper-snappers. But something unfamiliar -- ow, that hurts! Just before bed, I leaned down to tie my shoes, and bang! - both legs knotted up in a mega cramp that took 5 minutes to walk out. That's the part that didn't happen to me 30 years ago.

Today will be mainly measuring, cutting, measuring, cutting, and some sanding. Very little heavy lifting. The weather has been very cooperative - about 68 degrees, partly cloudy, and a light, refreshing wind. We're working on the rooftop, where we have a nice view of San Francisco.

I look forward to working out in the gym again, so my body can get a rest! :D
 
LOL!! Yes. You will need to have that rest at the gym!

It sounds like you are having a great time none the less. I love to be high with views - a view of San Fransisco sounds wonderful.

I love the sound of your food too.
 
Hey Tom, I felt so old on Friday. I went out and had exactly 2 beers after work. I was in bed by 8:45 and went to sleep at 9:15. Thank goodness they were light beers.
 
Hey Tom! Missed ya yeterday--welcome to the Bay! Well, I'm in Monterey Bay but originally from the East Bay, yadada mean? ("yadada mean"="do you know what I mean" in hyphy Bay Area talk). Don't worry about cheating--I drank 2000 calories this weekend probably :rolleyes: Anyway, I did more before after pics, take a gander:

http://weight-loss.fitness.com/before-after-between/10851-curvie-girlie-158-138-lbs.html

Looking forward to your journal, have a great day! :D
 
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