Getting Functionally Fit

GOOD FOR YOU COACH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You are an inspiration and we're proud of you.

Glad you had a nice mini-holiday.
 
Sound like a great vacation coach and its awesome that your gf is being converted as well. Just remember like Steve says it is a journey and not a destination. Enjoy life now. Don't wait until you're the perfect size. Keep doing what you're doing and the weight will take care of itself.
 
another solid week down, so time for another evaluation. First though, Id like to comment that today was pretty friggin awesome in terms of eating right. I managed to cut my sodium approximately in half from what it has been, all my macros were spot on, and I spread the calories out more evenly throughout the day very well. On top of that, yesterday, I almost allowed myself to exceed my maximum calorie limit in my last meal. ok, i would still have been in a deficit easily, but I managed to justify changing that last meal around instead of rationalizing going over my limit. In other words, I defeated some very strong triggers that have plagued me in the past, and damnit, i am proud of that.

also, weighed in at 421.6 today. granted that is not as low as I have been recently, but I think my weight is stabilizing a bit now and that any losses I make are actually going to be more worthwhile now, since they will be losses of the right kind. that is, of course, with all things remaining equal. besides, it is awesome to have gone away on vacation, and come back weighing less than when i left, lol.

ok, so for the evaluation, i have decided that i am going to simplify what i report a little bit, partially because alot of it isnt really useful to anyone here on a weekly basis, partially because I still have access to all the info, and still look at it anyways, but mostly because it just takes way too damn long to do the evals the way I have been the last 2 weeks, lol. So, i am just going to do a basic breakdown of the week, mention anything i think i need to change, and will probably do a cumulative on a monthly basis.

June 12th, 2007 thru June 18th, 2007:

Average Daily Calories - 2,466
Fat - 47g 17%
Saturated Fat - 12g 4%
Carbohydrates - 291g 42%
Fiber - 35g
Protein - 192g 32%
Alcohol - 23g 6%
Weight loss/gain - 0 pounds
Sodium - 5,960mg
Exercise - Quite active on vacation, no implemented plan yet though

ok, so, pretty darn good. sodium still lowering, micros were pretty well in check, and macros were pretty solid too. alcohol is not something i normally report, but I did drink two of the nights on vacation. which i think makes things even more interesting about returning home with weight lost, lol. in fact, to be honest, i was outright drunk saturday night, had about 12 shots of vodka. seems kinda crazy, but i planned my calories that day to allow for some alcohol consumption, and when I drank, only had straight vodka with a diet soda chaser, and was able to stay in control of my eating even while fairly intoxicated. Start opening up the gym again next monday, really excited for that, also felt real good to get out and do some swimming, boating, little bit of hiking, and fishing while camping. and a little bit of something else that was good for burning some calories too, lol... it was real nice having my girlfriend there, and my family stopping in too.

I am still having some congestion issues, basically just with my ears plugged and some minimal hearing loss. also, I got sunburned fairly bad while camping, even though i used spf50 lotion. should have re-applied it several times that day. actually, that adds even more to the surprise in a lower weight returning home, since sunburns tend to pull moisture out of the skin and thus cause a certain amount of dehydration. other than those two things, i am feeling pretty good, keeping my chin up, proud of a solid month gone by, and looking forward to the rest of the summer.

thanks for coming by and feel free to leave suggestion/comments/questions as always. they are much appreciated.
 
To quote the (not so) great John Madden: "BOOM"

stuck right around 421 for almost 2 weeks, varying anywhere between 422.6 and 420.6, up and down, today i finally weighed in at a new low: 417.6 pounds. not entirely sure what that means, but its exciting anyways. especially since it was getting really annoying have a "plateau" only 3 weeks or so into this whole thing, lol. Well, Ill keep tracking daily, using losses as motivation, and no losses as even more motivation. hopefully the weight will stay under 420 now, which means I am more than halfway to my first goal.
 
Hey, congratulations, Coach! I know how nice it is to break through a plateau. Some of us just lose that way -- I know I sure do. I've accepted that now, and I'm on my 6th one. But I've also found that if you keep doing the right thing, eventually your body will respond. At times it can be very frustrating, but keep the faith!
 
What Tom said:) ...plus keep in mind that you were ill for pretty much most of that period so it might not have been an actual plateau.
 
To quote the (not so) great John Madden: "BOOM"

stuck right around 421 for almost 2 weeks, varying anywhere between 422.6 and 420.6, up and down, today i finally weighed in at a new low: 417.6 pounds. not entirely sure what that means, but its exciting anyways. especially since it was getting really annoying have a "plateau" only 3 weeks or so into this whole thing, lol. Well, Ill keep tracking daily, using losses as motivation, and no losses as even more motivation. hopefully the weight will stay under 420 now, which means I am more than halfway to my first goal.

To me this means your weight is now 417.6, whether or not it fluctuates up or not (and I suspect it will as my weight always creeps up again for a few days after a loss). Yes, you might now be fluctuating between 417 and 421, but that's lower than fluctuating up to 422, all pointing to an actual loss of FAT!
 
you know, ive been thinking back, and during those 2 weeks or so where i wasnt really losing any weight and was sick, i realized that though it became frustrating and i found myself getting angry, it was still motivating. i do not want to fail this time. what i am doing means more to me than the feelings i get when i allow myself to binge and eat unhealthfully. It was motivating. I have found in the past, when dealing with some of my personal problems, that anger is a much easier emotion to deal with and use for benefit. sadness and depression lead to self pity and reversion. so i think getting pissed that things werent working out quite as i have envisioned allowed me to stay on track and keep focused. i wanted to FORCE it to work if i had to, and as such didnt allow myself to succumb to depression and stop caring. Basically, somewhere in my head, I feel like i am beating my old habits and lifestyle into submission. I know Tom uses his little analogy like a boxing match, and I sometimes feel that way myself. not so much with the weight, but like a mini war against the old me. with the right propaganda, i can keep the new me patriotic enough to keep fighting and take the war overseas. bad habits are now on the run...

ok, this morning, 416.4. yet another drop. pretty cool. but still, weight doesnt matter. im doing this forever, so who cares how quick it comes off. it will come off soon enough and ive got plenty of time for it to go the right way. but like i said, still pretty cool to see another drop, lol.
 
Blah

i am still doing well, still down at the new weight, so successfully lost more.

but i am bored. things have slowed down alot the last week, which was kind of nice at first. though this week i am getting back into the full swing of working out and such. opening up the gym at the high school for the young student athletes to have a place to workout over the summer. its volunteer work, but at least i get a free place to work out myself.

but what worries me right now is that i am going back to one of my old bad habits. for some time there, i was getting to bed at a decent hour each night, and getting up in the morning, and it felt good to feel like i had the whole day. but my insomnia seems to be coming back, in some form or another, and now i find myself at 6am typing this, not having slept since the night before. used to get into the routine of sleeping every 24-28 hours, instead of every 16 like the normal person. so i would be up all night sometimes, sleep in till 3pm other times. i was never sleeping longer than 9hours at a stint, but just not sleeping at regular intervals. and it really screws with your body in bad ways. i kinda feel like crap now, and my thoughts arent really coherent. but i am not tired, and when i lay down, i do not sleep. i toss and turn and twitch, and it gets annoying. ugh, i am just rambling now. maybe ill try that sleep thing again. god knows i need it regularly if i want to stay healthy and keep losing weight...
 
I also had a bout of insomnia last night, hence you will see some of my posts from 4am this morning. When I have insomnia, I go to sleep fine around 10 or 11pm, but then I wake up about 5 hours later and stay up for about 3 hours. It sucks when I've woken up around 4 and then get back to sleep right before I have to get up for work. Luckily I work from home often so on those days I can sleep a bit later. Last night I was only up for an hour and 1/2 so I feel OK this morning and won't be too late for work (I'm always getting in late..slap). Your issue sounds way more serious. I would talk to a doctor. Maybe ONCE IN A WHILE you can/need to take a sleeping pill. Its got to be less risky than staying up for 1 or 2 days at a time.

The volunteer job at the gym sounds like a great way to be forced to the gym and you can show the kids how to do stuff, which'll further motivate you.
 
Hey Coach. I hope you get your sleeping working again, because I know from personal experience lack of sleep will wreak havoc. Your body doesn't really know the difference between hunger and lack of sleep, and if it can't get the sleep, it presses you for more food.

I have bouts of insomnia as well. Sometimes I'll just get up an read for 30 minutes, then try again. I might have to do that 3 times in a night, but eventually it works.
 
Old bad habits do creep back coach. That's what makes them habits and it stinks. For myself, I've found some that come back -- (Trying to eat junk and control quantity rather than eating quality). However, the price of making positive changes is eternal vigilance. The longer you establish a new habit the harder it will be for the old ones to come back. I have to second what Tom said--the two most important things I have done in my mind were to 1. Switch from diet soda to water 2. Get 7 hours sleep per night.
 
Hi Coach, Your doing amazing!! Your still losing weight and keeping up your spirits even when your exhausted!! Don't give in, keep tracking ahead, you will always hit bumps in the road, regardless of how long your trying to lose weight, just don't let those bumps sidetrack you from your goals. I hope your sleep deprovation clears up soon, not sleeping can screw up your entire body, I know I had a whole 30 days where I couldn't sleep but maybe 3 hours a night, it was BAD! Hang in there, your really doing great!!
Kim
 
The volunteer job at the gym sounds like a great way to be forced to the gym and you can show the kids how to do stuff, which'll further motivate you.

Funny thing is, i dont really need to be forced to the gym. lol. as long as i have access to one, I am there for sure. But that means i need to be able to afford a membership to a gym, or in my current case, have access through another route. Now that finals are completed and over, I can start opening the gym (at the high school) for students, and part of the agreement is that i get to workout while i am down there. I absolutely love to lift weights. cardio on the other hand, i could use a little forcing, lol.

Concerning my sleep, I havent been allowing myself to completely return to the cycle of sleeping 8-9 hours every 24-28 hours. Though I am going to bed really late (5 or 6am by the time i fall asleep), i am not allowing myself to sleep all day. doing that only makes the cycle more difficult to break. if i can short myself on enogh sleep over a couple of days, then i will be exhausted enough to fall asleep at a more normal time, and thus can get up a normal time and be back on a proper cycle. In the past, i used to just completely skip a sleep cycle every now and then, and that would reset myself and allow me to get back on schedule. but that would catch up with me over time, and eventually i got to the point where i was sleeping every other day. ugh, that was not fun... though i was quite productive, lol.

well, it is 3am, and i feel pretty darn pooped, perhaps i will get to sleep a little earlier tonight, and wake up normal tomorrow...

EDIT: I am about 2 pounds away from another set of pics. the set i use personally are a bit more revealing than i am comfortable sharing right now, but I might post some less embarassing shots on here. we shall see.
 
Last edited:
down to 416 flat. i started typing a whole bunch of other stuff, but really it isnt anything i havent already said a million times. so, ill just leave things at that for now.
 
Just getting caught up with your diary. Have you got the new shoes yet?

Hey, you are staying on target with your food and maintaining your commitment, feeling better for eating this way. I'm glad you found the forum.

You mentioned "the old you". Well let me tell you a bit about the old me.

Before I used to think it was just easier to eat. But then I became aware of the emotional pain of being overweight (my highest was 220) and I realized the true cost of overeating. That got me thinking. I was doing a writing exercise at the time, one I found here, that asked me to list 25 reasons why I was afraid to be thin. Well, I discovered that I wasn't afraid to be thin. My actions seemed to indicate that I wanted to stay fat. Well, I didn't want to stay fat. Then I had the aha moment of ONLY I CAN DO THIS. I gained the mindset I needed to make change. That was six months ago and I haven't waivered in my determination to just keep eating this way, even if I'm not losing weight. I'm just gonna keep eating this way because of the higher taste I'm getting.

Hey, you've found out what works for you!

I'm so glad you found this forum because its gonna keep you going.

Congratulations on the weight you've lost so far.
 
Finally back into the weightroom, getting back into formulated exercise. Kinda just went light, high reps (relative for me, lol) in a total body workout. want to ease back into things so that i dont injure myself, but mostly because i just dont feel like spending the next week in serious DOMS, lol.

Did warm up sets on both bench and squat, 2 sets with just the bar to re-affirm good form since it has been awhile. then did 3 sets of each at about 10 reps at 135 pounds. very light for me, but still got my heart going, and still caused minor fatigue because i am so detrained, especially in terms of strength endurance. quick side note: i know of "muscle memory" and the like (not sure if it is scientific or anecdotal), but i wonder if the body detrains the various types of strength at different rates. i seem to keep my 1 rep max strength far better than i keep my strength endurance. i know the 1 rep stuff has a lot of neurological factors, so maybe that has something to do with it. will have to look into it, because im just plain old curious, lol.

Since i do my squats with a bit wider of a stance and toes pointing slightly out, they work both quads and hams quite well, and also the glutes. Not having done them in awhile, it was also a good deal of work for my core. Bench covered chest, triceps, little bit of delts. Did some standing DB presses for shoulders, and then grabbed some 20 pound DBs and walked around the weightroom curling for biceps, lol. God i hate doing biceps, such a generally worthless muscle in the world of athletics (save for a few rare occasions). at least i kept my heart rate up curling and walking around, thankfully i was in the gym alone, lol. i did forget to do something for upper back though, such nincompoopery (its getting late, lol).

Anyways, the real important part is that before lifting, i jumped on the elliptical for 5 mins to warm up proper, and then even more importantly, i hopped on the treadmill after weights for 20 mins. Turns out the elliptical is a bit too small and undersized for someone of my stature, felt very unstable while i was running on it. anyways, i started out easy on the treadmill because i am not real familiar with using them (getting on an elliptical again was like riding a bicycle, lol). it is kind of awkward at first on a treadmill, something just feels so unnatural. but it felt the same way when first using an elliptical. over the first few mins i gradually ramped up to about 3.0 mph speed, and had a good steady walk going. then i added some incline, and got my heart rate up real well. but i started getting bored. *gasp* and thats where you might get scared and think i lost motivation. but nope, instead i decided i wanted to try actually running! in case i have not already made it very obvious, i have never ever been a runner in my life. no matter how much of it i did as a football player, a basketball player, a lacrosse/baseball/track athlete, etc. i never got good at running, it was always difficult and very discouraging. of course it probably never helped that in high school i basically detrained in the time periods between seasons, since i was uninformed in the world of physical fitness. anyways, the transition from a walk to a run on a treadmill is even more awkward, but i got the hang of it pretty quick, and got myself up around 5.0 mph. granted this is not fast for alot of people, but it was a pretty steady jog for me, and it felt pretty good. after about 4-5 mins at that pace, i started getting quite fatigued, and this is where i found things very difficult. when you are really working on a treadmill, it gets damn hard to operate all the buttons and make it do what you want it to, lol. you push and push and push yourself, but then it takes forever to try and slow it down, and its like you hit a wall and are dying while still trying to slow it down enough to catch up, lol. i cant imagine doing intervals on a treadmill, or at least on the one i used. so, i still prefer ellipticals, lol, but i dont have access to one that i feel comfortable on at the moment, so the treadmill it is. and, it is good enough for now.

ok, also quite important, after i finished my 20 mins on the treadmill, i took the time to have a seat on the nice soft wrestling mats that are down there, and did a good stretch routine. my hamstrings are incredible non-flexible, and as such have been a source of nagging injury and sometimes very serious pain for much of my life. stretching out the lower body after a good workout should help me to alleviate alot of those problems, as it has done in the past in the rare times when i have maintained somewhat of a semblance of a stretching routine.

i am back into the weightroom again today, after first meeting up with some of my athletes for a short throwing session. any day i get to do or coach some throwing is a good day for me, lol. i am looking forward to it all. think i am going to basically do the same weights routine, still easing back into things, hit the treadmill again as well as the stretches. my goal is to increase the workload of my cardio by some margin every workout. i think for now, i am going to increase the duration by at least 1 minute each workout, at least until i hit about 30-35 mins. i am also looking to increase average pace, total distance travelled, calories spent, etc. as long as i continue making improvements, eventually ill be super, lol.

i am also due for an evaluation, unfortunately didnt get around to it till just now, so here is the most recent week, keeping in line with how i have been doing things.

June 19th through June 25th of 2007, and if i can count, 5 full weeks completed.

Average Daily Calories - 2,548
Total Fat - 66g 23%
Saturated Fat - 20g 7%
Carbohydrates - 281 40%
Fiber - 36g
Protein - 221g 35%
Sodium - 5,150mg
Weight Loss/Gain - approx 5 pounds
Exercise - Lifestyle activity, no implemented plan.

Macros and Micros in check quite well. Everything is just kind of truckin' along. Feel fully healthy again, though having some sleep issues. All in all, just a fine steady continuation of the plan. Speaking of plan, hitting the weightroom the first day of the next week (since im writing this a bit late, i can already verify that was actually done, lol). Probably have a little more to say for next evaluation, since now im getting some regimented exercise in.

questions, comments, suggestions, as always, are welcome.

and thanks to everyone who has been coming by and leaving kind words. much appreciated.
 
Back
Top