Out of the abyss; My continuing journey of enlightenment, physically, emotionally mentally.

Had a busy day yesterday, so I'm just now posting from then.

Changed up my workouts a bit.
Pull and legs
Inverted rows. 5x5 Can't really put a weight on these. I decided to change from cable rows to these because they are a terrific compound exercise. Isotonic working of the action muscle groups in a row, while isometrically engaging the core muscles. Kind of like a pushup in reverse.

Cable lat pull downs 5x5x165lb. Managed all 5 sets at this weight, so its my new reference.

Delt flys 5x5x110lb

Leg press 5x5x320lb This is the other exercise I changed up. I was using a seated leg press before (feet against a platform, seat slides, cable pulls up on a stack of weights) but running out of stack. At 390lbs, the stack only goes to 400lbs, so I decided to switch to the leg press where you load the plates onto a "sled", sit at the base and push up the sled on a set of tracks. I likely could have done more, but wasn't familiar with the machine, so I erred on the side of caution. I'll go up next time.

Leg curls 5x5x160lb
Leg extensions 5x5x140lb
 
Calories etc. for Friday.
1986 kcal - 97g protein - 80g fat - 223g carb - within a few percentage points on all macros except, sodium again was high.

Protein was low. I need to increase that a bit, especially because I'm lifting. I'm not one who really likes greek yogurt a lot, but I do like lowfat cottage cheese, which is very high in protein, so I'll incorporate that some more.
The fat and sodium are directly traceable to the one real cheat meal I allow myself on a weekly basis. We have a sandwich shop (small local chain owned by the same family) that makes the most amazing cheesesteaks I've ever had, so I get one, typically on a Friday night before work and turn it into two meals overnight. Balance. I ate it and still ended up under my target calories for the day. All whilst sating myself with cheesy, steaky indulgence, lol.

Edit: Forgot to mention. Official weight for my contest at work was 281lb with steel toes etc. This equals a drop of 5lbs in 3 weeks, which seems like a nice healthy number to me.
 
We have a sandwich shop (small local chain owned by the same family) that makes the most amazing cheesesteaks I've ever had, so I get one, typically on a Friday night before work and turn it into two meals overnight. Balance. I ate it and still ended up under my target calories for the day. All whilst sating myself with cheesy, steaky indulgence, lol.
Sounds sensible! Also sounds sustainable, which is the main part of this game
 
Sounds sensible! Also sounds sustainable, which is the main part of this game
Right, one sandwich is like 1100kcal. I split it in half, because I can't eat the whole thing anyway with my stomach's limited capacity. I go into work early on Friday, so I'll typically have a protein bar for my "breakfast" which is usually post workout, then the sandwich becomes lunch and dinner. If I add a couple of reasonably healthy snacks, I come out to somewhere around 2000kcal, give or take for the day. It all works in balance, assuming I don't get the munchies, or stress eat and have a sudden binge on something terrible, lol.

I also realize that at my height, and being male and reasonably active, 2000kcal is roughly between 600-800kcal deficit for me. I have a distinct advantage over, say, a 5'4" woman trying to maintain a calorie deficit. I feel for anyone who has that struggle.
 
Moved back into my house this weekend. Life is good so far with just my wife and I. This is the next phase of what we're doing to move forward with our sobriety/recovery. Did our own groceries and got decent healthy choices. She's in the kitchen right now prepping a slow cooker turkey chili. 93% lean ground turkey, black beans, diced tomatoes etc. Yes, we'll likely indulge in a little shredded jack cheese and a dollop of sour cream later when we have it, but still pretty healthy overall.
 
It must feel good to move back home with your wife, tdt. A chance for a new start :)
 
So, I'm going to be over my target calorie deficit for the day today, but should still be under my actual BMR. Should settle right at about 2200-2300kcal. Should still work out okay because I was pretty active today doing yard work. I haven't lived in this house since the beginning of April. There was a lot of yard work! Still is, I just ran out of gas. As in me, the lawn mower still had plenty!
 
Resting today and being able to continue tomorrow is much better than breaking yourself and still not being done.
 
So, one thing I forgot about was the fact that I had a BF% scale at my house. Had it for years, just never really used it. Weighed today at 275.4lbs, BF% was 25.6%. I think I'll start charting with this scale going forward. I know that the BIA method of body fat measurement is inaccurate in the short term, but it will still help me track with a large enough statistical population over time. I'm looking for a trend line more than a truly accurate measurement.
 
I like your signature, tdt. I'm glad you're fixing yourself.
Thank you. Its a very appropriate quote, author (sadly) unknown. I had to do a lot of really intense work on myself to be able to come out the other side. I had to dig deep into everything. Trauma, resentment, my own personal behaviors, anger issues, fears... The list was long. The toughest part for me was to look at every event, whether It was my fault or not, and find a way to turn it around and clean up my side of the street, so that I wasn't holding onto it any more. Then I pretty much had to confess, for lack of a better word, to a higher power and a trusted person, all of the ugliness that has happened. Some stuff I figured I'd take to my grave, has now been spoken about with another human being. Its both humbling and freeing. Sometimes its easier to tear something down than to repair it, and I did a lot of tearing down.
 
Been a couple days since I posted about the stuff I'm keeping track of.
Today's workout

Seated leg press 5x5x400lb I did the whole stack.
Lat pull downs 5x5x170lb
Cable rows 5x5x160lb
leg curls - 5x5x160lb
Leg extensions 5x5x145
Delt Flys 5x5x105lb

Got my new cycling shorts in, so hopefully cycling will be more comfortable tomorrow. They fit very nicely. I got the MTB style with the cargo style outside and the padded liner inside, so they won't be obviously cycling shorts in public. Trust me, I don't look good in spandex... :rotflmao:
 
Calories were a little over yesterday, but still well below maintenance. On the plus side, I did very well on protein. I was only over by about 100kcal, but I got 144g of protein and my sodium intake was much better than normal.
 
I got the MTB style with the cargo style outside and the padded liner inside, so they won't be obviously cycling shorts in public. Trust me, I don't look good in spandex... :rotflmao:
Hardly anyone does! Also: I need to look those up because my backside is complaining.
 
No weights today. Went bicycling, got out a ways and it started raining, so I turned around. Still got 6.5mi - 36 minutes, so legit cardio on the day.

Nutrition was good. 2455kcal (got a little extra because of the cardio), protein was slightly above my goal, so not a bad day all around. Tomorrow is a lift day (push).
 
Back
Top