Paul's Diary

Hey, Paul, it sounds like you're doing great so far.

I don't know as much as Steve by a long shot, but there's no way I could do HIIT after doing my full-body weight training. Trouble is, both are anaerobic, and HIIT hits the quads pretty hard as well, so for me it would be total overkill.

But let's see what Steve says.
 
Tom thanks a lot! I was reading through your diary and i know your doing great. I love how precise you are with everything. I wish i was like that. I will be soon as soon as I could get through my finals!

Well it may be because I am young but I seem to be ok after my HIIT, however I dont think I get as good a weight lifting workout as I should because I am a little worn down from the HIIT. So for now I dont think I will do both on the same day.

Ok so yesterday I had a final and i was busy all day and didn't get a chance to write in my journal.

Yesterday I did a few full-body weight lifting exercises and I then focused on chest and triceps. Really good day actaully. I am a little sore today from it but not as much as I used to get which is a good thing.

My eating was very good too. I managed to get 2100 calories in which is about where I wanna be.

Today I did myy HIIT and it was TOUGH. But it felt so good when I was done it was so worth it. So good day today as well. I will update my nutritional intake a little later. Hope everyone is haveing a great day!
 
Paul, it sounds like you're doing great.

Say, are you doing deadlifts and squats in your weight training?
What about stuff like bench presses, military presses, pullups, and other compound exercises?
 
Tom, yes I do squats and deadlifts. I also do bench presses, for example today I did flat and incline bench, as well as incline db presses. I do not do military presses, not yet at least, and I don't like the aided pull ups ( I can only get through about 6 by myself so it is hard to do that too). I like doing compound excercises but like I said earlier I have been weight lifting for the past two years on and off so I do like to specify my workouts on certain muscle groups.

Do you suggest I do more full-body workouts for now, and maybe in about 3-4 weeks go back to a more specific workouts?

How do you feel about your workout regemine (sp?)? Does it suit you well? I am still in my "experimental" stage as far as my weight lifting goes...
 
How do you feel about your workout regemine (sp?)? Does it suit you well? I am still in my "experimental" stage as far as my weight lifting goes...

I feel great about my routine -- I can't take credit for it though, since it was basically designed by Coach Steve. When he first gave me the program, I added on curls and tricep extensions, since I like to do those, and he basically, but very politely, informed me that I was an ignoramus. I didn't understand that curls and tricep extensions, while I was trying to lose this much weight, were actually counter-productive. And actually, with all the compound exercises I'm doing now, my bi's and tri's are getting a pretty good workout as it is.

I do the full body workout every 3 to 4 days, and I'm seeing slow but steady improvement. The thing I like about it the best is that most of these exercises are things you do in real life (sort of), so you feel stronger throughout the day.

Frankly, I don't really know enough to advise you what to do. All I can say is that I feel really good about this program Steve has given me, and I'm not worried that I'm doing anything that my be a waste of time or hinder my progress. It took me a while to get it through my thick head that you can't really build new muscle tissue while you're losing weight, and that therefore, the exercises focused on a single muscle or joint were not doing me any good at all.
 
I see Tom. That is good. I think the most important thing is liking your routine that way its a little more fun and not as hard to do.

I have been thinking about that and I know I am getting in a caloric deficit as I am trying to lose weight. I totally agree with what Steve told you.

I know I haven't amount of muscle, because like I said I have been weight training on and off for a while. So I think my focus should be to try and shed some fat while not losing any of the muscle I currently have. That way when I am done getting rid of the fat, I could turn to building some muscle tissue. The best way to do that is using a full body routine. ( I FIGURED THIS OUT READING THROUGH YOU AND STEVE'S JOURNAL along with a lot of articles)

So I am thinking about where I am going to go from here. I want to change to strictly a full body workout routine, however I wanna see If I could hit it three times a week. (I really enjoy weight lifting much more than cardio). Maybe I should ask Steve about this. I looked at your outine, and I think I am going to take a few things from it. I know where I need to be so I will try and come up with a routine I think is best suited for me, and run it through Steve.

Thanks a lot Tom.
 
I am back again, didn't get a chance to post yesterday. This has been a long and bad week. FINALS ARE WACK. I have been studying all week and I have been stressing becuase of so many things. First off, there are some family problems at home, and it always seems to be ME that everyone calls to cry to. Second is school. My finals are so hard and my brain is fried! I have two three hour exams on friday so I have to be ready. Third is my gf, I haven't seen her for a couple weeks and I don't know If I could keep up anymore. Being about 2 hours away from her in school and having a lot of other things to think about, i feel like she deserves someone who has the time. Problem is we have been together for a year and a half! So its not that easy to end it. I don't know what to do.

Ok on to my REAL diary haha...

I did'nt get to exercise yesterday and I am not sure if I will be able to today. I honestly don't have time because of my finals. It's that bad. So I think I will be ok, ill hit it hard the next few days. Food has been decent and I feel better every morning.

It's funny how whether see results or not, it seems that I always feel better. That is the most important thing to me. I have been sleeping exceptionally well the last week or so. I contribute that solely to getting healthy. I wake up feeling good and I feel lighter on my feet.

Anyway I just want to get through friday and I will be ready to step it up a notch.

Hope everyone is having a great day and end of the week! TTYS!!
 
I am back again, didn't get a chance to post yesterday. This has been a long and bad week. FINALS ARE WACK.

I remember what a pain finals are. Actually I dropped out of college way back in the 60's, but then in 1990, I went to Vanderbilt and got an MBA. We took five courses at a time. When I started the program, I was at 185. When I finished 2 years later, I was at 240. Of course, I was running a business full time then, too. But it was murder trying to keep up with a fitness routine while going through all that.

So I really sympathize with you. All I can say is, just do the best you can to keep a balance between school and working out. And try to work out as efficiently as you possibly can, so that you don't waste time in the gym.

If I were doing it all over again, I think I would record the lectures, and listen to them on an mp3 player while doing SS cardio. At least that would kill 2 birds with one stone.
 
just popping in to say hello!

tom is WAY more educated than me on this stuff, so i'll let him handle it!

hello and welcome! :D
 
IM BACK...hope everyone is having a great weekend thus far. I finally made it through finals and am back home. Its awesome seeing my family for the first time in about a month. I was so tired from finals I slept twelve hours last night!!

Well everything has been pretty good the past few days. Today I went to the gym and did a full-body workout routine. It was good but I think I need to add about two more excercises to it. I will talk to Steve about that.

My eating will be exceptionally good this week since I will be at home and can eat what I cook for myself instead of that shitty cafeteria food.

I WEIGHED IN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THREE WEEKS AND GOT SOME GOOD NEWS. I AM DOWN TO 239.5!!

So I lost about 8 pounds in three weeks and I am extremely happy about it. In the past I used to like crash diet and be done like 15 lbs after three weeks. So this is a good pace.

Tonight should be fun but the thing is that my friends and I are going out and we will be drinking. I am not sure If I should drink, I would like to but it is just really bad..I haven't drank in about a month and Im proud of that so I am not sure what I will do tonight. What do you guys think?

Ok talk to you all soon.
 
Fantastic news - 239.5. Wow! I wish I could lose weight that fast, but I'm afraid those days are long over for me. I won't be where you are for another 45 days or so.

I used to treat myself to a double scotch every Friday. Just sort of a ritual with me. But what's weird is that for the past two weeks, I just haven't felt like drinking. And this is something that I've been doing for 15 years or so. I kept thinking -- do I really want all those empty calories? And the answer was no.
 
Tom thanks a lot! It really feels good. The most important thing is that I feel good. I honestly wake up in the morning feeling good, and that is the best part to me. This weekend home has been crazy and fun. I need to settle down now and get back to the basics. I am happy with my progress thus far. Today I will be doing HIIT at the gym. I am ready to hit it hard today, and after I will be playing full court basketball games with some buddies so it should be a good workout.

Hope everyone is doing well and ttyall soon!
 
Today I will be doing HIIT at the gym. I am ready to hit it hard today, and after I will be playing full court basketball games with some buddies so it should be a good workout.

Just got back from my HIIT session, and my arms are still shaking! I did manage to do one more sprint today -- up to 16 now -- so I feel good about that. I don't know how you can play basketball afterward. Guess that's the difference age makes!
 
(for those of you that remember me) HELLO

Tom, Steve, and the rest that I remember my name is Paul if you read through my post you may remember me.

Well the last time I posted was in March of 2007 and it is now nearly December.

I fell off the wagon. Worked full time and went to school full time I just couldn't manage to keep any focus on my health. BUT those are NOT my excuses just what I felt got the best of me.

So I am back. And must say that m current weight is 260 lb...
I don't know what happened and I don't care, this is a new beginning again and let's see how much I grew over the past 8 months to see if I can hold on this time.

My plan is to eat 1800-2200 calories a day and hit the gym 5 times a week. Cardio, HIIT, resistance, and weight training it will be. I'll be taking whey protein, fish oil, flax seed oil, multi-vitamins, and fiber.

My goal this time is to make sure I don't view this new healthy lifestyle and the number 1 focus in my life, rather just another daily habit like brushing my teeth.

Sorry for the run on but I am back and plan on using this journal again..
 
The week has been good..

Food: B+
Gym:C

School: F lol jk but I got a midterm in like twenty min so hopefully that goes well.

Once I am done with finals and work calms down I will post everyday but for now I will just check in every once in a while.

Have a good weekend everyone.

ps: goin home to see my parents for a few days so Hopefully I will have time too hit the gym and get some good home cooked food.
 
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