peelout

Son was in town on college break and daughter got engaged so I haven't been on for a week but wanted to give a challenge recap. Exercised every day. Goal was to drop 5lbs. Started at 181, my empty stomach wt now is about 178.5. Not a great month for wt loss, but I primarily wanted to exercise every day which I did.

Only definitive after you see it posted on FB. Until then, just a rumor.

Mar 8 Wt 178.6. My weight. It taunts me. Next Monday I start my walks during work breaks and part of lunch. 1st just slow walk around the exterior just to get the mind programmed. Then add a little speed. Then starting carrying a weighted pack. On the plus side, I won't be able to go to McD's during lunch. Workout - Cardio/core focus + stretching Diet Breakfast - Protein shake Lunch - McD's Dinner - Salad and chicken Snacks - Toast w/ PB later. 1 soda

FAKE NEWS. TADDEA ZHAN IS NEVER LOW ENERGY. MANY PEOPLE HAVE TOLD ME THAT. SHAME! (A bit of reckless political interjection. Shame on me.) We all get these blahs. But you kept going. The difference between will power and a habit is you don't have to decide. Great work.

This is why I come here. What is your walking strategy? Is this based on an entire days steps (like Fitbit or something like it) or are you going for very, very long walks at a time?

It would be absurd not count 30min of walking as exercise. 30 min is more than probably at least 80% of the adult population (my SWAG). Plus it develops the habit.

Yes, do yoga. Even a very shortened session is far superior too skipping. A very brief session may do nothing for the body, but it does every bit as much as a full session for habit building. Tells the brain, this is what I do now, a little or a lot, but it must be done. That creates habits.

Mar 7 Wt 177.6. Dropped under 178, although not a new low as I hit this about 10 days ago once. Not looking good for meeting my goal of losing 5lbs this challenge. Started challenge at 181 and down only 3lbs. Hopefully walking during my breaks will help me with the next challenge. I really wanted to be down to 165 by start of kayak season on May 5, but not sure I will quite make it. Back focus tonight. I haven't been doing any direct bicep work so far this year as I've just wanted to get maximum movement in, but decided to add some in now. I really hate bicep work. It just doesn't feel right. I'm going lite, did one set w/ EZ curl bar and 1 set w/ dumbbells. Causes some discomfort in my arms, sometimes in the forearms, sometimes in the bicep. Starting lite for now and doing 15reps till I figure out how to make it feel "right". Workout - Back/core focus + stretching Diet Breakfast - Protein shake Lunch - McD's Dinner - Salad and chicken Snacks - Toast w/ PB later. 1 soda

Say what?

Mar 6 Wt 178.0 still. Well, wt is still stuck at 178.0. So since I decided to reduce my cardio/core intensity slightly while I ramp up my strength training, I dropped the treadmill speed to 4.5 from 4.6 tonight. But since my body was used to 4.6, I kept walking into the front of the machine. lol I noticed something tonight that really emphasized the power of a habit. I used to always turn my cell phone off before I went to bed so I only had to plug it in about once a week (old school flip phone). I've been doing that for over a decade. A couple months ago, I remembered to turn my phone on about 1pm (I often forgot to turn it on in the morning) and found I had a voice mail from my wife telling my my daughter had hurt her back at work and my wife was driving 5hrs to assist her. She was not pleased that my phone was not on and neither was I. So I started to plug it in every night and leave it on. But I still haven't broken the habit of opening it up to turn it off when I remove it from my belt holder before I plug it in. I take it out, open it up, the remember I don't need to do that, and I plug it in. Now that's the power of a habit, which is why I'm such a big believer in creating habits over goals. I want daily exercise to be as automatic as opening my cell phone every night even though I no longer need to. I've noticed my ab exercises are so much easier than when I started exercising again Jan 1. I'm thinking of adding some wt for my incline situps, although I worry that it might cause stress on the lower back. Have to start very small. Workout - Cardo/core focus + stretching Diet Breakfast - Protein shake Lunch - McD's Dinner - Salad and chicken Snacks - Slice of cheese and grapes later. 1 soda

I'd love to have a standup desk, but I usually have to spread papers across my entire desk and constantly grab different ones so it wouldn't work well for me. Plus they cost quite a bit. Company isn't going to pay.

Well, done. My week was a bust.

Mar 5 Wt 178.0 still. Well, my hi-intensity low cal week was a bust. Still in the 180's. Wondering if my cal's were too low or something. I think part of the reason I'm not losing as fast as past years is due to my new job. The job I had up till the end of 2016 involved a lot of walking, carrying equipment, and climbing up and down on tractors. Burned a lot of cals. My new job which I've had since mid 2017 pretty much involves sitting at a desk working on my computer. Couple that w/ 9.5 hr days and I've got a big chunk of my day not burning more than min maintenance. Next Mon, I plan on starting something new at work. During my 2 breaks + lunch, I'm going to take 10-15min walks. I'm not sure how much getting some exercise during the day does to increase your metabolism, but I thought I'd give it a try. If I find it's something I can stick to for a few weeks, I might invest in one of those weighted packs so I get a higher boost during my short walks. I tried just putting wt's in a regular pack before, but it was a strain on the back. I'd like to distribute it front and rear. During my everyday higher intensity w/o's, I decided I wanted to get to go higher intensity on the strength focus days and dial back on the cardio/core days. I'll do that for a while and see what comes of that. This week I decided to boost my cal's a bit. Mainly by eating at McD's for lunch again. I was really feeling tired at my low cal eating plan. Heck, I was losing wt eating at McD's during my 190 to 180 drop. So the plan for this week is: Hi-intensity strength focus Low intensity cardio/core nights Still stretching everynight Increase in cal's over last week by eating at McD's for lunch again Try to get a few walks in at lunch this week just to get my mind used to the idea Oh, and over the weekend, I finished my first major Solid Works assembly. It was a military cable grip gizmo w/ about 9 parts that I had to create, then bring into an assembly. Kind of a milestone in my effort to learn Solid Works. Little do they know at work that the purpose of my early hours and weekend hours spent teaching myself this is to prep myself for other jobs, in case that is needed. Lastly, McD's put in these kiosk stations where you can order and pay for you food without going to the counter (trying to eliminate more workers which I hate). So being stubborn, I go to the window anyway. But I was looking at them and noticed they only work w/ credit cards, not cash. I pay in cash. So I'm standing in line and this lady who is always standing by them trying to get people to use them asks me if I would like help using them. I said "so how do I use them and pay cash"? She says, "well, they won't take cash, but you can order the food here, then go thru the line and pay". I asked how that would benefit me since I would still have to go thru the line. She didn't have an answer. Silly. Workout - Chest focus + stretching Diet Breakfast - Protein shake Lunch - McD's Dinner - Salad and chicken Snacks - Slice of cheese and grapes later. 1 soda

I'm still waiting for you to use a logarithmic scale (not to be confused w/ Eurythimics). Can't remember what it would look like from my college days, but it would impress the hell out of me to see it. It would probably either turn out to look totally flat or highly exponential in shape. Other than a lack of using some crazy scale, great job on the loss. I always knew you were a loser. (lol)

Quit whining. You never hear me complaining about uterus issues. Just gotta tough it out. lol

Feb 28 Wt 178.0 yet again. Man, I'm getting worn down. Partly from hi-intensity w/o's for the last 5 days, probably some from eating at should be a deficit, and partly from lack of sleep. I've been going to bed 45min earlier than normal to compensate for the w/o's, but my internal clock just wakes me up earlier. This morning I woke up wide awake at 3:45, lied around till 4 and got up and went to work early. My alarm was set to 4:40. Give me a break. I was really yawning when I got home from work at 4. So I decided to just lay around on the couch tonight and take a much deserved break. Not! Got my cardio/core in. I was sweating pretty good considering it wasn't even hot in the gym. Might be starting to get some moisture in the air due to the warmer weather. Feels great to have got the job done. Eating was spot on today. Boring, but spot on. Did you know it takes a lot of effort to keep stocked for large salads? You can't just go once a week and stock up. With all the stuff I put in my salad, I have to go to the store about everyother day. I mean you can't plan on romaine, spinach, grapes, cherry tomatos, and mandarin oranges all getting used up at the same time. And it ages at different rates. One of the first things I'm craving when I reach my ideal wt and can eat a bit more is hardshell tacos. All the stuff that goes in them is fairly low cal, but you wind up eating about 6 of them and google says there are 150 cals/shell so thats a number I can't afford right now. Was kind of bummed at my wt this morning. Must be patient. New lows suddenly come quite suddenly for me, and the drop is generally much more than I would expect. Still.......... Salad and burger patty are packed and ready for taking to work tomorrow. No McD's for lunch this week. Workout - Cardio/core focus + stretching Diet (Yes, it does not change for days on end) Breakfast - Protein shake Lunch - Salad and burger patty Dinner - Salad and chicken Snacks - Slice of cheese and grapes later. 1 soda

Feb 27 Wt 178.0 Happy w/ my wt this morning. Bouncing around 178.0 means I should be in the 177's within a day or 2. Have 2 keep a tight reign on everything to reach my goal of hitting in the 176's at least one time by Sat morning. Another high intensity w/o tonight. Back focus w/ increased wts. Diet was perfect today, although my mind was playing tricks on me trying to convince me that McD's for lunch would help with my tiredness. I have been a bit tired after 5 days in a row of hi-intensity w/o's. Too bad, I want the loss. I can taste it. Salad and burger patty are packed and ready for taking to work tomorrow. No McD's for lunch this week. Workout - Back focus + stretching Diet Breakfast - Protein shake Lunch - Salad and burger patty Dinner - Salad and chicken Snacks - Slice of cheese and grapes later. 1 soda

Feb 25\6 Wt 178.4 Big news. I was able to button my size 34 jeans semi-comfortably this morning for the first time in about 4 months. Yahoo. Soon I will be able to tuck in my shirt as well. Well, this morning I thought I was mistaken about the 177.8 and edited, but then later I remembered I was excited cause I'd drooped over a lb in 1 day, so it was definitely 177.8. This morning was 178.4, but thats cool. Wt is going in the correct direction. 4th brutal w/o in a row. I did cardio/core tonight and worked up a good sweat. It's going to be a tough 8 days (started last Friday) but failure is not an option. Salad and burger patty are packed and ready for taking to work tomorrow. No McD's for lunch this week. Workout - Cardio/core + stretching Diet Breakfast - Protein shake Lunch - Salad and burger patty Dinner - Salad and chicken Snacks - Slice of cheese and grapes later. 1 soda

Day 4 today. Starting to get to me, but I'm in it till Sat. Yes, I'm staying away from pop groups. You hit it on the nail.

Edited above. New low wt was 178.6.

Feb 25 Wt 178.6 Yowza. New low wt. Dropped under 178 for first time. I did eat pretty light yesterday and some of it could be dehydration, but I'll take it. Today was another brutal day at the gym. Chest focus, added 2 exercises and increased wts. I'm feeling it some from doing 3 brutal in a row. Ate light again today. Nothing is gonna stop me from hitting under 177.0 by next Sat morning weigh in. Salad and burger patty are packed and ready for taking to work tomorrow. No McD's for lunch this week. Probably go through grease withdraw. Workout - Cardio/core + stretching Diet Breakfast - Protein shake Lunch - Salad only Dinner - Salad and burger patty Snacks - Might have a small amount of chicken later. 1 soda

Feb 24 Wt 180.0 Was today a success? Yes. Ate very light. Did have popcorn at movie (Game Night, liked it) but only had salad for supper to make up for it. Killer cardio/core w/o as I upped the tread speed from 4.5 to 4.6. Left me quite winded. Uuuuge workout. Trust me, this is not Fake News (there I go again). Workout - Cardio/core + stretching Diet Breakfast - Protein shake Lunch - Salad + chicken Dinner - Salad only Snacks - Small popcorn and part of a small soda 1 soda

Wore my finger out using the mouse wheel to scroll through all your sets. Great job.

Feb 23 Wt 179.6 Was today a success? Yes. Although I'm starting what I call "brutal" week tomorrow, I kicked up my strength training tonight during my back focus w/o. Increased reps and some wts, also added KB swings back in. Great w/o. Trust me, many, many people have told me I am the hardest worker in the gym (oh wait, I'm getting political?). But it was a very solid w/o. I'm increasing the intensity of all w/o's until next Sat in the attempt to kick start my wt loss again. Hope to hit below 178.0 at least once during that period. More significantly for wt loss, I will not be eating at McD's for lunch the entire week. This is what the next week will look like (going to post daily to remind myself). I would get too drained if I did this for over 8 days, but I can swing it for that long. No McD's. No bread. Extra intensity on w/o's (increase tread from 4.5 to 4.6 on cardio/core and increase wt's on strength nights. No placeholders or double up on the next w/o if I have to. Bed by 9:15 so I get an extra 15-30min sleep to compensate. More if needed. Going to a movie tonight so I only had salad for dinner (due to eating small popcorn at the movie. Looking fwd to seeing Annihilation, which looks pretty good. Workout - Back focus + stretching Diet Breakfast - Protein shake Lunch - McD's Dinner - Salad only Snacks - Small popcorn and part of a small soda 1 soda

Awesome job Hazard. Keep up the consistency of pushing forward.