gtcompscientist

April 15

Calories: 2271 (Wife made no-bake cookies for work... and 2 extra for me.)

Exercise: More rowing! Back got stiff an hour in, so I cut my time short to stay healthy. No gym today, but a 5k tomorrow and a half marathon Sunday should feel good! 13,220m (Week Total: 34,317m. Challenge Total: 142,147m.)

Grade: C

Seen the Withings scale, and I kind of like the idea (the accountability would be a strong motivator), but there's no way I could spend that much on a scale. Will probably just buy another consumer-grade job this Friday or Saturday once I'm off. $40 or so for something which lasted me for 5+ years? Not a bad value, when you get right down to it.

We bought our's from Bed Bath and Beyond to get a slightly nicer one with their abundant 20% off coupons.

April 14

Calories: 1859

Exercise: Rowing! Finally got back on the erg after a few days off after a VERY tough week on the erg last week. Set a personal best for a half marathon! 21,097m in 87:24.4! (Week Total: 21,097m. Challenge Total: 128,927m.)

Notes: Knee is back to good. Tested it out a little in the morning and again before I got on the erg. Part of what I love about the erg is how low impact it is... so this was a good day to do that.

Grade: A+ (Set a new personal best!)

something went "SPINGGGG!!!!" inside my scale.

Consider getting an electronic scale. A decent quality one is FAR more accurate than a spring loaded one and they will last virtually forever. And if you're feeling particularly cheeky and have some cash burning a hole in your pocket:

WiThings Scale OR: Body Trace Scale

Talk about accountability....

April 13

Calories: 1859

Exercise: Weights again. Was supposed to work on legs, but 8 reps into the second set of squats, I tweaked my knee and we ended up doing upper body. It was a GREAT upper body workout, though. Definitely get a harder workout without my wife there. Tried a new exercise, "negatives", and that was TOUGH. I do really like working on the bench. I feel like I work much harder.

Notes: Knee is feeling better today, couldn't even do a body weight squat after it happened, but after rest/ice/etc everything is fine. Food was good despite getting snackish around 10pm.

Grade: B-, the minus for tweaking my knee.

Week 1 Summary

- Made my rowing goals: 4 half marathons, and over 100km

- Missed the target on my weight workouts, only got to one.

- Did well on the calories, only going slightly over on the days when I had VERY long workouts.

Grade: A+ for the rowing and calories and the one weight workout being as hard as two.

The rowing is going great. I'm in prep for my first full-marathon in a couple weeks. Mild training this week for a [running] 5k, so less rowing. I'm still hopeful I can hit 1million meters before the end of the season! (April 31st is the last day of the 2010 season and I'm at 873,173m since October) The rowing has been my savior this time around. I have tried over and over to lose weight, and I finally found what works for me. I'm doing a lot of other things right that I wasn't doing before, but having that as a backbone has been GREAT. After the end of the season, I'll be switching to some more interval training trying to improve my personal bests for shorter distances and hopefully drop the last little bit of weight that I have hanging around.

April 11

Calories: 1892

Exercise: 6 mile run/walk. More walking than I wanted, partly because my wife's knee was bothering her. Gotta get ready for the 5k I'm running this weekend, and I hate running. So I don't ever do it...

Notes: The running wasn't as strenuous as I was hoping, but that's about it.

Grade: B

Week 1 Summary

- Made my rowing goals: 4 half marathons, and over 100km

- Missed the target on my weight workouts, only got to one.

- Did well on the calories, only going slightly over on the days when I had VERY long workouts.

Grade: A+

Week 2 Goals

- 2 HM+ distances and at least 60km. Less rowing this week with the 5k to try.

- Also, try to give my body a little bit of rest after last week.

- Calorie goals remain the same.

April 12

Calories: 2246

Exercise: None. Well... a short walk after dinner, but not enough to count.

Notes: I was distracted at lunch which meant I ate less that I should have, which then meant I was starving when I got home from work. That lead to snacking, which lead to eating more than I should have. But still only ended up a little over.

Grade: C

April 9

Calories: 2151

Exercise: Weights. Worked with the trainer very hard on upper body. It was great.

Notes: Good day. The only extra thing was I ate out for dinner, and it was more food than I really wanted/needed.

Grade: B-

April 10

Calories: 1646

Exercise: 21,097m on the erg again. 4 for the week! (Week Total: 107,830m. Challenge Total: 107,830m, 4 HM+ this week!)

Notes: Won't make the extra weight workout so that part of the weekly goal will fall short, but all the other work has made me feel pretty good.

Grade: A

April 8

Calories: 2146

Exercise: 21,097m on the erg again. That meets my first goal. However, I will also be doing another one tomorrow to hit that magic #4 for the week. It was faster than the 30km by a long shot, and felt good. (Week Total: 86,733m. Challenge Total: 86,733m, 3 HM+ this week)

Notes: Introduced a buddy to the erg as well as my rowing yesterday. It was nice to help a friend out like that. Hopefully he decides he likes it, because I love it and it would be fun to have a friend to race/compete against. Also, I noticed that because of our trainer canceling on us Tuesday, I need to get some extra weight work in this week. I will probably try to do that tomorrow morning.

Grade: A

Thanks for the response.

I am currently doing less interval training than I was because I am training for a the Global Marathon Challenge in a couple weeks. (42,195m on the erg) I will definitely get back to more interval sessions after that. I do a couple weight training sessions each week, but I can try to do more.

Yeah, I understand the basics of it... the question (though slightly, rhetorical) is what else do I need to do to target fatloss over muscle loss. I'm currently about 14-15% body fat, and though that number has dropped significantly since I started, it seems to have plateaued and I'm looking for some advice to get that number, not necessarily my weight number moving in the right direction.

OK. So I am now getting down to what I hope will be my maintenance weight. But at the same time, I have a lot more belly-fat than I want, and while it does seem to be SLOWLY going away, is there anything I can do diet-wise that may help speed-up the process. I already work out a ton and eat smart (a low-fat, low-cal diet). I've dropped a ton of weight and just want to trade my keg for a 6-pack.

April 7

Calories: 2252

Exercise: 30,000m on the erg. It was a slow, endurance exercise, but it was still a lot of work. Took me 2:21:20.5 to complete. Burned ~1800 calories. (Week Total: 65,636m. Challenge Total: 65,636m, 2 HM+ this week)

Notes: The erg was great practice for extending my rows to a full-marathon. Ate a lot more at lunch than I normally would in expectation of the calories I would be burning at the gym. Which worked out well, I never hit the wall, and never felt like I was running low on fuel. Was definitely hungry when I got off the erg, though! Also, almost got kicked off the erg at one point, which would have been tragic since it would have meant stopping for up to twenty minutes while I waited for the next person to finish. Luckily the stars aligned and I was able to push through.

Grade: A+ for completing 30km and not eating everything in the house!

April 5

Calories: 1492

Exercise: 1 hour on the erg. 14,539m (Week Total: 14,539m. Challenge Total: 14,539m)

Notes: The hour on the erg felt better than it has in a while, which is great news since I'm ramping up the meters for the next month. Ended up needing to snack a little late because of the amount of calories burned, which isn't ideal, but I'd rather have a smart snack than go to bed hungry, since that's not actually helping the weight loss.

Grade: A

April 6

Calories: 1293

Exercise: First half-marathon (21,097m), or longer, of the week. Just over 92min. Not a hard workout in terms of exertion, but that distance always takes a concerted effort. (Week Total: 35,636m. Challenge Total: 35,636m)

Notes: This half marathon was a little harder than I was hoping it would feel, but I also couldn't help but empty the tanks at the end to bring my time down a little. Afterwards felt great, though. My seat pad helps a ton, which is the only was I would ever make it a full marathon, and not even a hint of a blister thanks to my Vibram's! I do need to start eating a little more. I had a light lunch and my wife made an incredibly tasty, yet amazingly low-cal frittata for dinner, so I ended up way lower than I wanted (goal is about 1500/day).

Grade: A+

Today, I am going for either another HM, or 30km... depends on how much time I have at the gym. I'm crossing my fingers I can try a 30km row, and if that goes well, I should have time for another tomorrow.

OK. We'll give this a try again. This time I won't be traveling, and I should have a lot easier time getting to the gym.

However, I have far less to lose at this point! I'm currently sitting at 183lbs and 16% body fat. My goal for this month is to drop another 6-8 pounds and at least 2% body fat. My ultimate goal is to be between 170-180lbs. @ 10% body fat. (I'd really like to get rid of my belly-pudge and have some flat abs.

Currently, I am competing in the World Rowing Challenge on Concept2's website. And I am also training for a marathon row (42,195m) at the end of April. I was sick for the first week of the WRC2010 and have been behind ever since. That comes to an end this week! I am making goals each week to manage my time at the gym better and make sure that my wife knows that I am planning! No excuses.

Overall Goals:

- Complete a full marathon as part of the Concept2 Global Marathon Challenge.

- Row at least 350km

- Lose at least 5 pounds

- Eat a balanced diet within my calorie budget of 2000 calories per day as often as possible (should happen at least 6 days per week)

Week 1 Goals:

- 3-4 Half Marathons (21,097m) + some shorter rows, to take me to between 75km and 100km.

- 2 Strength training sessions giving it my all. Trying to improve on my recent workouts.

- Eating within my calorie budget. I have been playing a little fast and loose with this recently, and it needs to get reined in.

**As a side note, I have been competing in my company's "Biggest Loser" program for the past 2 months and am currently sitting just out of the lead according to our last weigh in. I think that the first place person is nearing their limit for this round and with 4 weeks left before the final weigh-in, I will be kicking it in to high gear.

March 20

Calories: 2921

It was my sister's birthday, so I ate well for lunch, but it was her call for dinner, and we had hibachi... plus I had to drive to Athens, so I couldn't go to the gym.

Grade: C+

March 21

Calories: 1580

Didn't work out because I felt like I was run over by a bus, but ate decently, so that counts for something.

Grade: B+

March 22

Calories: 1430

Despite feeling a little under the weather still, I rowed 10km at the gym (for a total of 116,326m) and ate a REALLY nice balanced diet for the day. Good protein, low fat, and low cal. Overall great day, especially considering how I felt.

Grade: A+!

March 19

Calories: 1820

Back into my routine of oatmeal for breakfast, a healthy lunch and then dinner/snack after a workout. Today was a legs day with my personal trainer, but I also worked in 30 minutes on the erg beforehand. (7,364m for a total of 106,326m)

Would like to give a shout-out to where I ate for dinner. It's a place in Sandy Springs, just off Roswell Road (near Atlanta for those not nearby) called Evos. I LOVE their food, and it's HEALTHY FAST FOOD! Check out their website here: http://www.evos.com Who knew you could have a Burger, Fries, and a Shake for only 970 calories and 29g of fat? And it's TASTY to boot!

March 18

Calories: 1701

I ate very well yesterday, and rowed a half marathon bringing my total distance to 98,962m which is about halfway to my goal!

I will probably be rowing pretty hard for the rest of the 28 days, because I am rowing with my virtual team for the World Rowing Challenge on the C2 website.

March 17

Calories: ~2700

Finally back home. Ate sporadically, which sucks, but I made it home early and got to eat dinner with my wife. Enjoyed one last hoorah before I start monitoring my food and working out hard. Should see some good improvements this week!

Grade: D

Another plane... another post:

March 14

Calories: At least 3000.

Once again no gym, but in addition to some more walking around NYC, there was also the sprint at the airport and walking in Las Vegas Ate pretty well, except for breakfast when I had bacon. More fat that I should have consumed.

Grade: B-

March 15

Calories: Between 3000 and 4000.

I've given up on the gym for this conference, it's just not going to happen. However, I am walking about 5 miles a day, so that counts for something. Breakfast was healthy, but lunch was not, dinner was a joke at Hard Rock Cafe.

Grade: C-

March 16

Calories: Between 2500 and 3000

No gym again. Walked absolutely ALL OVER THE PLACE! Food was actually pretty tame. Healthy breakfast, decent lunch and some sushi for dinner. Only indulgence was a Frozen Hot Chocolate from Serendipity 3.

Grade: B+

That brings us to today. Calories are likely to be low because I missed lunch making an earlier flight and breakfast was healthy. Who knows what dinner will be, but I DO know that I'll be glad to be home! Can't wait to try out my new erg seat cushion! I may row 50k tomorrow just because I can! *Probably not, though.

March 11

Calories: Between 2500 and 3000.

Didn't make it to the gym, but hiked about 5-7 miles around Manhattan. Ate pretty well, considering. More fat that I should have consumed, and the bread in NYC was never "just" bread.

Grade: C+

March 12

Calories: Between 2000 and 2500.

Didn't make it to the gym again, but the maps say we hiked close to 10 miles around Manhattan. Ate well, today! Found a place called Energy Kitchen, which helped a TON since it's a healthier place to eat!!! Once again, my total fat was higher than I wanted.

Grade: B

March 13

Calories: Between 5000 and a million, I'm sure.

No gym. Only made it a few miles because of torrential downpours. Then the wedding. Amazing appetizers, 6 courses, open bar... who knows how much I consumed. But, every once in a while you just have to say "forget it" and go with it. This was DEFINITELY one of those times. My oldest friend's wedding!

Grade: A for effort. F for execution.

So far today hasn't been great, but it hasn't been horrible, either. I am definitely picking the best of what's available. Eating a LOT of fruit when I can. Next update from Vegas.

PS - This update was brought to you from 38,000ft on my way to Vegas.

Calories: 2600

Didn't make it to the gym. Too much getting ready for my trip. Ate mostly ok, but ate a croissant with dinner and my salad had bacon.

Grade: C

Good job on your achievements so far! It's really cool that you grade yourself! Wanted to ask what erg means:$

Thanks!

Erg = ergometer = rowing machine

I'm late getting this posted up, but have been working on it since the 1st.

Here's the goals:

- 200,000-250,000m on the erg (hopefully closer to the 200km side, but I'll be away from an erg while I'm travelling for a week)

- Eat between 2,000 and 2,500 [healthy] calories per day.

- EAT BREAKFAST! (I've been buying oatmeal that's quite healthy to cover this)

- Lose 3-5 pounds (getting into maintenance mode at this point)

- Drop body fat by at least 1%

Here's where I stand:

- Weight: 187.2lbs

- Body fat: 16.5%

Here's the summary:

March 1:

Calories: 2197

Ate well, but skipped workout because my Step-mom was staying with us for a few days and needed to get her settled in.

Grade: B+ (Gotta take a day off now and again...)

March 2:

Calories: 2077

Personal training day (arms/upper-body). But also hit the erg for 12,141m (12,141m total)

Grade: A+ (Cardio, weights, and good food)

March 3:

Calories: 2267

Rowing training for 1 hour. 14,705m (26,846m total)

Grade: A

March 4:

Calories: 2698

Rowing training for 1 hour, and set a PERSONAL BEST! 15,410m (42,256m total)

Grade: B- (Ate too much... but it was tasty and at least the food itself was mostly healthy...)

March 5:

Calories: 2299

30 minutes on the erg for 7,430m (49,686m total). And a legs and lower body workout with the trainer.

Grade: A+ (Another solid day of eating and exercising!)

March 6:

Calories: 2240

Skipped the gym, but ate well for the day. Also managed to walk about 5 miles around the malls/shops I visited.

Grade: B

March 7:

Calories: 1819

Rowing training for 1 hour! 14,512m (56,768m total)

Grade: A- (Gotta get more calories when my workout burns 1000+)

March 8:

Calories: 1630

I have to eat more... which sounds weird. But I keep running out of daylight before I eat enough.

Rowed a half marathon (21,097m for 77,865m total) today in a pretty decent time for me, just over 90 minutes.

Grade: A-

March 9:

Calories: 2698

Upper-body training. This was a serious workout because it was just me and the trainer (normally my wife and I both work with the trainer at the same time). My arms still don't want to work right...

Grade: A

Hopefully I'll make it to the gym tomorrow, but I may not. Then comes the big test of my vacation. If I can stay on top of working out for the next week, and keep my food intake reasonable, I'll be in great shape moving forward. Still gotta get another 125km by the end of the month on the erg!

I live in Smyrna now, though my brother is still at Tech, so I'm there a fair bit. (Including tonight at Ormsby's)

Drop me a PM some time and we can meet up for a workout, or food. Always looking for people to hang out with around town.

PS - Sent you a Motivator invite on DailyBurn.