BlamedCat's Time to Follow the Leader Challenge

[BlamedCat]

Sorry I don't have a fancy theme for this challenge.  If anyone wants to suggest one, by all means, hit me with it  I figured it was more important to get this posted than to delay it for "pretty-ification"

 

So, I stepped into the realm of getting a personal trainer the other week.  It feels so weird to have one, to have sat down for a consultation/talk and really got my brain picked and examined AND got to butt heads with a great smart guy.

 

This challenge is really about me following direction (from someone I signed a waver form with lol).  I'm kinda nervous about this and I'm really realizing just how stubborn I can be!  This challenge is defined by the goals we set (and might change) depending on how my body reacts and such.

 

I talked to Cody (mine and my wife's personal trainer)  and purchased some sessions with him.  I don't think I'll have the extra income to get more sessions after the initial four, but I am going to do my best to implement what he teaches and shares this challenge.

 

He asked me what my main motivations were, so I shared them... he knows them now... no turning back, right?

The goals I shared were the following:

1. Be healthy and around for my kids (best. motivation. ever.)

2. Do a real pull up (because it would be bad-arse!)

3. Do a Tough Mudder (because I'm crazy?)

4. Get more comfortable in the gym (told him about the mental struggles I've had and still do to some extent)

5. Get comfortable with lunges again (used to be in fencing in freshman year of college and loved it)

 

I know they're all over the place, but he said they were good things and was impressed.  Fun part is that I've got a trainer who's girlfriend is a HUGE nerd (and fitness) person.  I really hope by the end of this time with him I can convert his girlfriend to Nerd Fitness lol.  His exact words were "I believe my girlfriend loves Link more than she does me."  He also told me one of his own goals is to do AMERICAN NINJA WARRIOR, so that's pretty cool.

 

Main Quest still remains, do a real pull up.

 

Two "Simple" goals yet again.  

 

1. Workout

• I'm working out 4-5 times a week. (3 workouts 1-2 cardio days)
• Doing my best to do what is prescribed. (not a clue what he's got in mind yet)

I already know he wants me to do warm-ups on the stairs machine.... I think that's to get me more used to lunges and such (and to make me use something I've never touched in my life lol)

 

2. Food Metrics!

• Follow prescribed/adjusted metrics as best I can.
• Calories 2,500
• Carbs 250
• Protein 188
• Fat 83
• 4:1 egg ratio
• Pic logging with Metal_Weaver
• Track food on gym site as best as possible

He said I wasn't eating enough to lose weight.  Which after looking at things, it makes sense.  I've basically been starving my body even as I push it.  If I don't fuel it properly, it will go into starvation mode and hold onto everything.  In this area, he kept mentioning low-fat foods and while I can't follow paleo to the letter of the law, it still made me cringe.  I will do what I can to eat reasonably and still try and avoid so much of this 'low fat' stuff.  If that means I have to cut out cheese (<has a moment of silence for this loss>) for this or do his suggested 4:1 ratio on eggs to egg whites... then I'll do it.

 

It's just one challenge and I need to show some trust and willingness to listen to his advice.  I know he's the type of trainer that's not going to harp on the food thing, so that's reassuring.

 

I'm also going to keep pic logging with Metal_Weaver throughout this and doing my best to log things on the gym site so Cody has a good idea what I'm eating.

 

Oh and I did get to pick his brain on warm-ups.  He equated it to studying for a test the night before the exam.  If you study all night and then don't get much sleep, you're going to perform worse on the test than if you actually got a full night's rest.  Same goes for warm-up.  It's to get the blood flowing, but it shouldn't be a separate workout all in itself.  Overall, his take is that it's a mental thing to get you ready to workout.  so that's good to know.  I've also asked him to show me stretches to aid in whatever we're doing for the day, so if there's any pre-stretches that would make an exercise better I'm hoping to pick them up

 

Note: Also, this month, August 16th, to be exact, I hit my 35th birthday.  (My dad also has his birthday on the 24th.)  So, that'll be something to both look forward too, but also to plan ahead for on how I'm going to handle the celebration.  (I think if my parents give me cash for my birthday, I'm going to go up to the gym and get some more sessions lol)

 

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This section is a reminder to myself that I have come a long way and yet the journey isn't over.

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Previous 9 Challenges:

BlamedCat Wars: Episode 1: The Fatman Menace

BlamedCat Wars: Episode 2: Attack of the Groans

BlamedCat Wars: Episode 3: Rehinge of the Pith

BlamedCat Wars: Episode 5: The Return of Three Dead Nigh

BlamedCat travels to Mt. Kolts

BlamedCat trains on Mt. Kolts

BlamedCat's Second Rite of Ascension Challenge!

BlamedCat's Return - Lets have a dark match!

BlamedCat's Enough is Enough (Let’s get down to business) Challenge

[darkfoxx]

You can do it! I'm looking forward to seeing you push yourself mentally and physically. Kick ass!  

[Fonzico]

I think it's great that you are keeping it simple, and it looks like you're set up for success. Best challenge ever... and GO!

[Bookworm_Tess]

Hey, subbed. Be back for longer comments afterwards, I only got a bit of time to write, gotta work soon...

[BlamedCat]

You can do it! I'm looking forward to seeing you push yourself mentally and physically. Kick ass!

Yeah, it's scary to up and give someone the key to the woodshed so to speak  I'm excited about it... Oh and I made a spare just for you <hands you a spare key to the woodshed> in-case you see me slipping somewhere.

 

I think it's great that you are keeping it simple, and it looks like you're set up for success. Best challenge ever... and GO!

LOL It's up there with scary challenges... which I think are the best!  I'll be a GYM NERD yet!  Oh and you'll need this <hands you a spare key to the woodshed too>

 

Hey, subbed. Be back for longer comments afterwards, I only got a bit of time to write, gotta work soon...

Awesome!  I look forward to it  Have fun at work!

[Bookworm_Tess]

I guess the real challenge is: can we remember BC has a birhday coming up and congratulate him timely?   

[BlamedCat]

I guess the real challenge is: can we remember BC has a birhday coming up and congratulate him timely?   

Hahaha!  We'll see

[BlamedCat]

I'm gonna carry our conversation over here to my new thread.

 

 

I'm having problem eating enough on low carb (or even low starch) too. Going heavy on the fat thing now. Read this book, it was the last convincing I needed -- this girl wrote a historical approach to our fat and carb-related eating habits. And I love me some history. I'm tranquil now that I'm making the best choice for my health.

 

And tastebuds. Bacon with butter so yummmm... (_8(|)

 

Now about the bread: for quite some time now I'm of the following opinion: of course wheat flour is not toxic. Lots of people eat it everyday and they're just fine, thriving and shit. As long as you're not sensitive to gluten, why not? Put that pastrami and blue cheese on that ciabatta, man!

 

However, it's clear to me that it's not food. It's a treat. Having bread when you feel like it, when you really want a deli sandwich or when you grandma baked something --- that's fine. Having it twice a day... nah, I don't think so.

Well, from what I've researched, the problem with commercial bread (and here's where the difference probably is) is that it has enough sugar in it to spike your insulin levels.  It's not toxic, but it is genetically modified in most cases, so it's more of a franken-wheat.  To me, it's the equivalent of drinking a soda, sure it's a treat, but why consume empty calories?  I don't buy into the "heart healthy grains" stuff, so I'm not going all out with that sort of thing.

 

I do like how you're looking at it as a treat rather than a necessity.  And I will admit that I have slowly started introducing it back in to my diet one piece of bread yesterday for a half a 'sandwich' of egg salad... and granola.  Funny part is, I'm not LOVING it.  I tolerate it lol.  Which I guess is the better way to go about it, because I used to crave bread like I craved sodas, and craved sweets.  I'll be honest though, if I could find a way to get my protein up and my carbs up without going to grains, I would (and I think I have a plan for this....)

 

This is a good discussion because it makes me re-evaluate seriously why I'm doing what I'm doing.  I can say that so far, since I've hit my metrics, I seem to be losing weight.  Been pretty much hitting them for four days straight now, or getting close and I'm losing weight (not that that is the defining factor, but it's an interesting indicator).

[Bookworm_Tess]

Share those strategies to up the carbs without going to grains!

 

I don't wanna strand too far from carbohydrates and/or normal & social eating because, you know... How do I explain this?

 

I have a friend who went on a diet prescribed by a diet specialist physician. That's not the doctor who specializes in nutrition, but the one who specializes in getting people to lose a lot of weight. It involved pills to supress apetite and... low carb eating. I remember when we went out to celebrate the end of the school semestre and she had a hamburger without the bun, and a caipirinha instead of beer, that sort of thing. It workes wonders, she lost a lot of weight. Then the diet was over and she started eating normally. It wasn't even outrageous or anything, just normal. And back came the weight.

 

I don't want to fall in that trap. I think being careful now with what habits we can really sustain might pay off beautifully in the near as well as the far future...

[BlamedCat]

Monday Recap (Day 1)

Breakfast

Brown Rice Protein smoothie with almond milk and zeal

 

Snack1

Smokehouse blue diamond almonds 1oz

 

Lunch

Red Beans and Sausage (revisited with turkey sausage and bell peppers and spinach and kale cooked in)

Banana (I should have eaten at snack1)

 

Snack2

Cascadian Farm Organic dark chocolate coconut protein granola

Nature Valley oats 'n dark chocolate protein crunchy granola

2 x babybel mini originals

 

Snack3

Brown Rice Protein smoothie with almond milk, baking cocoa powder, and stevia (dinner wasn't going to be ready for an hour and a half)

 

Dinner

Beef chow mein (crockpot)

white rice (cup)

1/2 egg salad sandwich on one piece of honey wheat bread (better than wonderbread which was the other option)

 

Metrics:

Calories - 2,221 (89%)

Carbs - 308.64g (123%)

Protein - 123.39g (66%)

Fat - 69.31g (84%)

 

I'm getting there, first time over on the carbs, I could have been closer to my goal if I didn't eat that piece of bread (would have dropped 70 carbs lol)

It is hard to get to that protein unless I'm having some awesome pound-o-chicken on my own or bbq...

[BlamedCat]

Share those strategies to up the carbs without going to grains!

 

I don't wanna strand too far from carbohydrates and/or normal & social eating because, you know... How do I explain this?

 

I have a friend who went on a diet prescribed by a diet specialist physician. That's not the doctor who specializes in nutrition, but the one who specializes in getting people to lose a lot of weight. It involved pills to supress apetite and... low carb eating. I remember when we went out to celebrate the end of the school semestre and she had a hamburger without the bun, and a caipirinha instead of beer, that sort of thing. It workes wonders, she lost a lot of weight. Then the diet was over and she started eating normally. It wasn't even outrageous or anything, just normal. And back came the weight.

 

I don't want to fall in that trap. I think being careful now with what habits we can really sustain might pay off beautifully in the near as well as the far future...

Well, I think hitting up sweet potatoes should handle the carbs.  Though that'll drop the protein, if I add in some eggs, that'll kick it up a notch, but I have to watch the fat.  Eh, it's really just going to take some experimenting at this point.

 

Hmm, well to be honest, "normal & social eating" is what you make of it.  When you tell me what she ate, that doesn't strike me as odd lol.  Sure the first couple of times I asked for a burger without a bun, I got odd looks, but oh well, their loss.

 

As for your friend... the pills to suppress hunger worry me... and see, even I did the low carb diet and I lost 50 lbs back in high school when I was doing it.  It was fun and I ate a lot of delicious food... then I got off of it, I didn't slowly introduce things back into my diet... I just dropped it and my body freaked out and I gained all the weight and more back.  I really think, with any lifestyle change, you have to ease back into 'normal' eating.  At least, take your time slowly introducing things (the key is SLOWLY), and see how your body handles it.  If you start gaining weight, throw that out and find an alternative, ya know?  That's just from my experience though, so I can't give any  medical or diet advice.

 

Yes, it's all about sustaining and eating habits now.  Losing things slowly at a solid pace is far better than losing them rapidly (now if it naturally happens rapidly, then yay).

[Fonzico]

I can see how it would be difficult to get that much protein in! Have you tried making scotch eggs before? You just hard boil some eggs, and then wrap them in your choice of sausage and bake. Total protein bombs. And you can cook up a batch that'll last for about 5 days in the fridge, so makes for an easy to grab snack or meal enhancer This is more or less how I make them:

[BlamedCat]

I can see how it would be difficult to get that much protein in! Have you tried making scotch eggs before? You just hard boil some eggs, and then wrap them in your choice of sausage and bake. Total protein bombs. And you can cook up a batch that'll last for about 5 days in the fridge, so makes for an easy to grab snack or meal enhancer This is more or less how I make them:

I have never heard of these.... oh. my. word. <drools>  I've never had those... I want those.. now!  (and I will totally adjust other things to compensate for the 'fat')

[Tateman]

I like it.  I've been talking to my wife about getting some trainer sessions at the gym. (She actually brought it up )  They are just expensive, and the smallest package they have is like 5 half hour training sessions.  I told her we should go and talk to them.  maybe we can split them up between us both or something.

 

While I cringe at the whole "low fat" stuff too, it's probably good to shake things up every now and then.  The doctors have my wife doing all the non fat type eating too.  

[BlamedCat]

I like it.  I've been talking to my wife about getting some trainer sessions at the gym. (She actually brought it up )  They are just expensive, and the smallest package they have is like 5 half hour training sessions.  I told her we should go and talk to them.  maybe we can split them up between us both or something.

 

While I cringe at the whole "low fat" stuff too, it's probably good to shake things up every now and then.  The doctors have my wife doing all the non fat type eating too.  

Yeah, if you talk to them, they should be able to help you out there.  I know our gym does a payment play for memberships.  I suppose it really depends on what the trainer wants to do and what the gym lets him/her do.  Btw, that's awesome that your wife brought it up

 

Yeah, that's why I'm keeping an open mind.  I figure I can just adjust my eating to drop the fat from some food things so I can enjoy it elsewhere, so far so good.  Like I said before, the worst that could happen is it not work and I get to go back to trying something else.  It's nice to say that I've lost the weight, so I know I can do it again lol.

Btw, I know weight isn't a determining factor and all, but I did weigh myself today and I am down to 238, so after four days of trying to hit those metrics, something is clicking. (and I'm doing it without using non-fat stuff).

[Tateman]

That is awesome

 

I know for me, I wasn't really looking for much with the trainer.  I really just want to start something like stronglifts, and have them help me in making sure I have proper form, and am using everything properly.  Though I suppose I could just go into it all open minded, and follow whatever they tell me

[BlamedCat]

Hey guys!!! Go check out Joy's challenge thread and show her some support, please

http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/51814-the-Joys-of-pain

[Tateman]

Hey guys!!! Go check out Joy's challenge thread and show her some support, please

http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/51814-the-Joys-of-pain

I was going to ask if she had one up yet

[BlamedCat]

Tuesday Recap (Day 2)

Breakfast

Brown Rice Protein smoothie with almond milk and zeal (now I'm out of Zeal lol oh well)

 

Snack1

Smokehouse blue diamond almonds 1oz  w/ 2tbs Maranatha almond butter

 

Lunch

Red Beans and Sausage (revisited with turkey sausage and bell peppers and spinach and kale cooked in)

 

Snack2

Cascadian Farm Organic dark chocolate coconut protein granola

Nature Valley oats 'n dark chocolate protein crunchy granola

Umpqua Oats Kick Start Oatmeal

 

Dinner (after workout)

Two egg salad sandwiches & almost a pound of homemade grilled chicken

 

Metrics:

Calories - 2,571 (103%)

Carbohydrate - 252.45g (101%)

Protein - 203.87g (108%)

Fat - 94.5g (114%)

The irony is that I'm certain I was on mark with the fat here.  Joy used 6 whole eggs and 6 egg whites for her egg salad this time.  I just didn't have a way of putting in the recipe, so with everything else... yay for getting close.  Though, I don't think I'm gonna eat that much chicken in one sitting again lol.  I need to space things out a bit.

 

Workout

Today was my true physical assessment, we tested all the things!  Now, I was working on form and trying to do things right, so I wasn't counting a lick of this (that's the trainer's job)  so here's how it went down.  Basically, everything after the warm-up was in continuous fashion, enough rest to keep going, but not enough to cool down.  There's going to be a lot of information given here, so I don't blame you if you gloss over it.

 

1. He had me warmup on the Stairstepper.......... I did 10 min of that at a decent pace, climbed 30 levels by the time I was ready to stop.  My knee was hurting every so many steps, but I worked through it.  I think he wants me to do this so that it builds up the ligaments and such and works it out so he can put me through squats hell or something lol.  (he apparently LOVES squats) which I have no problem with.

2. We did measurements, all we were focusing on were the hips and waist, I'll measure the rest of things at home.

3. We did planks.  First was traditional plank on elbows... he made me a deal, if I broke the minute mark, he'd let me rest lol.  He also stressed BREATHING.  I already have an issue with breathing with my narrow windpipe, but he explained if you don't breath deep and slow your body will start to react, it will think it's going into arrest and start engaging all sorts of other things and you will tire out faster.  If you breath deeply and in a rhythm then you will relax your body and allow those muscles needed for the exercise to work as intended.  I managed a minute (new PR), then we rested and he had me do it again.  He wanted me to push myself till I collapsed (easy enough, I do this on my own so yay).

4. We did side planks.  My right side was decent.  However, when doing my left side, my shoulder kept giving out, the odd part is that it's my right shoulder that usually causes issues in lifting, not sure what's up there.

5. Then we switched to squats.  He LOVES squats and since Joy won't let him make her do them (she does lunges instead) he's going to take it out on me haha!  He was checking my form, said things like "I want you to stick your chest out like you're going to take a hit from a 400 pound gorilla.  Now you're not going to be able to stop that gorilla, but you want to at least look him in the eyes and see it coming."  And then "I want you to go down and back, not down, and not back, but down AND back."  So he had me do a number of normal squats, the he had me look up at some point high on the wall and do them, then he had me widen my stance a couple of times.  I teased him saying he was making me do a sumo squat to which he calmly replied "no, this is a sumo squat" and promptly demonstrated it... to which I conceded the point.  Then he had me doing squats and lifting my toes up as I came up, so all my weight was on my heels.  Now, here I had a problem.  I kept rocking back off balance haha.  He said that was normal, but I knew it was also because of my shoes (my running shoes are designed like a water bed, they rock with your pressure) so I kicked them off lol and finished things right.  Then he had me do  squats and on the up, hike a knee (knee highs) and basically do a crunch standing.  I did this a bit alternating back and forth.

6. Then we did backward lunges. He said we wouldn't be doing forward lunges unless we were going somewhere, so backward lunges it was going to be!  He also said that it is easier to do a backward lunge the further back you go, your balance becomes an issue at that point, but that was okay.  I managed with those for awhile, then he added the knee high, again focusing on doing the standing crunch type thing and exhaling.

All throughout this he was checking to see how I was doing, making sure I wasn't overdoing it, gauging my level of ease, etc.  Hew as also making sure I grabbed water inbetween sets lol (since I forget).  We also talked about balance.  He said that everyone in the gym needed to work on their balance and that was one of the niches that he wants to focus on.  It makes sense really, people come in there to go lift heavy weight or run for miles and miles, but how often do they focus on balance? (unless they're yoga fans)

7. We did Hand Touch Plyometrics. I had to look this one up to find a name for it.  Basically, he had me get in push-up position with my hands out wider than my shoulders.  Then I had to reach over and touch the back of my hand and alternate and do as many as I could in 20 seconds. I did this for three sets.  He called me up to the assessment sheet to show me how I was doing on those.  First set was 30, he said that was high above average, then he expected a sharp decline, which I ended up doing 21, which was average, then the said my third set was 24, which was again above average, he was pleased with what I was doing.

8.  We checked my heart rate. At this point, I made a comment about my heart beating out of my chest and he dragged me over to a treadmill and had me hold my hands on the sensor.  We ended up talking to a guy running on the treadmill beside me.  He was a beast of a guy and very friendly.  My heart rate was at 160 when we got over there and he was like "Man that's like a pilot pulling 6 G's" so he and Cody joked about calling me "Pilot Chris" lol.  Then we got to talking about pilot training while Cody was waiting for my heart rate to get down.  Once it was at 145 we went back to work.  I need to find this guy in the gym next time and actually introduce myself and make a friend, he was unexpectedly cool.

9. We did push-ups.  To end the assessment, he had me get down and do as many push-ups to failure (sound familiar?) haha.  I didn't keep track of these but I did them truly to failure... then he had me do two more sets.  On the last set I distinctly remember doing three and on the third one, I couldn't get my arms to straighten out lol.

10.  After this, he said we were done, but asked me how I was doing mentally and physically this time.  I told him I could do more mentally... physically, I was wondering why my arms weren't working.  He laughed and called me over to put my pin in to verify that I had showed up for the workout or in his words "so that you can prove you survived the workout".  Then he sent me back to cool down 4 min on the stairs and 4 min on the treadmill.

 

Last words we shared yesterday:

Me: "Hey, I guess me working out for the past year or so has really helped me at least be average eh?, so it was a good thing."

Cody: "yeah, actually above average."

Me: "Hah, above average okay."

Cody: As he was walking away, "Actually highly above average!"

 

I thought he was just pumping me up for the next session on Thursday, but Joy told me that he NEVER compliments here like that.  He tells her she's doing good and exactly where she is, so apparently he wasn't buttering me up, now I'm even more excited.

 

It was a good workout and I'm sore all over now (today, wednesday).  Btw, it feels weird that I mentally caught myself feeling like this week JUST started now that I've had my workout. (started in a good way, not in a 'monday' way).

 

Btw, I'm thinking of telling him, scratch that Tough Mudder idea... change it to American Ninja Warrior... that's more where my heart lies and one thing for certain I'd love to do on a bucket list one day.

[Fonzico]

That sounds like an awesome workout/benchmark setting - I like this guy's style exercise-wise, if not diet, at least! Great job, enjoy those DOMS!

[darkfoxx]

^ what she said!

[BlamedCat]

That sounds like an awesome workout/benchmark setting - I like this guy's style exercise-wise, if not diet, at least! Great job, enjoy those DOMS!

^ what she said!

Thanks!  Yeah, I'm really enjoying it. He never raised his voice, he spoke honestly and encouragingly, but with that tone of 'you are going to do this'.  As for the diet, the metrics seem to be working and I think that's all he's concerned about, he didn't even ask me if I had been doing it, so it feels more like a "this is what I think will work for you, but you can take it or leave it".  He told Joy he's 90% sure it'll help if I stick with it.  So we shall see.  I certainly feel like I have more energy and don't feel bad (as long as I avoid the majority of things I've been avoiding... these granola things are tolerable.)

[Laureleye]

Very interesting challenge.  What your trainer has you doing sounds pretty good.  I hope the metrics work so you can show off all the muscles you've been building up.

[BlamedCat]

Very interesting challenge.  What your trainer has you doing sounds pretty good.  I hope the metrics work so you can show off all the muscles you've been building up.

Yep, I'm at the mercy of someone else lol, scary!

I'm curious to see what he has me doing tomorrow.  That'll be the real test.  Hehe, I hope so!  Would be nice to show some muscles off

[Tateman]

Honestly, sounds like you have a good trainer

 

Nice job on the workout.