Week 28 Weigh-In

So, after 7 days of lowering sodium in my diet, I'm down to 205.7 and 36.75".  I'm happy with the results and will attempt to stick to it.  My first big goal is at 200 pounds.  Can't wait to see the scale read 199.

Week 27 Weigh-In

Better late than never, I suppose.

On Monday, I was back down to 209, but sticking at 38" stomach.  I had a long chat with some nice people on the internet (if you can believe that), and they made me really look at the sodium in my diet.  Since it makes you retain water, I'm going to cut sodium in my diet down to human levels and see what happens.  My goal is to stay as close to 2400mg a day as possible, but as long as I keep everything under 3000 it'll honestly be an improvement.

Already, I've noticed some significant results.  Today is Wednesday, and I'm back down around the lowest I've weighed during this whole thing and the smallest I've measured.  I'm down to 206.6 and 37".  Here's hoping the coming Monday will bring better results.

Starting Strength continues today.  Must do deadlifts.  Eek.

Learning As I Go

Recently, I posted my A-B-A split workout routine.  I'm going to go with a more traditional approach I've learned about, Starting Strength.  Starting Strength is a minimalistic approach to basic barbell training and centers around four main lifts.  Starting tomorrow, I'm hitting the gym and going with the following weekly set:

Practical Programming Novice Program:

Monday
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench press / Press (Alternating)
Chin-ups: 3 sets to failure or add weight if completing more than 15 reps

Wednesday
3x5 Squat
3x5 Press / Bench Press (Alternating)
1x5 Deadlift

Friday
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press / Press (Alternating)
Pull-ups: 3 sets to failure or add weight if completing more than 15 reps

(Taken from the Starting Strength wikia.)

As it stands, I can't even do one Chin-Up or Pull-Up.  The page says to stay away from assisted pull-ups and chin-ups, but I'm going to go with them anyway.  Perhaps on Monday, with my Weigh-In, I'll start including where I'm at with lifts.  Or maybe they'll be so pathetic I can't bare to put them on here.  We shall see.

Week 26 Weigh-In

210.1, 37.5" on my stomach.  Bullshit.

The only thing I can think of that may have caused this was the cheat day I had on Friday, but even then, I wasn't *that* far over my caloric budget.  Maybe I need to cut out cheat days altogether.  I'm sick of moving backwards.  I'm so sick of being stuck around 210.  I was down to 206 on Thursday.

I was going to head to the gym today and run or cycle or bench or SOMETHING, but now I'm having a really hard time getting off my ass to do anything.

Running!

Didn't do any leg presses or calf raises today.  Instead, I tried out a barbell squat, and DEAR GOD that thing is brutal.  Works everything below the belt and your core, basically.  I finished up the day with a good walk and felt like trying my hand at jogging once more, kept my form in mind as I went, and it felt great!  No knee pain at all!

I'm considering starting the couch 2 5k again.  Considering.

Workout Routines and Whatnot

I re-read my earlier posts and there was one about not wanting to go to a gym.  I want to say that I am loving my membership and am using the hell out of it, but I'm still wrapping my mind around what to do there.  I'm a fairly self-conscious person, so the simple act of grabbing a dumbbell is terrifying for me, especially since I'm starting with such small weights.  I am getting more comfortable with it, and can laugh at doing chest flys with 20 lb dumbbells while the woman next to me does the same thing with 25s.  She was a tiny thing.

Right now, my workout looks a little bit like this:

	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Week 1	A	Cardio	B	Cardio	A	Cardio	REST
	Cardio		Cardio		Cardio
Week 2	B	Cardio	A	Cardio	B	Cardio	REST
	Cardio		Cardio		Cardio

Workout A is Chest, Shoulders, and Arms.  Workout B is Back, Abs, and Legs.  It's working alright for me, but I'm still slacking on the cardio.  I've been spending time on the stationary cycle and trying to fit in 30 minutes a day (since the machines have a 30 minute time limit), but I find myself wussing out and quitting much earlier some days.  Today, for instance, I only did 15 minutes on the cycle.  Yesterday I did 10.

Part of the issue is that it is fairly boring.  Music helps but only so much.  Tomorrow is another day, though, and here's hoping I can push forward.  My arms and shoulders have been sore since Sunday, so I really did a number on them, but I didn't do nearly as much on Tuesday to my legs.  I guess I'm training under what I can lift on those.

My upper body is incredibly weak.  I'm struggling with 20 lb weights for pretty much everything with upper body, but I'm looking at sneaking in some leg work tomorrow and topping out the calf raise machine.

Week 25 Weigh-In

209.7.  I hit 209 even earlier in the week, but that was at a random spot in the day and didn't really mean anything.  This is a step in the right direction, but I am getting a little frustrated that the number on the ribbon measure isn't changing.  It's changing a little and moving around within an acceptable mark - I seem to have gained a quarter inch since last week - but I just want it gone!

I say this because if you're dieting and working out or planning to, you need to know that results take time.  If you're significantly overweight, like I was (and still am, really), then the weight will come off quickly at first.  But you're not going to have glorious abs and ripped biceps within a month.  I would like to have abs for the first time in my life.  That's one of my goals.  But now that I know what it takes to get them, I also know how much work it's going to be.  I'm not sure if I can make it, but I am certain that it won't happen before next year.