One week in!!!

It has been about a week since I have really started working hard in the gym. I regret it but I have made some excuses the past few days. I was REALLY sore for the next few days. I used that as my excuse when I could have easily went to the gym, did a good portion of cardio and tried to warm up those muscles good enough to lift. I shouldn't have made excuses for myself and it makes me mad that I missed the opportunity to at least burn some good calories. While I was being a lazy ass at home I was also stuffing my face. Not over doing it, but I was still eating without burning. I was not always eating healthy either. I trick myself into thinking that I needed a coke or a burger every once in a while. That is not always bad either. You have to treat yourself sometimes. Its almost like a reward for being healthy the first part of the week. I have read the book body for life and it mentions that you need to get something out of working so hard. You give yourself a "free day" where for that day you can eat anything that you want. Also it mentions that if you go on a "diet" you will fail 99% of the time. The word diet makes you think negative. So instead of going on a "diet" and I am on a "body transformation".

In my last post I promised that I would share some of my workouts and measurements. First some measurements.

ARMS: 19 in
NECK: 19 in
CHEST: 52in
BELLY: 52in
WAIST: 47in

GOALS: Weigh 240 by the end of the summer. (Aug. 31, 2012) Have 21 inch biceps. Wear a size 38 pants. Look good with my shirt off. Eat more healthy every day except for my one free day. Stop drinking pop on a daily basis.

Now for my workouts. I hate cardio with a passion. Some people dislike it. I cant explain my hatred for it. Obviously the reason I am the way I am is because of this. What I have decided to do is kinda leave that part up to you. There are plenty of ways to get cardio whether it be playing basketball with friends, riding a bike, or running ladders. I love anything that can take my mind of the cardio part of things. Playing any sport is the best way for me to get through a good cardio workout. If that is something that you can do, then riding a stationary bike or an elliptical is the best things you can do. You also have the treadmill if you like that. I find walking easy, but it is not high intensity enough for me to get the calorie burn that I would like. After I get warmed up and get a good cardio burn in I try and lift a little every time. I mostly focus on upper body and then lower body every other day. My upper body workout goes like this:

TRICEP PULL DOWNS: 3 SETS 10 REPS (LAST SET TO BURNOUT)
BENCH PRESS: 3 SETS 1O REPS
DUMBBELL CURLS: 3 SETS 15 REPS (LAST SET TO BURNOUT)
SEATED ROWS: 4 SETS 15 REPS
PLANKS: 4 SETS 30 SECONDS
SIDE PLANKS: 4 SETS 30 SECONDS
FRONT RAISES: 3 SETS 10 REPS
SIDE RAISES: 3 SET 10 REPS
SKULL CRUSHERS: 3 SETS 15 REPS

And the lower body:

CALF RAISES: 4 SETS 15 REPS (LAST SET TO BURNOUT)
LEG EXTENSIONS: 4 SETS 15 REPS (LAST SET TO BURNOUT)
SQUATS: 3 SETS 8-6 REPS
LEG PRESS: 3 SETS 10 REPS
LUNGES: 4 SETS 10 EACH LEG
LEG CURLS: 3 SETS 10 REPS
STRAIGHT LEG DEAD LIFT: 3 SETS 10 REPS

There ya have it. Feel free to take anything off my little workouts and add anything to it or take somethings away. I am always open to suggestions. Thanks for reading.

Update: I am only down one pound after the first shit week. I am going to work harder this week for sure.

Just getting started!!!

     Hey everybody, this blog is going to be simple. I am trying to lose weight and need some motivation. I think that if I put my ideas on a blog and can see myself change physically then it will help me succeed and hopefully other people as well.

     I have kept myself pretty fit for most of my life. I got married and at that point I let myself go a little. I stopped working out daily, started eating like shit, and sure enough I gained weight. I feel like I blinked and all of a sudden I was 300 pounds. Its been 7 years since I have been fit enough to feel comfortable in my own skin. I hate who I have become. I hate that I am fat. I try and start every day off right, but when I look in the mirror I just get down on myself. When I get depressed I eat more shitty food for comfort. I need to change the way I think about myself and the negative things I say about myself.

     Basically what I am gonna do it tell you what I am doing and see if I can make it work. I have only been working out for 2 days and I am finding that a lot of my motivation is coming by way of music. In the past I figured that it helped, but what the gym has playing is always lame radio edited pop music that is REALLY main stream. I have always been someone who does not like the main stream music as much. I have found that dubstep style of music is very motivational to me. If I crank that in my headphones I am able to push myself like never before. Also, if I am having a down day and feeling like I dont want to go workout, I have found motivational videos on youtube.com that get me pumped up. You can search for just about anything.

     I have felt really good the past 2 days. I am excited to eat more healthy and workout during the day. You just have to get rid of the excuses. I have made those mistakes SOOO many times. I would hit the gym super hard one day, then be so sore and tired the next day I didnt go back and lose that momentum. Another mistake that I have made is I try and count on other people to help you. If you don't show that day then your letting that person down or vice versa. Don't count on anyone but yourself and you can succeed. I have also been injured from playing sports, lifting to heavy, and just old injuries kicking back up. You have to ease yourself back into working out. This being said, you have to still push yourself. I have been looking for something that is low impact because I am heavy set guy. Obviously the elliptical or bike would be the best for me. I am not a fan of treadmills anyways. I have been riding the bike for 45 minutes every day so far. My goal everyday is to not go under 90 rotations per minute. I plan to increase the time and intensity the better shape I get in. I have done small lifting programs that I write up myself alternating upper and lower body every other day.

     Later I will post my workouts that I do in detail and post my measurements for each body part. That way you can see my progress.