Day 20: Intermediate Goal In Reach. Down Over 15 Pounds This Month

Feeling good today. I went out last night and got my drink and dance on. Yes, I know you really shouldn't drink on a fitness program but I do not drink often and I wanted to less loose a little bit. Even had half of an omelete early in the morning after the club. This morning I had a big cardio workout with 67 minutes on the stairmaster (burned 840 calories) followed by 500 crunches and a light lower body workout. Weighed in at 204.4 pounds today so I am officially past the 15 pound weight loss mark for the month. My intermediate weight loss goal of sub-200 pounds (199.9 pound will do) is in striking distance. I expect to hit it sometime this coming week. My clothes are feeling looser and I am gaining my confidence back. My mindset has started to change were I do not crave junk food anymore. I would always tell my friends that it takes about 3 weeks into a fitness program to break that junk food craving. I just have no desire for burgers, pizza or fried chicken or even my fave ice cream. Cool! Seeing the progress in my weight loss program now means more and more to me and is definitely worth more than some crappy junk food. This morning the first thought I had was: "I can't wait until I get into the gym today." When I first started this program at the beginning of the month I was not excited about the gym but now as I see and feel the progress, the big positive change in my body, I want to press forward even harder. Working out is easier in terms of motivation and my diet is finally coming together.

Day 18: I am so excited today

After dealing with a lot of drama last night, I was really excited to go to the gym and workout this morning. Got there at 7:30am and banged out a 2 hour workout. I looked on the scale and found out that I was down to 206.8 pounds for a weight loss of 12.6 pounds in just 18 days. My ultimate goal is to get down to my ideal weight of 185 pounds but I have set an intermediate target of 200 pounds. I find that when you have a lot of weight to lose simply targeting your ultimate goal weight can be mentally tough as often it is so far away that it can get frustrating as the weight comes off more slowly down the road. Intermediate targets set up short term goals that keep me excited about sticking with my program. I liked the number 200 because mentally I like being sub-200. Everytime I hear someone is obese they are throwing out 200 or 300 pound plus type numbers. Plus, for me every 5 pound loss below 200 pounds brings dramatic results in how I look so being less than 7 pounds from the immediate target is very encouraging.

Day 16 of the Challenge

Weighed in at 211.2 pounds so I am down over 8 pounds so far. I was sick with the flu but still managed to go to the gym and do 45 minutes of cardio on the stair climber and 500 crunches. Didn't have much energy left after that to do much weight-lifting so I bailed out of the gym. I have been reading a lot about bodybuilding online which has encouraged me to keep going after looking at the great physiques out there. I am still dreaming of the sub-200 pound goal. That is when every 5 pound loss makes a dramatic difference. Right now, I can hardly see my progress but I know I am going in the right direction.

First Blog Weigh In

Finally took my first weigh in and it's 213.6 pounds. When I started this program on Dec. 1, 2009, I weighed in at 219.4 pounds so I am down 5.8 pounds in 2 weeks. I am sort of disappointed in myself because I have not been focusing on eating the right foods and I feel my progress should have been better. But, I know this is a marathon and not a sprint so I have time to have better results if I can be more disciplined. I have to keep focusing in my mind on how I want to look and have that image constantly on my mind. When I started my first weight loss program I had a poster on my wall which had before and after photos of ordinary people who dramatically changed their bodies over a 12 week program. It was a big motivator to look at that every day because I knew they were not better than me and if they could do it I could do it too. I just have to remember a line from fitness expert Bill Phillips: "Half of getting what you want is knowing what you have to give up in order to get there." If I want to have a six pack again, I have to give up the crap food. Do I want a six pack or a slice of pizza or cake? I obviously want the six pack but I have to see that image of a six pack the next time I reach for the junk food.

13th Day Into My Program

I started this program on December 1, 2009 with a start weight of 219 pounds. This is far from the 180 pounds I weighed when I got married in just June of last year which is when I took the photo on this page. I have been consistent with working out which so far is about 4 days of week and about 1.5 hrs to 2 hr workouts with a minimum of 30 minutes of cardio. The diet part is what is killing me. My step-daughter had her 6th birthday yesterday and I did eat cake and ice cream and I ate Roundtable pizza. It all looked so darned good.  I am seeing a million fast food ads and I want to try everything. I swear that every time I start a diet it seems the number of fast food commercials on tv tripples. I had two slices of left over pizza today. I know that proper diet is the most important part of a fitness program. You can work out all you want but if you don't have your diet straight, you are doomed. I have to keep this mind and live it. I have to remember that having six pack abs is more satisfying that a slice of pizza could ever be.