Maintaining the Status Quo, and the struggles of coming home.

Well this was my first week of coming back home from vacation. I must tell you now that I lost no weight, but also did not gain any. This week was rough, felt like I was getting caught up at work, and needed to spend more time there. Workouts suffered and diet was not as good as it has been. But hey this is just a speed bump. I am allowing this one week of grace, and working on a new plan of action for next week.

Sometimes before we move forward we need to pause, so I am enjoying this moment of pause and reflection. Then I am going to get back to the rebuilding project that is me.

The On Going Awesomeness

So I was away from my routine for a week. I have to admit I was not just scared, but terrified to have a meltdown and just cheat because I was able to. So I did what I do in any situation that is far too much for me to handle alone. I prayed. Prayed for discipline with my food intake, prayed for perseverence in the wanting to blow things off and sleep in, prayed for a desire to do the hard work even if it meant being inconvienced a bit, and prayed that guilt and shame would not be a part of my week if I had a moment where I ate something I shouldn't have. My prayers were answered in all the areas listed.

While at camp I was happy to find healthy options for food, and a resolve to stay on track. My friends helped me in this area by encouraging me in my choices, and really making me feel so awesome for making the tough decisions. When I ate something that was not on my list of best choices, it was not the end of the world, but just a treat. I had forgotten what that was like. I used to just go for what "felt right." Well I can tell you this I feel alot better now that I am making wise decisions than I ever felt making "emotional" decisions with food.

Most days I started my day with 4:30am work outs. This was focused energy time, and was so good. Throughout the day I walked for the most part. And at camp that walking included some awesome hills. All I am going to say is this, if everytime I took the stairs I got to stare out at an ocean view, I would be the stair master. This week was full of activity and movement so I was happy about that.

Well literally while still driving home, my trainer Bonny called me to remind me of our 11:30 am session Saturday and my heart kind of sunk. She really likes to kill me, and I knew it was going to hurt. Also I needed to see my friend the scale. All I wondered was did I plan well enough, did I work hard enough, and did my small amounts of bad food derail my success?

Well I walked into the gym. Before my session started I wanted to weigh in. That's my deal, I hate false readings after you have sweated out all sorts of water. So I stepped up, and began where I weighed last. And then started the uneasy process of sliding the little weight. Instead of going right I was going left indicating a loss. I slid slowly soaking up the joy, and stopped at 3 lbs of loss for the week.

I was so happy, I felt like I earned that one. That was my plan, and this is my life, and I am strong enough to succeed at it. So its not the most weight that I have lost, but it was the most important, because I worked my plan on this one. Nobody had to push me, no one made me chose the right things to eat, and sleeping in always sounds good, but I put my foot down and stopped making excuses, and it worked.

Bonny was unaware of this all going on, and when she came up to me for my session she told me about this new contest that the gym was running between now and late August. It is a contest that tracks the greatest amount of body fat percentage lost. Winner gets $500 dollars. Their trainer gets $250. Bonny asked if I was ready to win her some money because I was the horse that she was chosing. I was flattered and accepted, meaning more workouts, increased intensity, and a stricter diet, but I know I can do it.

Due to the contest rules we had to re-weigh me, and take my measurements to see where I am starting and where I end up at. Bonny was not ready for this information apparently, because as we started the process her head exploded. "Juan do you know that you have lost 20 lbs in 23 days? " Me - "Actually 20.5 lbs Bonny." Then we took the measurements and I am losing inches everywhere, so I am like 11 inches less Juan overall. Lastly was the body fat % gauge. I have lost 8% of my body fat percentage inside of the last month. I almost cried. That is not just amazing, but life changing amazing. I am so far from where I am going, but so far from where I was. I cannot wait to see me at the finish line.

If these blogs can show you anything, its that there is no situation that is hopeless, and change is never too far away. Thank you for your thoughts, and prayers, and support, they make all the difference.

Regards,

Juan

(Apparently the tears that I did not shed at the gym I saved for this blog, because I would be lying if I said I haven't been crying as I wrote this.)

Busting Loose

I feel like busting loose, I wanna be busting loose. So if you have ever had a weight issue you understand the immeasurable joy that accompanies suddenly loose clothing. All I am going to say is its loose for a reason people. There is progressively less and less of me to fill them.

Now this week has not been easy. I am prepping for vacation, and working alot more than usual attempting to have all my bases covered. The were only so many hours in the day, and at times my workouts suffered. Hey just being honest here. My focus was to ensure that my diet did not suffer, I am like water I will settle at the lowest point if you let me. So I built a dam, a dam of good hearty, wholesome well balanced meals and snacks. And surprise surprise the dam plan worked (sorry I couldn't help myself.)

Got some good work outs in this week, and more activities than structured workouts at times, but I looked for ways to keep moving.

Well here is the news for the week:

Week 2 weight loss: -6.5lbs

Total loss to date: -17.5lbs

This week is vacation, with new challenges, and new opportunities for success. My goal for the week is to maintain or lose between 5-7lbs. No coming back with excess baggage atleast. But I plan to walk daily, do my ab work out as much as it is like my least favorite thing to do, and lunges because who needs to walk? Other than that I plan on goofing around with 150 high schoolers, so that should burn pleanty of calories.

Wish me luck. I am just wanting to keep the momentum going.

A weighty subject.

First and foremost I am sorry for not posting more last week. Too busy with work, and what not. I would love to say that I was perfect last week, but I was not. I was human. Ate great for the most part, well balanced, and well timed meals. Had a few meals that were more of an indulgence type thing, but even then small portions, and no where near what my diet used to be.

Work outs were awesome I can feel things coming back to me more and more as I work out. Alot of the goal right now is to get my cardio going again, and that is getting more consistent, and less challenging, so naturally I am upping the intensity slightly. Going longer some days, going faster some days, going at intervals in order to keep things fresh. I especially like that cardio interval training, its fun. Weights have been great and it feels invigorating to have muscles being worked in new ways. My trainer is awesome, and really pushes me. I like the take no prisoners and leave no BS excuses in the gym approach we are taking. We know my limits and we push right up against those. She likes that I am in that gym even when you can tell that I am tired, or would rather be somewhere else. Once I hit the door, the light goes on and its time to punch my time clock, because I am there to work.

Well here is the part that everyone gets their panties in a bunch for.

Weight Loss for Week 1: - 11lbs

(I know that alot of that is water weight, but man that was a fun moment on the scale.)

So I am going to keep trucking, and I am sure that I will get where I need to be. Thanks for all the support guys and gals.

And the beat goes on.

So I am happy to say that things are looking up. I am working on pushing myself to new limits, and not getting discouraged by some of the exercises that used to be easy being rediculously harder now. But I just wanted to say thank you to those of you that have been praying for me, and giving me encouraging words prior to this journey, and especially since I have started. You have no idea how awesome you guys make me feel.

Little update:

I cheated and got on a scale yesterday, ( I was curious) and what did I see? I have lost 10lbs since Thursday. Yes I am eating, and staying hydrated, but the eating right and excercising is really going well.

Just wanted to give to guys a heads up.

This is what my workout schedule is starting to look like as it all comes together.

Monday: Cross-fit class, and cardio

Tuesday: Strength Training (upper body) and cardio

Wednesday: Strength Training (Lower body) and cardio

Thursday: Cross-fit class, and cardio

Friday: Cardio, and nothing else

Saturday: Bootcamp, and training session to follow* this is for this week only, I may have to change that around as bootcamp leaves me crying for my mommy ;)

Sunday: Strength Training (full body) and cardio.

Gotta get out there and get after it. There are not quick fixes that leave lasting results. My body is going to be molded and reshaped, and that takes time.

So to take a quote from my friend Cootie's genius T-Shirts. I am going to "Wake Up & Rage!" the contexts for the usage is different, but I think that it typifies how I feel. I am going to attack this head on, everyday, and reach my goals.

Boot Camp, and the Breaking Down of Barriers

So I have noticed a few things about me this week about myself. 1.) I love me. 2.) I am alot stronger willed than I give myself credit for. 3.) Pain is my friend, and it looks like we are going to be BFFs. 4.) Eating right for me is not an issue, it was the whole caring enough to do so.

These things were little mini break throughs for me, that I had forgotten over the years of not working out. It is like an old muscle car, that people let sit out in the sun, and just waste away. Well I am revamping, retooling and rebuilding me.

I am looking forward to next week's weigh in, got a glimpse today after bootcamp, and I like the direction I am heading. So next Thursday pre-workout I will scale and see what this first week of training has brought about.

Not working out is harder than working out.

So this week I have just gotten back into working out. Despite being sore at times, I feel better, better energy, mojo, vibe, call it what you want but soreness is an old friend. One that I hadn't seen in quite some time. But like any old friend we are playing fast catch up.

Here is how the week has played out so far:

Monday: Walked for 45 mins at a good pace, just to get my sea legs back.

Tuesday: Walked for 45 mins again and also did some sit ups (not a fan)

Wednesday: Walked for 45 mins again (creating a trend?)

Thursday: First Training Session: Did some resistence training on arms, chest, legs, back. Just trying to figure out what works for me. Also came up with a meal plan to lose the weight that I want. In order to facilitate my progress I enrolled in a program that gives me a training session each week, a crossfit class *P90X style Monday-Friday, and an hour long bootcamp on Saturday mornings.

All in all I am just done with making excuses, because getting fit, despite any pain, is going to feel so good. Because it means that I am caring about myself enough to take action.

The Gravity of the Situation

So last week was my last real week of letting my body own me. I am prepping to do this Biggest Loser competition at my apartment so I wanted to take all the precautions to make sure that I was not setting myself up for a let down.

Went to the doctor for a check up, everything checked out good, solid BP, good lungs, joints all working fine, and cholesterol not an issue. That was all the good news, the bad news is unless I lose the weight all of those things are going to become issues.

So I had fun, I enjoyed my weekend, and on Monday I went and enrolled in Pure Fitness, they are the ones doing the contest, and I got the lay of the land. We took my weight and assessed my goals, and they estimated my body fat % and we set up our first training session.

Here is the ugly truth:

Initial Weight: 358lbs

Goal Weightloss: 138lbs

Initial Body Fat %: 41%

I really didn't post initially because I was embarassed by the numbers. But I put them up now, because I am better than the numbers, the numbers don't own me. I am willing to do the hard work, and I know that I will get to where I want to be.

So wish me luck, and enjoy the ride, I am sure that this is going to be a Summer of growth (personal growth, just no more physical growth)

The Biggest Loser!!!!!

So I came home last night after watching the Suns beat the Lakers, and found a couple of flyers on my apartment door. 1.) Apparently I need to put my fire extinguisher out side of my door for it to be refilled. 2.) My apartment complex is having a Biggest Loser competition sponsored by Pure Fitness.

This was great great news to me. I am already getting back into healthy mode, but a little 6 weeks of competitive tracking and training with a certified trainer doesn't seem like a bad idea to me. Here is the funny thing, I don't care about the prize. I mean a free gym membership for a year is great, but my company already pays for my gym. What I want is the structure, the accountability, and the competition. I am fully getting back in shape for myself, but why can't I have a little bit of fun while doing it?

Initial weigh in is this weekend. I will do the group training there on Mondays, Saturdays, and Sundays, but do my own work out at Lifetime Fitness on Tuesdays-Thursdays, (hey I have to get the company's moneys worth.) But I am so excited to have this just pop up like this. Its funny how when you put a plan into action God can choose to bless it, and present an even better option for you.

Rededicated

So I am going to keep this short and sweet. No excuse for the lapse in time, but also no beating myself up about it. I am back, and I am going to attack this weight thing from the right perspective. I am worth the hard work that its going to take to get where I want to be. So I am just going to do what I known to do in these situations, and that is to fully imerse myself in the project at hand. In this case getting back to being healthy.

Goals for the week: 1.)Recreating my weekly menu to support successful weight loss. 2.) Get into the gym no less than 5 days this week. 3.) Don't settle for second place in my own life.

I'm Back!!!!

As some of you have read I have been sick essentially the entire year so far, and as such I have been bad about staying on task with my weight loss. Well I am officially 100% again, and am looking forward to getting back to the gym on a very serious level. I am not looking forward to the pain that is in front of me, but I am looking forward to the end result that I am hoping for; a leaner and meaner me, not to mention regaining some of the years that being out of shape has probably taken off of my life expectancy.

Loss for the last week was 2lbs

Goal for this week:

Eat right

Work out 6 Days this week (No excuses)

Stay the course!

Reload

So, as you all know last week was a little bit of a let down for me. Sorry about the boo hooing by the way. This week has been a much better change of pace. I am still not 100% over being sick, but working out has been a much easier thing since I am not so depleated from battling full blown sickness.

Food is begining to be less of a pain in the arse, and I am getting more accustomed to snacking throughout the day to limit my big meals, and spread out the fuel so to speak.

Total loss for this week is 3lbs.

Goal for next week is 5lbs.

Breaking Down a breakdown.

Well, I am officially going on the record as this past week has been more than I would like to have borne. This is going on two plus weeks of being sick, whether its been a cold or an ear infection or whatever other random crap my body seems to be throwing at me, I am just so very much done with being sick.

I think that the reason that my body is going all haywire is that it literally has forgotten how it feels to work out. No longer is it accustomed to being torn down daily and asked to regenerate over night, it has been in full blown "what the F?" mode. This is the hardest pill I think that I have ever had to swallow, I have been forced to see that I totally fell off of the wagon so to speak. Where as I used to be this fit, high intensity workout machine that yearned to be stretched and broken, and rebuilt I am now this out of shape tattered shamble of what I once was. The best analogy I can come up with is I feel like a ghost town. Where once stood a prospering city of gold and silver, now there is only dust and tumbleweeds.

Okay now that you know that I totally suck at being sick, and apparently love to spin tales of despair when I am not feeling a 100%, I will tell you this. Me week sucked I hit a physical and emotional wall trying to work out while sick. I did not eat as well as I could, and my workouts lacked the heart that I have been showing in recent weeks. I lost 1 pound this week, and honestly it almost made me cry. Not because it was not what I wanted, not because I was ashamed that the weight was coming off slower than I thought it would, but because I hated what I was doing, and I was not committed to the task at hand like I had been, and I still lost a pound. Through all the emotions and doubts that continually invade my mind as I try to find out if I really have it in me to be healthy, its like my body is trying to show me that despite being sick and despite me not being completely on board this week it wants to get better, and I need to just keep trying, that time, and a lack of discipline got me into this mess, and only time and hard work is going to pull me out of this mess.

I am sorry that I cannot be inspiring this week, I wish that I had some great words of wisdom, but honestly its all that I can do today to share this past week's struggles. I hit a bump in the road, and I am sure that there are many to come in the future, but I will choose to persevere this time, the next time, and anytime that it all seems to damn tough, because I don't want this to be one of those things that you don't get done and say "oh well, maybe next time" this is my time, and my life, and I will not continue to get in the way of myself.

Again sorry for the bummer week, but hey I am sure that we've all had them.

Regards,
Juan

Body Revolt

This week can be summed up in one statement.

I caught a cold, it did not fight fair, I was a sack of uselessness, and ate some comfort foods that made me feel somewhat less crappy. I may not be able to consume orange juice for a while, as I must have been sponsored by the Florida Orange Growers with all the OJ that I was consuming. I did get in some work at the gym once I started feeling a bit better, but this week was essentially a wash.

Loss for the week -1lb

Goals for this week: 5lb loss or more

Food goals: Plan, prepare, and consume healthy meals and stick to my timelines for eating. No more late night snacks.

Weekly Update

Sorry about the late posting, but Monday was a beyond early start to the day. Grrrr.... ;) Anyways, this week has been okay as far as the weight loss has gone. It really has been a tale of positives and negatives. On the plus side of things, working out is easier each day in the fact that my body is getting used to fact that it is being asked to do more than to be a desk jockey all day long. My overall demeanor seems to be happier as I am more active, plus I am able to do the pants dance. (For those of you that have had weight to lose you know what I am talking about. Its that oh so welcome feeling of the pair of pants that used to be tight, now having new found freedom, as you continue to lose weight.)

On the negative side of things, food is still a challenge. I am really needing to buckle down, and get better at food preparation. There are no two ways about it. I am great at monitoring my intake when I do this, but man oh man when I eat out its like playing roulette. I am trying to make sure not to eat after a certain period in the day, and still figuring out this smaller meals throughout the day thing. I am so conditioned to be a time eater, rather than snacking as the day goes that I am having to relearn how to fuel my body. I am pleased to say that my water intake is up, along with my fruits and vegetables intake so my body is getting more good stuff and less crap. Oddly enough my body seems to like that. Also I did not get any bonus points for the beers that I had out on the town on the weekend. I need to remember that those are just empty calories. Bad Juan! Just setting myself up to have to do more work.

Well all in all not a horrible week, but some major improvement areas still exist.

Current loss for the week is -6 lbs

Goal for upcoming week is another 6+ lb loss.
Food Goal is just to continue to improve my eating habits. (No BEER Juan!!!!)

Well thanks for all the positive words and thoughts as I am going with this ongoing saga.

The Stumble At The Starting Line

So, this week has been difficult. I think that I am going to be fine in the long run, but it did not help having a birthday so close to the start of the New Year. People naturally indulge a little on their birthday, so I did not feel bad about the cake that I had, or the dinner that I ate with my dad before the Suns game. I had my last hoorah with alcohol for a while with my friends this weekend too. All things considered, I am encouraged by the changes in my diet overall, and can feel a difference in my body by giving it better fuel to burn.

Points of Interest:

Still looking for ideas and info on my diet, so anyone with information or recipes don't be shy.

Work out schedule is Sunday-Friday with an emphasis on cardiovascular training. Twice a days for the time being, as cardio is done in the early morning, and strength training is done after work. Hopefully this gets less painful as the pounds come off, but I am not going to lie, right now its a little daunting.

Food: I am trying to get in the habit of having good snacks around, and also meal planning for the week. I am going to have to get used to the 5 smaller meals versus the large 2 that has been the norm for me.

Results: -5 lbs for the week (less than I would like, but about where I figured for the birthday week.)

Goals for upcoming week: Consistency with the diet, continuing the workout, but trying to push myself more and more in my cardio. 5+ lbs weight loss this week.

Thanks for the support,

Juan