Day 61 - Trying out the treadmill

Today I thought I would give the treadmill a try. Just a little try, so it was only about 5 min. I've never really ever used the treadmill for my cardio workouts. My back isn't very partial to the pounding impact a treadmill gives. It didn't feel too bad though, and maybe next time I'll try 6 min. We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

I used the rest of my time at the gym to get a full HIIT workout on my wonderful ArcTrainer. I was pretty dead after the session today. It's amazing what that extra 5 min. on the treadmill took out of me.

Anyway, here's today's pics.

Day 61

Get your game face on!

Day 60 - New Clothes!

Today was my rest day, but I didn't do much resting! Been busy the whole day, but no workout. Went down to the farmer's market again and was happy to find that there was still one stand selling fresh green and red peppers.

I did some more shopping downtown with my gf (she got new workout sneakers) and then we went uptown to the big mall where I went shopping for new clothes. I've dropped about 15 lbs since Day 0 and the new jeans I picked up today were size 28, down from the 32's that I've been wearing that were hanging off of me. I'm almost thinking I should post my fat pant picture soon.

Dont' have much time right now since I'm heading out with some friends, so I'll just post today's pics.

Day 60

Get your game face on!

Day 59 - I Love Fridays

I love Fridays, well, minus the work related stuff I got dumped on me today. Something I wasn't planning on starting for another couple weeks has had its deadline pushed up and I need to finish it by next Wednesday. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get it done though, so I'm not really worried about it.

Today started off with a killer workout. I love Fridays because I know that since Saturday is my rest day, I can really push it. I altered my workout a bit today since I had some extra time so that I did a 10 min. warm-up of steady state cardio before I did my weight session. Once I finished my weights, I then went for an all out 30 min. HIIT session and man, did I really empty the tank on that one. It felt great. I was able to keep pushing right up to the end as I told myself in my head, "Push now, don't stop, rest tomorrow".

My usual workout is 30 min. HIIT followed by 35-40 min. of weights, but lately I think that my weights have been suffering since I wipe myself out on the HIIT. It generally is better to do your cardio after your strength training, but my gym is fairly busy and you have to reserve your cardio for 30 min slots, and that's the most you can reserve. I never like to lift weights cold, so I have to get about 10 min. warmup in first. But normally its hard to get a free machine just for 10 min. Today was an exception though, so I was lucky.

But the reason I love Fridays even more is that I know I get to spend the whole weekend with my girlfriend and neither one of us is working.

Some more catch up pics:

Day 12

Day 13

and today's pics:

Day 59

Get your game face on!

Day 58 - More Wii!

Just a quick entry today. Once again, my attempt at hitting the gym up for a short cardio session was pre-empted by pumping my fists and pounding the air on the Wii with my girlfriend. Played for over an hour this time and worked up an appetite for supper. Tomorrow my plan is to hit up the gym first thing in the morning early before my work since tomorrow evening is reserved for Friday socializing with my girlfriend's work friends.

Anyway, here's the catch up pics from Day 10 and 11:

Day 10

Day 11

Day 58

Get your game face on!

Day 57 - Goals, written and actual

Today my girlfriend and I had a little talk after our workout session and it got me to thinking about what my goals really are. As a engineering guy, numbers were initially a big part of my goals, what I had written down when I started. I like numbers. I really saw this whole body transformation process as a really big lab experiment, except that the sample size was one, my own body. So the daily photos, daily weigh ins, calorie counting is just data collection. Throw it into a big pile, examine it and determine what the results are. If they aren't quite what was expected, tweak, adjust, take notes, all the while still collecting the data.

I guess I really got caught up in all the numbers, the calculations, and the plotting of my progess graphs. These are the tangible results, the quantitative goals.

Ultimately, when I started this trek, it really wasn't about the numbers, it was really only about one thing, getting healthy. Well, plus the fact that I was really sucking wind when I played frisbee in the summer... I had a lot of bad habits that needed changing. I've done a pretty good job changing a lot of them. I no longer eat a whole box of crackers at a time. I no longer feel like I have to eat every last bit of food on my plate when I go out to eat. I actually eat meals now instead of just continuously snack on junk food. I'm eating a lot more fruits and vegetables. I have more energy during the day, and I don't crash and burn after the sugar rushes. I'm happier and more productive at work. I enjoy eating healthy now.

I know I wrote down overall health as one of my goals, but for a while I guess I forgot to even think about it. Now I have, and it feels good.

Anyway, back to the data collection portion!

Catch up pics:

Day 8

This is the day I accidentally smacked my camera onto the ground from the counter it was sitting on. It hasn't worked since...Thankfully, I had my girlfriend's on hand and have been using it since (thanks babe!)

Day 9

Day 57

Get your game face on!

Day 56 - Back on the Wii Workout

Today I was all set to go to the gym to get in a little cardio session, but it was raining out. I thought it was just a little drizzle, but when I was getting ready to leave, I realized it was an all out downpour. I don't have a car, so its still a 10 minute walk to get to the gym, and lately I've been battling a cough and cold, so I thought it was wiser to not go out and get soaked and cold. So, there I was, protein shake and banana all ready to go for my after workout meal, but me left with no workout at the gym.

I wasn't totally skipping out though, I decided to get back on to my Wii Workout! Yes, believe it or not, it is possible to work up a sweat playing video games. I put on my workout clothes and turned on Wii Sports Boxing and jumped around and punched the air for a good 40 min. Now mind you, it probably doesn't quite burn as much calories as that treadmill, but it seemed like a better alternative for me than heading out in a storm.

I spent a lot of tonight just cleaning up the apartment and making all my meals for tomorrow. Now its close to bed time for me, just gotta put these pics up...

More catch up pics:

Day 6

Day 7

And today's pics:

Day 56

Get your game face on!

Day 55 - Killer legs

Today was a good day, I managed to reach a new high for reps on all my leg exercises and I think I'll be ready to up my weights next week. I'm almost running out of weight on the leg press machine at our gym. One of my mini-goals that I'm aiming for is to be able to press the entire stack on the machine. Then I think I'll be confident enough to move on to squats using a barbell. I could really feel it in my quads today as well as my abs, which I gave a good push. Actually, everything felt stronger. I think I'm going to feel it tomorrow though. I barely had anything left when I left the gym. My plan is just a cardio session tomorrow, so I should still have plenty of energy.

Nutrition was pretty good today. I emptied my first container of protein powder. It was just a little one with only 11 servings though. I experimented with having a fruit smoothie protein shake for my afternoon meal instead of my usual tuna/chicken/turkey/salmon salad since my girlfriend was making one for herself. She doesn't like the taste of the protein powder though (Vanilla) in her smoothie, so I have to add mine after. The smoothie seemed to do a good job and didn't weigh me down at the gym. I'm not sure if I want to make it a regular part of my nutrition plan though as it brings my veggie intake down for the day (less fibre, more sugar). I also want to eat as much real food as possible since its easier to stick with that in the long run.

Well, here's a couple more days of catch up pics and todays pics.

Day 4

Day 5

Day 55

I figured I needed some fancy tagline, some sort of motto to keep me focused and in the right mindset like Adam's Eat Clean, Shred Hard, Think Big. To go back to the Ol' Glory Days, I'll steal a line from my old hockey coach from when he'd go around the dressing room and try to focus our attention on the game we were about to play rather than, well, let's just say normal boys dressing room chatter. During this time he got us to stop talking and think about the game, what we were going to do, what we needed to do, and to visualize us doing it. I made so many crazy stops, sliding pad stops, diving glove saves in those 5 minutes that there was no way a single puck was going past me. If you were to look around the dressing room during this time, you would see nothing but faces filled with looks of focus, determination, and confidence. This steely eyed stare was called the Game Face.

So, until next time,

Get your game face on!