For now, I am viewing this as a holistic health journal, for my physical, mental, and emotional health. The main point will be a record for my fitness stats, like sets and reps. My focus on stress reduction is key on treating and almost curing lately a constant anxiety I've had since birth. I am going to be healthy while I meet my goals. If I'm not feeling good because of something, I address it.
My Stats: Height 6'4, age: 28.
Progress so far: started 7/23/09 372 pounds
As of 10/1/09: 338 pounds.
As of 11/1/09: 330 pounds.
As of 12/2/09: 321 pounds.
Current goals:
12/31/09 I want to:
Get down to 300 pounds. if I plateau 320 is an acceptable minimum as I don;t want to race and hurt myself.
Build up enough core strength and form for heavy powerlifting and begin a new program
Final goal by 12/31/10 has been to get back down to 240 pounds. I was 240 in HS, running 2.5 miles every day and doing jump-spinning kicks in TKD. The weight isn't a good metric for me though as I never really lifted so once I start power lifting I can probably be 280 and be in comparable shape.
All weigh-ins are consitent, in the morning before food, after 2 glasses of water, and always with shoes on using the gym's scale.
My current workout routine general plan:
M Tu Th F - Am workout set, PM workout set, both preceded by 2 circuits of stretches that take 22 minutes each.
Wed - morning cardio 55 minutes, and rest of the day off
weekends off but I usually plan at least one activity and if I don't, do another day of cardio. It's fall in VT and I'll probably be doing some local hikes.
Stretches (2 circuits, takes maybe 22 minutes total):
Each calf 45 secs
each quad 45 secs
each ham 60 secs
90/90 each hip 30 secs
table stretch each hip 30 secs
russian split 45 secs
foam roller back extension 8 reps
rest periods 30-45 seconds between sets, less if compound
AM workout
BW squats 2-4 sets
Romanian deadlifts 2-4 sets
supine lateral ball roll 2-3 sets
forward ball roll 2-3 sets
leg raises 2-4 sets
10 TVA activations
PM workout
Cable pulls - 3 sets each side
Cable push - 3 sets each side
cable row 3 sets
ball dumbell one-arm press 3 sets
lower body twists 2 sets
pec fly on bench w/ dumbells
Current diet plan: UPDATED!
High protein and fat, low carbs, all real organic food.
Finally got some time and doing to detail my diet here.
My daily staples:
4oz chia seeds ~ 500 calories
Almonds - 3 ounces ~ 500 calories
about 1-1.5 pounds of lean meat a day, right now it's grass-fed hamburg, 92% lean that I formanize. About 500 calories
3 eggs a day - real organic, about 200 calories
2 big oranges or other fruit for carbs ~ 200 calories
yogurt - about 5 ox greek style whole milk ~ 200 calories
veggies - negligible calories, all organic
1 carrot a day for some carbs and colon health
1 fist-sized bunch of broccoli a day
1-2 servings of others, like Kale or Spinach
about 12 sprigs of parsley, I chew it around breakfast
Also I do cran water, 2 tablespoons unsweetened cranberry juice diluted first thing in the morning and right before bed.
My tips and tricks.
I'm eating about a 2000 calorie deficit at my weight and activity level. I feel fine I think because it's all real food and I am getting 2000 calories minimum. At first I had to eat every couple hours to maintain my blood sugar levels but now that I have evened out, I can go 4-6 hours after a meal without feeling hungry which is good.
I love chia seeds. The main reason for them is fiber, they are a great natural source of mostly soluble fiber. Psyllium is messy and too insoluble, and flax seeds have to be ground and spoil. Chia has neither problem, though they do cost about 6 bucks a pound. They can be used to make a gel which I haven't tried. I just wash a scoopful down with water. I take 1 ounce before bed, first thing in the morning, and before lunch and dinner. It slows digestion down as it forms a gel in your intestines, and probably really helped me maintain blood sugar levels especially early on. I made the mistake last week of taking my chia seeds after lunch instead of before and was much hungrier. The omega 3's are great, it is truly one of those miracle foods.
I just learned I need to sprout my almonds. I mainly do them for more fat and vitamin E as I am concerned about my skin. Sprouting them overnight makes them more digestible so I can take advantage of the enzymes like lipase. I spend 12 bucks a pound for the real almonds, raw, unpasteurized from Spain. Note all almonds in the us since 2007 have to be pasteurized and are still allowed to be called raw. I also just started adding 3-5 brazil nuts with them a day, for selenium and heavy-metal cleansing mainly. I eat 2 snacks a day at work after lunch and breakfast, 1 orange and my almonds. The nuts help keep me satisfied, and they hold me over till my 7:30 dinner.
My eating schedule is roughly:
7:00AM - cran-water, chia seeds, water
8:30 breakfast - 3 egg omelet, yogurt and parsley. Parsley helps clean the palette and breath.
10:30 first snack orange and almonds
12:30 lunch - chia seeds first then meat and veggies
4:00 I try to make it to at least 4 for my second snack - orange and nuts
7:30 dinner, meat and veggies preceded by chia seeds
9:30 bed time, chia seeds and cran-water.
When I want more fat and protein, I have some cold-filter pure whey from trueprotein.com that I really like. I dissolve 3 scoops and get about 80g of protein in a 22oz cup and it still has the consistency of water. I have to pace myself because it goes down so easy and then hits my stomach if I pound it. I also add 1-2 tablespoons of hemp seed oil for more fats and omega 3's. I have been avoiding the shakes because I feel fine and they are not real food. But when I need extra calories, it's easy to maintain my diet routine and add one or 2 two shakes back in, about 500 calories each.
Supplements: I take 4-8g of fish oil in capsules from trueprotein.com. I also take a high EPA fish oil once at lunch for my mood. I also begin each meal with 1g of CLA, and end with a big Borage oil capsule for GLA. The fats that help burn fat, mostly omega 3's. I have no other supplement staples ATM, but want more B and a new multi if I can find a good one. the other thing I take is 5-HTP before bed with P-5-P to activate it, and I am more relaxed. I am just starting to switch to L-Tryptophan instead of 5-HTP since the 5-HTP is basically pure serotonin, and if I instead get it from the whole protein, my body will make what it needs and won;t stop making serotonin if I get dependent on the 5-HTP.
I don;t count calories, but I do pretty well from just eating the same thing every day and occasionally finding appropriate substitutions.
Water: I drink about 5 liters or real spring water a day. I spread it out over the whole day and do 3L at work. I have an arsenal of 160 3L Poland Spring bottles that I have had for over a year now. Every 3 months I drive to a local spring and fill up half a ton of water in my Jeep. I got this system down, I make sure to air out the bottles, I use laundry mesh bags for empties, and the bottles stack nicely. The water is really great, artesian, comes from a wet town that is mostly protected in VT, and everybody loves the local spring, no one complains about it, I have been drinking the water for a year and only get sick when I pound municipal water and my stomach cramps up from it.
My Stats: Height 6'4, age: 28.
Progress so far: started 7/23/09 372 pounds
As of 10/1/09: 338 pounds.
As of 11/1/09: 330 pounds.
As of 12/2/09: 321 pounds.
Current goals:
12/31/09 I want to:
Get down to 300 pounds. if I plateau 320 is an acceptable minimum as I don;t want to race and hurt myself.
Build up enough core strength and form for heavy powerlifting and begin a new program
Final goal by 12/31/10 has been to get back down to 240 pounds. I was 240 in HS, running 2.5 miles every day and doing jump-spinning kicks in TKD. The weight isn't a good metric for me though as I never really lifted so once I start power lifting I can probably be 280 and be in comparable shape.
All weigh-ins are consitent, in the morning before food, after 2 glasses of water, and always with shoes on using the gym's scale.
My current workout routine general plan:
M Tu Th F - Am workout set, PM workout set, both preceded by 2 circuits of stretches that take 22 minutes each.
Wed - morning cardio 55 minutes, and rest of the day off
weekends off but I usually plan at least one activity and if I don't, do another day of cardio. It's fall in VT and I'll probably be doing some local hikes.
Stretches (2 circuits, takes maybe 22 minutes total):
Each calf 45 secs
each quad 45 secs
each ham 60 secs
90/90 each hip 30 secs
table stretch each hip 30 secs
russian split 45 secs
foam roller back extension 8 reps
rest periods 30-45 seconds between sets, less if compound
AM workout
BW squats 2-4 sets
Romanian deadlifts 2-4 sets
supine lateral ball roll 2-3 sets
forward ball roll 2-3 sets
leg raises 2-4 sets
10 TVA activations
PM workout
Cable pulls - 3 sets each side
Cable push - 3 sets each side
cable row 3 sets
ball dumbell one-arm press 3 sets
lower body twists 2 sets
pec fly on bench w/ dumbells
Current diet plan: UPDATED!
High protein and fat, low carbs, all real organic food.
Finally got some time and doing to detail my diet here.
My daily staples:
4oz chia seeds ~ 500 calories
Almonds - 3 ounces ~ 500 calories
about 1-1.5 pounds of lean meat a day, right now it's grass-fed hamburg, 92% lean that I formanize. About 500 calories
3 eggs a day - real organic, about 200 calories
2 big oranges or other fruit for carbs ~ 200 calories
yogurt - about 5 ox greek style whole milk ~ 200 calories
veggies - negligible calories, all organic
1 carrot a day for some carbs and colon health
1 fist-sized bunch of broccoli a day
1-2 servings of others, like Kale or Spinach
about 12 sprigs of parsley, I chew it around breakfast
Also I do cran water, 2 tablespoons unsweetened cranberry juice diluted first thing in the morning and right before bed.
My tips and tricks.
I'm eating about a 2000 calorie deficit at my weight and activity level. I feel fine I think because it's all real food and I am getting 2000 calories minimum. At first I had to eat every couple hours to maintain my blood sugar levels but now that I have evened out, I can go 4-6 hours after a meal without feeling hungry which is good.
I love chia seeds. The main reason for them is fiber, they are a great natural source of mostly soluble fiber. Psyllium is messy and too insoluble, and flax seeds have to be ground and spoil. Chia has neither problem, though they do cost about 6 bucks a pound. They can be used to make a gel which I haven't tried. I just wash a scoopful down with water. I take 1 ounce before bed, first thing in the morning, and before lunch and dinner. It slows digestion down as it forms a gel in your intestines, and probably really helped me maintain blood sugar levels especially early on. I made the mistake last week of taking my chia seeds after lunch instead of before and was much hungrier. The omega 3's are great, it is truly one of those miracle foods.
I just learned I need to sprout my almonds. I mainly do them for more fat and vitamin E as I am concerned about my skin. Sprouting them overnight makes them more digestible so I can take advantage of the enzymes like lipase. I spend 12 bucks a pound for the real almonds, raw, unpasteurized from Spain. Note all almonds in the us since 2007 have to be pasteurized and are still allowed to be called raw. I also just started adding 3-5 brazil nuts with them a day, for selenium and heavy-metal cleansing mainly. I eat 2 snacks a day at work after lunch and breakfast, 1 orange and my almonds. The nuts help keep me satisfied, and they hold me over till my 7:30 dinner.
My eating schedule is roughly:
7:00AM - cran-water, chia seeds, water
8:30 breakfast - 3 egg omelet, yogurt and parsley. Parsley helps clean the palette and breath.
10:30 first snack orange and almonds
12:30 lunch - chia seeds first then meat and veggies
4:00 I try to make it to at least 4 for my second snack - orange and nuts
7:30 dinner, meat and veggies preceded by chia seeds
9:30 bed time, chia seeds and cran-water.
When I want more fat and protein, I have some cold-filter pure whey from trueprotein.com that I really like. I dissolve 3 scoops and get about 80g of protein in a 22oz cup and it still has the consistency of water. I have to pace myself because it goes down so easy and then hits my stomach if I pound it. I also add 1-2 tablespoons of hemp seed oil for more fats and omega 3's. I have been avoiding the shakes because I feel fine and they are not real food. But when I need extra calories, it's easy to maintain my diet routine and add one or 2 two shakes back in, about 500 calories each.
Supplements: I take 4-8g of fish oil in capsules from trueprotein.com. I also take a high EPA fish oil once at lunch for my mood. I also begin each meal with 1g of CLA, and end with a big Borage oil capsule for GLA. The fats that help burn fat, mostly omega 3's. I have no other supplement staples ATM, but want more B and a new multi if I can find a good one. the other thing I take is 5-HTP before bed with P-5-P to activate it, and I am more relaxed. I am just starting to switch to L-Tryptophan instead of 5-HTP since the 5-HTP is basically pure serotonin, and if I instead get it from the whole protein, my body will make what it needs and won;t stop making serotonin if I get dependent on the 5-HTP.
I don;t count calories, but I do pretty well from just eating the same thing every day and occasionally finding appropriate substitutions.
Water: I drink about 5 liters or real spring water a day. I spread it out over the whole day and do 3L at work. I have an arsenal of 160 3L Poland Spring bottles that I have had for over a year now. Every 3 months I drive to a local spring and fill up half a ton of water in my Jeep. I got this system down, I make sure to air out the bottles, I use laundry mesh bags for empties, and the bottles stack nicely. The water is really great, artesian, comes from a wet town that is mostly protected in VT, and everybody loves the local spring, no one complains about it, I have been drinking the water for a year and only get sick when I pound municipal water and my stomach cramps up from it.
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