I'm changing things up for the next 30 days. First, let's recap my FIRST 30 days by restating that I lost 21.4 pounds. I started at 277.8 pounds, and on day 30 I weighed in at 256.4.
I was quite pleased with that result. While I had anticipated dropping around 18 or so, if things went well, 21+ was a very nice surprise.
If you've been reading my blog, you know I had a lot of days with total calorie counts in the 1,200 to 1.400 range. That's worked well for me, leaving me without too many issues of being hungry, while also allowing me to take in a fairly decent amount of veggies, protein, and dairy.
I've also noticed, the further I've gone, that increasing my workouts and cardio have become increasingly more difficult in terms of my overall energy, being tired afterward, and getting hungry at the end of the day.the
Some of you might remember when I mentioned Mark Webster, known as the Dude (Who) Ate Like The Rock For A Month. Eating like The Rock -- aka Dwayne Johnson -- meant he was taking in more than 5,000 calories a day. Follow The Rock's exercise plan meant he was also doing cardio 50 minutes a day, six days a week and weight training between 60 and 90 minutes both days.
I've read through The Rock's eating plan, and my first thought was if I ate like that, I'd balloon up to 300 pounds overnight (not that I was too far from that when I started this). I remember reading on Mark's blog he had the same concern.
I also think if I followed that exercise plan, I'd make it about 30 minutes before it was time to send me to the hospital for a few days of recovery.
Mark, who has been working out with some regularity for a few years, mentioned in his blog he thought he'd have some major soreness and recovery issues, but that was mostly non-existent during his 30 days. In one of his comments on my blog when I was talking about muscle soreness, he told me to try fish oil -- that helped alleviate any soreness he might have otherwise experienced (though he was getting his fish oil in the form of 2 pounds of cod every day).
That got me to thinking about another eating and workout plan I'm familiar with, the Body For Life program. I became familiar with this one a number of years ago, and for my money it's probably the best, most nutritionally and scientifically balanced way to lose weight and get healthy. The nutrition plan is simple and easy to follow (though you have to wade through a lot of worthless sales pitches for supplements you simply don't need), and the exercise plan is likewise strong and well-balanced, though it might be a little intimidating or confusing for someone new to working out.
Essentially, the nutrition plan calls for eating six times a day, with a mixture of lean protein, healthy complex carbs and unlimited green, leafy veggies each day.
While the specific foods and sheer volume might be different, at its core it's quite similar to what The Rock's program is.
So, I'm going to increase the food I'm eating every day, similar to the Body For Life program, with one caveat: The Body For Life program allows for one off-day every week -- you adhere to the eating and nutrition plan strictly six days every week, and on the seventh day you eat whatever you want.
I'm going to forgo the cheat day. I've mentioned many times I consider myself the King of Yo-Yo dieting. I've lost weight before -- 20, 30 pounds -- only to gain it back, and then some. I've stuck with exercise programs for four, six, eight weeks, maybe even longer in my younger days.
But I don't think I've ever truly eaten clean for 30 consecutive days. Even when I adhered to a strict program, there was always an off-day or an off-meal included in the plan.
Starting tomorrow -- Monday, April 11 -- I'm going to eat clean for 30 straight days. No exceptions. It won't be easy -- my oldest will be graduating from college during the period, so I'm sure we'll be going out to eat then; and there's always the occasional lunch meeting at work; or something else comes up.
But with proper planning, and a little self-discipline, I can do this. I do admit to a little nervousness. After dropping 21.4 pounds the first month, I don't really expect a huge weight loss the second month. Ten to 12 pounds is probably realistic, and I'd be okay with that. From having done this before, I know I can drop ten pounds -- if nothing else, I can always do a very-low carb high-protein diet for a week to jumpstart that, or get it back on track, with a 4-pound drop during such a low-carb week.
The last thing I want to do is to slow down my weight loss. So increasing the food does cause a little bit of anxiousness for me. But for now, at least for the next 30 days, it's not about what the scale says. Instead, it's about the process. It's about sticking to the plan, religiously, to see what sort of results I might achieve.
So, for the next 30 days, you'll see my calorie intake go up, hopefully that means bigger and better results in the weight room and on the scale.
Now for this weekend? Well, I took Saturday and Sunday off from the strict eating plan. On Saturday I probably ate a little much, and very little of that was healthy. Today I had planned to more or less stick to the plan, and found myself at a severe calorie deficit late in the day -- by 4 p.m. I'd had only my breakfast (1 whole egg, 2 egg whites and 2 ounces of ham) and a protein drink later in the day.
Since then I've kinda made up for that deficit. Haven't pigged out or anything, but not been strict, either, though if banana pudding could be considered a very close cousin to the fruit family I might be okay.
As for the workouts? I took Saturday off, but today decided to restart the leg workouts. I''ve stayed away from leg work since starting this, figuring it was about all I could do to keep up with the cardio, and doing more would just wear me out.
I haven't done any leg workouts for many months, so I took it easy today, with light weight, fewer sets and reps, followed by a brief cardio session. Cardio was supposed to last 30 minutes, but I had to cut it short at 16 minutes because of a family emergency -- a basketball game broke out among my brood, and the teams were uneven. I felt it was my fatherly duty to remedy the situation by stepping in and filling the open spot (something I simply could not have done a month ago).
Here was my leg workout
Squats
135 pounds
2 sets, 10 reps each
160 pounds
1 set, 10 reps
Let Press
190 pounds
2 sets, 10 reps each
Let extension
110 pounds
2 sets, 8 reps each
Lying leg curls
60 pounds
1 set, 10 reps
70 pounds
1 set, 10 reps
Standing Calf Press
270 pounds
2 sets, 12 reps each
Cardio
Stationary bike
16 minutes
5 miles
165 calories.
That's all for the weekend folks, Thanks for stopping by, and come on back tomorrow to see how the first day of the new eating plan goes!
As always, feel free to leave questions or comments in the comment section. I answer every one!
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