Day 5 of 60 in 60: Coordinating workouts

I've been doing my weight workouts with my sons, which has taken some coordination since my oldest works nights and goes to school, while my youngest is working mornings. I, of course, work all the time.

Because my oldest son, who shall be known in this blog as Son No. 1, had to work on Friday night, I was under the impression from Son No. 1 that he and Son No. 2 would head to the gym early Friday and work out on their own, and I'd go down by myself when I got off work. I was under that impression because Son No. 1 told me that's what they'd do.

I ended up working late, but still would have time to get to the gym and do a quick workout with the weight machines, only to learn the boys hadn't gone to the gym, either. And given that my legs were pretty dead from the previous night's stationary bike ride, I figured there was no way I was going to do cardio tonight.

So, Friday ended up being an off day regarding workouts.

But not for the food!

So, here's my diet for the day.

Breakfast
Skipped it -- got up late

Lunch
Some of that taco meat mixture from last night:
5 ounces meat
1/2 cup kidney beans
Salsa and the greens/lettuce salad
Mozzarella cheese (1/4 cup)

Snack
Yogurt (regular, light, fat free)

First dinner
Chicken breast -- 6 ounces
Fire roasted tomatoes -- 1/2 cup

Second dinner
Taco meat (low-fat ground beef) -- 4 ounces
Salsa and lettuce/greens
Mozzarella -- 1/8 cup

Third dinner
Taco meat -- 3.5 ounces
Mozzarella -- 1/4 cup
Salsa -- 2 tablespoons

Snack (okay, I stayed up really late and got hungry)
Popcorn (that diet popcorn, that's only 110 calories per bag) -- 2 bags

Totals for day
Calories: 1,270
Fat: 37 grams
Protein: 139 grams
Diet soda -- 48 ounces
Water - 60 ounces

A little low on protein, but as you can see the whole day was off eating-wise. Woke up late, missed breakfast, didn't have time to properly pack food...

A day of rest...

Many of you will recall I said beginning Monday of this week I was going to eat clean for 30 days, no off days.

Well, the weekends are the hardest for that sort of stuff, and I'm happy to report halfway through the first week I'm still good...eating clean . But I did take the day off from working out, a planned day off. Tomorrow, on Sunday, I'll hit the legs and cardio again.

Here's what I ate for the day:

Breakfast
Eggs -- 2 whole
Homemade hash browns -- 1 cup
Cappuccino  (K-cup)

Lunch
Two wraps (one with 3 ounces of chicken breast cooked in fire-roasted potatoes, the other taco-flavored ground chicken breast. Both had an 1/8-cup of cheese, 1 tablespoon of salsa, rolled up in a flour tortilla).

Snack
Protein bar

Dinner
Bottom round steak -- 5 ounces
Sweet potato -- 8.25 ounces
Diet butter (my one luxury this week) -- 1 1/2 tablespoon

Totals for the day

Calories -- 1,675
Fat -- 50 grams
Protein -- 140 grams (a little low)

Water -- 75 ounces
Diet soda -- 30 ounces

That's all. Thanks for stopping by!

One Month -- Weigh In Day!

Well, today marked one month since I started on this, and I'm doing a happy dance!

Let's recap just a bit. When I realized something had to be done, way back on March 7, I tipped the scales at 279 pounds. Two days later, when I officially started this, on March 9, I was 277.6 pounds. HUGE.

Today, after 30 days, I'm not quite so huge. I came in this morning at 256.2 pounds. That's right, 21.4 pounds in 30 days!

I have to admit, it feels pretty good to know I dropped 21 pounds. It's not just the scale--I'm feeling better, clothes are fitting better (I wore a pair of pants today that I couldn't even close and button a month ago). I'm lifting more weight, for more reps, able to push much harder and longer on my cardio.

In all, it's been a good month.

But it's just a beginning. My goal, losing 80 pounds, is still a long way off, and the weight loss will be much slower. I've also run into a couple of obstacles. If you've read my blog over the past day or two, you know I've been having some forearm issues that may limit some of my weight workouts. My left knee gives me a little trouble, which limits how much I can do on the stationary bike.

But there are ways to work around all of that. For now, tonight, I'm just feeling good about the first month, and even better about prospects for the second month and beyond. I am going to change things up quite a bit, though, beginning this weekend, so come on back tomorrow to see what I'll be doing.

As for today, here's the scoop:

Breakfast
Cappuccino (the K-cup variety)
Eggs (1 whole, 2 white)

Lunch
Spiral ham (3 ounces)
Baked beans -- 1 cup

Snack
Salad (2 cups lettuce, 5 olives, 1/4 cup cheese, 2 tablespoons fat-free dressing)
Fat free Greek yogurt

Dinner
Boiled chicken thighs -- 5 ounces
Oriental veggies -- 1/2 cup

Water --50 ounces
Diet soda -- 24 ounces

Workout:
This one is hard. I did no workout today. I had every intention of doing a chest, shoulder and triceps workout,  but in the end, as much as I hated to, I decided to take the day off to let my forearms rest. I also skipped the cardio. After four pretty long cardio sessions over consecutive days, I decided to give the knee a rest.

I gotta tell you, usually when I'm working out, I look for ways to avoid going to the gym. Now, I feel like such a slacker. I absolutely HATE missing any kind of workout today. But, I'm trying to think long-term, and avoid anything that might keep me from working out over a longer stretch.

And, if it seems I didn't eat a lot today, that's because I'm relaxing some there tonight as well. I'm getting ready to change up my eating quite a bit for the next month, so forgive me if I take a few hours off.

Anyway, that's the report for today -- 21.4 pounds lost in a month!

Thanks for stopping by. Check in tomorrow to see what month two changes I have in store.

Back At It! Cardio AND Weight Training In One Day

Well, you know I had an off day yesterday, with no workouts and eating off the diet yesterday, Easter Sunday.

So today I went right back at it, staying strict on the eating plan as well as putting together a weight-training and cardio workout back-to-back. That's not the first time I've done that, but the other times I cut the cardio short to about 20 minutes or so. Today I went a lot longer.

From my experience as the World's Greatest Yo-Yo Dieter, I'm always a little nervous about taking a day off. Too often I've let that spill into the next day, then the next, and so on. But, as I was reminded yesterday, I'm still far, far too heavy, and that means after an off day I have to jump right back in and be strict for a while, and I think I did a pretty good job of that today.

Here's what I ate:

Breakfast
Coffee
Eggs -- 1 whole, 2 whites
Chopped mushrooms -- about a 1/4 cup

Lunch
Lean pork chop -- 5 ounces
Mixed Veggies -- 3/4 cup
Fat Free Greek yogurt

Snack
1/2 cup fruit (grapes and fresh pineapple)
Salad with boiled egg (day after Easter, imagine that!) and mushrooms

Snack 2
Fat Free Greek Yogurt

Dinner
Denver Steak -- 5.5. ounces
Baked potato -- 5 ounces
Diet butter -- 1 tablespoon

Snack
Denver steak -- 3 ounces

Total for the day
Calories -- 1,305
Fat -- 41 grams
Protein -- 173 grams (getting closer to what I should be doing here)

Water -- 66 ounces
Diet soda -- 34 ounces

Exercise

Cardio
Stationary Bike
35 minutes (30 minutes on lvl 5, the rest on lvl 4)
11.5 miles
375 calories

Weight workout
Back and biceps

Seated Row
130 pounds, 1 set, 10 reps
200 pounds, 2 sets, 8 reps each
200 pounds, 2 sets, 10 reps each

Lat pulldown
100 pounds, 1 set, 8 reps
90 pounds, 1 set, 8 reps

Bicep workout
Curl-bar Curl
40 pounds, 1 set 10 reps
75 pounds, 1 set, 8 reps
70 pounds, 1 set 8 reps
70 pounds, 1 set 6 reps

And that's about all for today folks! Thanks for stopping in.

Words Every Dieter Wants to Hear: 'You've Gained Weight, Haven't You?'

Yep, that was the question posed to me today, which was great timing since I was starting to feel pretty good about this dieting thing -- yesterday I stepped on the scales and I had lost 19 pounds.

My reply?

"Yeah, I've picked up a little."

Okay, let me give some context here. I was at a family Easter gathering, and the gentleman who asked me his was asking if I could still fit into some shirts he had given me a couple of years back, shirts that had grown to large for him. At the time he gave them to me, I could fit into most of them, and I did wear them -- they were nice shirts!

But over time I had grown out of them. Remember back in my first blog when I talked about how much weight I had been gaining? Well, even though I was plenty big back then when he gave the shirts to me, I was probably 10 to 15 pounds lighter than I am now.

So yes, even though I have lost 19 pounds in the past two-and-a-half weeks, I am still heavier than I was when he gave me the shirts.

While no one wants to be told they look bigger, particularly when they are in the middle of a weight-loss program, this was a good thing for me.

A very good thing.

Here's why. I've had some success with this. I still have sooooooo much further to go, but 19 pounds is nothing to sneeze at. And that's the problem When you're losing weight relatively easily, when the exercise is consistent and you see increases there, it's far too easy to back off, to take it easy.

Just like me this weekend. Friday night, if you'll recall from that day's blog, I skipped my workout. Not because I was lazy, but simply because I wanted to catch Virginia playing that night in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen tournament game. Just one workout, right? No harm, right?

Besides, Saturday morning I went down to the gym and rode 17 miles on the stationary bike, by far my best day so far in cardio.

Now, today, Easter Sunday, was an off-day. It was a scheduled off day. No trip to the gym, and eating whatever I want at a family gathering. No biggie, right?

Well, Saturday night I decided to start that off-day a little early. I didn't eat much Saturday -- two chicken sandwiches (boiled chicken, low-fat mozzarella cheese and rye bread), and a Greek yogurt. That's all, until Saturday night, when I started Sunday's off day a little early. I didn't pig out, but I did eat two bowls of left-over chili, with a little cheese in it. Later, two small Cadbury creme eggs.

Now, missing the weight workout Friday really isn't a major deal. Having an off day Sunday isn't either. Heck, starting that off day a few hours earlier on Saturday night really isn't a problem, either.

But when you combine them all?

That's a bad weekend, and a recipe for disaster when you're trying to lose weight and get in shape, and it's far to easy to justify that in your mind when you're dropping weight and meeting with some success.

So yeah, I was glad someone asked me today if I've gained weight. That was a good reminder of where I am, contrasted with where I need to be and want to be, and that helps me focused just a little bit harder, maybe avoid these sorts of lapses in eating healthy or working out consistently.

There's not a lot to report for the weekend. I didn't eat great Saturday -- I didn't pig out or anything but not entirely healthy. Today I wouldn't say I really, really pigged out, but I did eat too much, and I did eat unhealthy choices.

As for the exercises, nothing today, here's what I did Saturday;

Cardio
Stationary Bike
50 minutes (35 minutes at lvl 5, rest at lvl 4)
17 miles
525 calories burned (that takes care of one bowl of that chili!)

That's it for the weekend folks. Happy Easter!