Insanity Day 8

Well yesterday was a day of rest.  A day off according to the Insanity workout calendar.  My body thanked me much for that.  It is weird so far.  At first it seemed I lost 10 lbs, then it seemed I lost 2 lbs and I checked the scale this morning (officially 1 week later) and it said I lost only 1 lb....What in the world?

It is a little disheartening, especially after I worked so hard last week.  I will see what the scale says next week, then I will have to adjust my calories down, if I haven't lost more than 3 lbs total or if my measurments aren't any smaller.  We will have to see.  Although, if I measured correctly, I have lost about 1/2 inch off of my waist.  I will have to have my wife measure me to see if that is actually true.  The funny thing, I actually ate less this weekend, than I did during the week.  It is usually the other way around.

Well, I am on this journey for the long haul, so I will see where this takes me.

Insanity: Day 4

Well, after checking my weight.. I have really only lost 2 lbs.  But that is still great!  I thought the other numbers were an anomaly.  And sure enough it was.  But 2 lbs after only being my 4th day doing Insanity + my normal routine is pretty good.

Starting Insanity Workout

http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/best_sellers/insanity.do

So I have decided to try this Insanity workout.  I am the type of person that, when I "DECIDE" to do something, then it is as good as done.  The hard part for me, most times in my life, is that I usually don't truly DECIDE to do things.  But when I do...look out.  So thus begins my journey with the Insanity Workout. 

I have been kind of gaining weight slowly over the past year and it has been hard for me to figure out why that is.  I track all of my food with http://www.livestrong.com/myplate and I have been consuming about 1700 calories net; that is after the calories I have burned through exercise.  I usually workout about 4-5 times a week depending if  I have an errand or an appointment during lunch or not ( I workout at lunchtime at work).  On Mondays I used to do the Elliptical machine for 30 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of weights. I have recently switched to doing a Core and Cardio class on Mondays for the past month.  I do Les Mills Body Pump on Tuesdays for 45 minutes. I do a Spin Class for 45 minutes on Wednesdays.   I do the Elliptical machine for 30 minutes  and weights for 10 minutes on Thursday.  And I do a very intense Tae Bo Class on Fridays for 45 minutes straight with no resting periods in the class.

I have been doing this routine for over 6 months and it seems I have not lost any weight, and in fact I have gained some.  I don't "seem" to be any more tone than I was before...So Iwas scratching my head as to what the problem was.  A co-worker who works out 7 days a week, suggested that I don't eat enough calories and that is probably why nothing is working for me.  So for about a month I increased my calories to 1800 calories net and I didn't get any better results.

So fast forward to today.

I bought the Insanity Workout on Ebay, because I didn't really want to pay that exorbitant amount of money, $144.80, for a workout program. Call me cheap .   And I started it on Monday, two days ago, right after I got back from a 7 day cruise.  I wanted to log what happens to me as I take this Insanity journey and let you know how it is working out for me.  And just to let you know, I intend on continuing my normal workout routine as well.  So hopefully I will see results even sooner.  Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I am going all out with this and decided to follow the nutrition recommendations of the program as well.  That is a big thing for me, because I had done so much exercise and eating with no results, I needed some guidance about what I should eat and how many calories I should be consuming with the amount of exercise I do.  I was shocked to see the amount of calories that the formula recommended for me to eat, since I have been averaging about 1700 calories Net daily for almost a year.  After working through the formula they gave for calculating the calories needed for maintaining my weight, I was completely SHOCKED, to say the least.  It said that I would need 3200 calories to lose weight while following this program.  That number seemed way too high to me.  So I brought it down to 2700 calories Net.  It also suggested eating five meals a day.  So I would have to average about 740 a day, during the week (if you are wondering where I got 740 from, I have to account for the 1000 or so calories I burn while doing my normal exercise routine and the Insanity workout.)   I just have to make sure that I am eating the right types of foods, as suggested by the nutrition guide. 
This is the formula they use for calculating the calories:

STEP 1
For Women:   655 + (4.35 weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)
For Men:     66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)

STEP 2
Now take the number from Step 1 and multiply it by the level of exercise listed below.  Since you're doing INSANITY, the "moderately active" or "very active" should apply.

Exercise Factor                                 Category                                    Explanation
1.2                                                         Sedentary                                  Little or no exercise
1.375                                                     Lightly Active                         Light exercise (1 to 3 days/week)
1.55                                                       Moderately Active                 Moderate exercise (3 to 5 days/week)
1.7                                                         Very Active                              Hard exercise (6 to 7 days/week)
1.9                                                         Extremely Active                    Hard daily exercise and/or a physical job

STEP 3

The number you now have will tell you your calorie needs for weight maintenance. 

• For weight loss subtract 500 calories per day from your number in Step 2.
• For weight maintenance do nothing, just use the number from Step 2
• For weight gain, add 250-300 calories per day to your number from Step 2.

While this equation may seem confusing, it's the simplest scientific way of truly estimating your needs.  Keep in mind that after starting the Elite Nutrition program, you may want to alter your calories up or down based on the feedback you are getting from your body, i.e. too much food, not enough, losing or gaining weight, etc.

Once again I will be brutally honest, if not for your sake (whoever you are who may read this), but mainly for myself. I need to be honest with myself about where I am.   

So...these were my stats on Monday morning:

Weight:         270lbs
Height:          6' 2"
Chest:           46"
Waist:           48"
Hips:             46"
Neck:            17"
Left Thigh:     28"
Right Thigh:   28"
Left Arm:      16.5"
Right Arm:    16"
Today when I weighed myself (on Wednesday morning) I weighed 259lbs.  This is what I weighed a couple of weeks before I went on the cruise.  I had went up to 263 just before the cruise.  I will have to see if the scale was correct/consistent when I weigh myself tomorrow morning..hopefully the number will be the same...or less.  Type to you later!

Three down...

I have lost 3 pounds after a week of sticking closely to the 15g of Sugar and 120g of Carbs.  There were a few days that I had more sugars and some days where I had more carbs than allowed...but for the most part I stuck strictly to it.  The sugar content was higher on days when I had sauces like barbecue sauce or gravy on something I ate.  I didn't have any sweets.  So I am continuing my journey...3 down.....27 more to go.

Darrell Out!

I'm Starting Another 30 Day Journey...

http://www.amazon.com/Belly-Fat-Cure-Discover-System/dp/1401927181

I haven't posted on here in a while and I was able to lose about 20-30 lbs using the The Belly Fat Cure book by Jorge Cruise.  It talks about how you can lose 20-30lbs in a month by changing the amount of carbs and sugar you take in.  I did it before and it worked for me.  I started to slack off of it and add weight lifting to my regimen.  The weight training added muscle and weight.  I've gained a little back because of slacking off of my eating habits.  So I will now beging the low-carb, low sugar program again.  I want to lose another 30lbs and I believe I will be right where I should be.  I will need to take another picture of myself to really see where I am now.  I currently weigh 258lbs and I want to get down to 230.  The picture will really tell me where I am because pictures don't lie.

Also, I have been working out 5 days a week pretty regularly until my knees and elbow starting hurting really bad.  It hurt to walk up and down the steps.  It also hurt to flex my muscles in my right arm..because of the pain in the elbow.  So I slowed I took a couple of weeks off to recuperate and I have been taking Glucosamine-7 from Nutrilite.  It has helped the pain in my knees, so it doesn't hurt as much to walk up and down stairs.  I still have a pretty sharp pain near my elbow..so I am taking it easy with the weights.  I am going to stick mostly to low-impact cardio like the elliptical machine.  I won't be doing any major running because of my knees.  I just wanted to note this day and mark the beginning of the 2nd time around using this program.   The program calls for 120g carbs and 15g sugar per day.  The first day I went off program because of two items on my menu.  Barbecue sauce for my ribs and chinese gravy for my egg foo young.

Day 1
1774 calories  consumed.
633 calories burned from Elliptical, weights and crunches.

Carbs:218g   Sugar: 38g

Link to my LiveStrong Daily Food Consumption chart

Its been a minute...

Well, I haven't posted on here in a while and I was just thinking about my current health status and my weekly health routines.    I wanted to go ahead and write down my thoughts about what I am currently doing.  After my initial weight loss, I started to settle into a routine and didn't ride my exercise bike (I've been through two of them so far) because it wasn't working like it should.  I had slowly started to gain some weight, albeit not a lot, because I still did exercise..which makes it hard for me to understand why I was gaining weight.  I was attending a Spin Class 3 times a week and still watching my daily calorie intake..although I was eating more than I was before.  So I was confused a bit.  I got back up to 253, which was still 46lbs less than when I started 2 years ago.

SOooo, a friend (and fellow Spinner) told me that she was part of the gym's Weight Loss Challenge and that was just what I needed to hear.  If you've read my prior posts..you know that I love competition..and that helps motivate me to lose weight better than anything else.  I don't know, maybe its the camaraderie..the challenge of having to do well for the team and the fact that I am very competitive and I WANT to WIN.  All of this helps me in my weight loss/ healthy living goals.  So, I join up and now I have lost 12 lbs over 3 weeks.  Whew!  Back down to 241 and I have to go down one more notch in my belt HOORAY! (as opposed to go up a notch because I've gotten bigger).

Now my weekly regimen includes:

1. Running 3 miles at least two days a week

                         A little side note:  I have decided to help my children 

                                 stay in shape, by taking them running/walking with me.  

                                 I used to run with my weight loss challenge teammates, 

                                 but I have since included my two daughters, so that they 

                                 can stay in good health too.

      2. Taking a Zumba class 

                      (which at first was wayyy to feminine for me..but I decided to 
                              change some of the instructors moves and make into my own 
                               personal dance class..modifying the moves to make some of them..Manlier!  LOL)

       3. Upper Body workout with fitness instructor (Weights and Calisthenics)

       4. Lower Body workout with fitness instructor (Weights and Calisthenics)

     5. Taking a Spin class every now and then.

Before doing this weight loss challenge..I hadn't lifted weights and run since High School and even back then it was sporadic..even though I was on the football team.  Man..when I started running again I was soooo sore.  I didn't even know that I used those muscles while running.

Needless to say my workout routine is pretty diverse right now and I am kind of proud of that.

Top of the World Ma!

(Or at least the top of the wall)

You can do lots of amazing things, once the weight comes off. This is something that I never could really do when I was younger, because frankly, I was too big. My arms were never strong enough to hold my weight.

Once I lost 100 lbs in college, I could probably have done this. I just never tried. So recently when my daughters wanted to climb the wall at the Ellicott City, MD YMCA, I said I'm going to climb too. This is the second time I tried it. The first time, I only made it a little bit further than the top picture. On this day..September 2, 2008, I made it to the top!! Whoohoo!

Training

When I tried the first time my triceps began to hurt and I noticed my fingers were a little stiff. So, after that first time, which was about a month ago, I began doing push-ups with my fingers instead of my hands. I also began doing push-ups with my hands together in the shape of a diamond. The first type of push-ups strengthened my fingers.. The second type strengthened my triceps. My training paid off and I made it to the top.

Next up is working on hanging with each arm individually, so I can do the Rings ala American Gladiator style. By the way, I want to go on that show, that is why I am doing these types of activities. I was never in shape, the first time the show came on. Now I will be ready. Bring it on Gladiators..Bring It On!!