Y2W10

Well, busy season has definitely kept me from my normal posts, but here I am!  put in a 70+ hour week last week, but it’s not so bad when you get to do it from home.

Anyway, last week I came in at 191.6lbs for a weekly wieght loss of .6 lbs, a year to date weight loss of 3.6lbs, and a total weight loss to date of 23.2lbs.  I am definitely trending in the right direction.  This week should be interesting due to St Patty’s, but I am hoping for a decent number anyway!

MY hand is almost healed too so I might be returning to my workouts VERY soon.

Y2W8

Really simple this week.  No change.  Not too worried about it.  I have been droppin’ weight like gangbusters lately so a week of no change is no big deal.  Everything is going great.  Job is awesome.  Quality of life is great.  Feeling better than I have in a long time.

Y2W7 – Results

I am absolutely crushing it lately.  This past week I have felt amazing.  Now that I work from home, I am more relaxed, sleep more, and have no reasons to stray from my routine.  It is definitely helping me get to where I want to be.  This week I came in at 192.2 lbs. for a weekly weight loss of 2.4 lbs and a yearly weight loss to date of 3 lbs. (22.6 total lbs lost since 1/1/2011).  As I mentioned, I am feeling great.  Eating bigger dinners with steak or pork is really helping me get through my weekly routine with little problem.  I actually found that I wasn’t really in the mood for my binge-day this week either which might be a sign that I am definitely capable of transitioning completely away from it (eventually).

My thumb is still a little sore so I do not want to start my workouts yet.  I am definitely getting frustrated with not being able to workout but I would much rather prevent further injury.  I am more disappointed that I have not been able to play hockey at all (I can’s make a fist – I can’t hold a stick).  I think I should be good with one more week off, but if not I might consider seeing a doctor to see if I did significant damage.  I just want to heal up.  I feel like I have been injured with something for so long.

There will be no changes this week to my routine… I know it is getting boring seeing the same thing every week, but if I keep posting results like I have been, I have no reason to change anything.  If there is one thing I have noticed since changing my routine, it’s that eating more and adding a high fat/ high protein dinner 5 days a week is a significant improvement in my quality of life as well as my routine.

Y2W6 – Results

I am officially on a streak!  This week I dropped another 1.2 lbs. to come in at 194.6lbs.  The weeks are definitely easier now that I am eating a lot more than I was before.  This week I am not going to change anything, but next week I might be bringing in some tweaks to try to “step it up a notch”.

I also recognize I am not posting as much as I use to, but once I settle into my new routine I will definitely be posting more.  Plus, nothing really new is going on because I am still injured.  My leg is definitely better, but my right hand is still pretty banged up.  I am hoping I can get going in a week or two, but until then, I am just sticking to what works.

Y2W5 – Results

So I am super late on this post, but I have a good reason.  I am trying to adjust to my new job so I have not given myself a lot of time to continuously post.  In short, I changed my routine last week and saw GREAT results.

In short, I weighed in at 195.8 lbs for a weekly weight loss of 2.7 lbs for a total weight loss to date of 19 lbs (yearly I am still up .6 lbs.).  This is very positive, and I am hoping I can continue this trend in the weeks to come.  With my new routine I feel AMAZING, and I am absolutely loving my new job.

Also, where would my weekly update post be without news of a new injury!?  That’s right, in my soccer game I took a shot to the thumb and dislocated it.  It is pretty swollen, but it is definitely getting better so I don’t think I did any serious damage to it.  This will just further delay my return to workouts!  My calf is definitely healing.  If I had to guess I would say it is at about 85%.

I think this week will be a good one, stay tuned!

Y2W5 – Weekly Routine

I mentioned yesterday that I was not planning on releasing my weekly nutritional information because I was going to test it out this week.  Well, I got impatient and decided to go ahead and create a breakout of my meals.  This might be getting a little confusing so I wanted to walk you through what I am hoping to accomplish.

The first portion of my daily nutritional value analysis is the same as it has always been.  It shows each food item I buy followed by a breakout of nutritional values per meal.  This analysis helps me identify the overall value of my weekly meals by using averages (specifically dinner).  Previously, since every meal was the same, there was no need to break out my meals for each specific day of the week; however, now that I will be alternating what I eat on certain days, it is important to see how each day will likely pan-out.  I will try my best to stay 100% compliant with this meal schedule, but ultimately it will act more like a guideline as opposed to dogma.

The second part of my weekly nutritional value breaks out each day: Monday through Sunday.  I begin my week on Mondays because Sundays are when I go food shopping. I am typically finishing my weekly food supplies on Sunday and getting ready for the week to come (makes sense?).  As you will see, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday are identical up until dinner.  For dinner I will be alternating among a pork and black bean meal, a steak and black bean meal, and a typical Lunch 1 meal (consisting of chicken and broccoli).  My Binge-Day, as I said yesterday, will be now on Saturdays.  Another important item to mention is that my weigh-ins will still be on Friday mornings.  I would like to have my weigh-ins on the morning of my Binge-Day, but I anticipate Fridays not being my best days for compliance as it marks the beginning of the weekend, and I will most likely be out on the town that night.  Please note that each different meal for each day is color coded.  If you cannot see the colors please let me know and I will adjust it going forward.

There was definitely some thought behind what dinners I am eating on which days.  As you can see, my total calories and carbs decrease from their totals on Monday and Tuesday to Wednesday and Thursday.  This is in anticipation for my weigh-in each week.  I am a little concerned with how low my total calories and carbs are for Wednesday and Thursday so I will most likely add a protein shake or some almonds to those days to avoid burning out (this will be dependent on how I am feeling).

Another concern I have is that my largest meals will typically be my dinners.  This is right before I go to bed so it is important to make sure I don’t eat past 7PM each night.  Since I am trying to eat every 3.5 hours, this means I will have to eat breakfast at 7AM.  This, in turn, means I need to aim to get out of bed at 6:45AM.  On days I workout, I will most likely need to bump this to 6:30AM, eat right away, workout, and then get ready for work.  I mentioned I will be working from home with my new job, but for the first few months I will be working in the office Monday through Thursday until I get my bearings.  I am currently not working out due to injury, but something I might consider in the future is working out at night to help burn off some of my larger dinners, but this will be addressed when I heal-up.

I am also cutting back on my usage of protein shakes.  I want to aim to consume about 25 grams of protein per meal.  For breakfast I will still need a 1 scoop protein shake to hit the mark; however, Lunch 1, Lunch 2, and Dinner all hit the mark without the need for a protein shake.  As time goes on I will revisit this if needed.

How does this compare to my previous diet?  In order to compare I decided to rely on my averages.  Going forward, any changes will be looked at using both my averages and each specific day.  Here’s how it looks:

As you can see I am attempting to eat more food because in the past, I had more success when I ate more.  I am hoping this prevents my metabolism from slowing down.

I am very hopeful for my program using this new meal routine.  I definitely would not be able to do this if I was working at my prior job so I am extremely happy to be starting tomorrow.  I feel like 2012 is going to be my year, and I am very excited to get rolling.

Y2W5 – Times, They’re-a-changin’

So where have I been all month?  Well, I have VERY exciting news.  I was offered a position in a new firm including a promotion & option to work from home 29 out of 30 days per month.  After much consideration, I decided to take the offer.  I have spent the last three weeks transitioning my clients within my old firm to new staff and preparing for my new role at my new firm.

Although this change is going to benefit me personally, professionally, and financially, the past month has NOT been my greatest performance as it relates to my program.  I am currently hovering around 199 lbs. weight gain trend extending for 5 weeks.  Now that I have my professional life in order (I start on Monday), it is time to refocus myself on my program.

I am going to restart my program as I have done in the past when I hit a snag: start simple.  For the next two weeks, I will be focusing primarily on my eating habits.  Since I will have much more free time now, I am going to accelerate my “primal” ambitions.  For the next two weeks, I am going to be incorporating more types of food into my routine including tuna, pork, beef, and various vegetables.  I noticed that I am just not eating enough and it might be having a significant impact on my results.  I have been trying to combat this lack of food intake with almonds but I just have not seen the results I have been looking for; therefore, I am removing almonds completely from my diet as a source of calories – they will now take their rightful place as a snack.  Be advised that I have not gone grocery shopping yet so the exact nutritional value for my weekly routine might not be hammered out until later this week when I have time to go through everything.

I will also be using Saturdays as my official “Binge-Day”.  I have decided to make this switch because I have had a very difficult time “turning-off” the binging once I begin.  This has led me to eat garbage for up to 3 days over the course of a weekend.  This simply cannot happen anymore.

A few things to be aware of are the following.  First, I am still not incorporating fruits into my diet.  I will also be including beans but on a very limited basis for now (possibly one meal per day).  This is a play straight out of 4HB where I will use the legumes as a source of caloric intake to combat my feelings that I am not eating enough.  I am also not going to be taking any supplements or using any techniques (like Ice Age) primarily because I want to get to a point of equilibrium before I start adding variables to the equation.

Right now the most important thing is to keep my routine as simple as I possibly can while consistently putting results up week over week.  Unfortunately, due to a calf injury, I will have to lay off the workouts for a little while.  I feel like I have been injured off and on for the past 8-9 months, and quite frankly, I think it is a major reason why I have had such a poor showing in the second half of 2011.  If I continue to hurt myself, I might have to put a lid on sports for a while so I can focus on my specific workout routines.

Something else I am taking very seriously right now is my mindset.  My mindset this time last year was incredible.  I was focused, determined, and posting big results week over week.  I need to regain my mental edge and push forward into a successful 2012.