Andy's rise to the challenge

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Friday everyone! Quick week!

Didn't get to update yesterday because I was a little busier than usual, but proud to say I've stayed on track these past few days well. Wednesday night, I did my lifting circuit, and I am FEELING it over yesterday AND today. Hamstring/abs/shoulders. Not sure if that means I was that much out of shape before, or I just trained a little too hard. Either way, I think after a few more weeks of this the DOMS should be gone. Tested out the assisted Dip/Pull up machine. MAN, thats tough. Its certainly an area I can work on! Also, with the squats, I can't believe how just repping body weight is wearing out my legs! Inspired by Trusylver, I've been trying to fit them in whenever I have a minute - whether thats on commercials, or waiting for food to cook ect. If I can get up to 50 over the course of a day, I am satisfied with that.

Gym yesterday was a cardio day. Lugged my butt over to the gym, even though I was feeling really lethargic. Was planning on hitting the treadmill again, but instead got into a 2v2 basketball game. Played for about 45 mins, and worked up a decent sweat. Surprisingly, I was still ready to play after three games, but my roomate (teammate too) was gassed. Dead legs, couldn't run well, couldn't jump. So we swapped who we were guarding. Looked funny that me, the 260 guy was picking up their small shooter while he stayed under the net guarding their big. Ah well, I was happy with the effort!

Something I am really happy about has been really cutting back on snacking after work, between dinner. Used to come home, eat a bowl of cereal, then maybe a yogurt or 2, then an apple, then dinner, then a Smart Ones desert, then maybe another apple to end the night. Lots of clean food sure, but it was going overboard. Past two days I have been swapping over to snacking on my stir fry veggies and an old fashion big cup of cool water. Its tasty (though I worry about sodium), and it keeps me going until 7:30ish, when I can comfortably have dinner. After dinner, (and post workout, since I go after I eat), I typically just cap off the night with my whey/skim milk drink. Around 250-300 cals. It tastes really good, so I can justify THAT being my after dinner dessert. Also, if I don't go to the gym, I don't get it, so thats a little extra motivation :D

Some things I can work on. SLEEP. I dont get enough. Shamed to say I averaged 5-6 hours a night these past 4 days. This weekend, I plan on sleeping in and hoping that will get things chugging along again. Stay STROOOOONG with weekend everybody!
 
Andy, your workouts always sound awesome! It makes me want to go hit the exercise room. lol

I know how it is when snacking starts creeping up on you. Good for you for seeing it and putting a stop to it! And I like the idea of not getting the dessert if you don't go to the gym. Little extra motivation. Keep it up!
 
Andy,

Just thought I'd pop in here and check up on you.

You're totally kicking ass, man! Well done!

You have so completely passed me by. I sat in maintenance (I was trying to lose, not maintain, but maintenance was all I actually accomplished) for 5 months, and am only seeing any progress in the past month.

Keep up the awesome work!
 
mizzie said:
Andy, your workouts always sound awesome! It makes me want to go hit the exercise room. lol

I know how it is when snacking starts creeping up on you. Good for you for seeing it and putting a stop to it! And I like the idea of not getting the dessert if you don't go to the gym. Little extra motivation. Keep it up!
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Thanks :D I'm really happy with how I've changed it up. I feel like I'm not missing any important groups, and I get kinda nuerotic about small details like that haha.
 
Cord the Seeker said:
Andy,

Just thought I'd pop in here and check up on you.

You're totally kicking ass, man! Well done!

You have so completely passed me by. I sat in maintenance (I was trying to lose, not maintain, but maintenance was all I actually accomplished) for 5 months, and am only seeing any progress in the past month.

Keep up the awesome work!
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Cord my main man! Great to see you around these parts!

I know what you mean about struggles. For the past month it feels like I've been floating between these pesky 5 pounds. Talk about aggrivating.

How is that chin-up challenge going for you these days?
 
Hey everyone!

Stayed SO busy yesterday, I wasn't able to log the weekend. Keep snacking low, which was good, but I think I may have overdid the alcohol saturday. That combined with not going to the gym friday-sunday had me really worried come monday morning. Turns out I was at 259.2, which was where I wanted to be. Funny how the body works sometimes.

Anyways, had a NEAR perfect day yesterday. Eating was phenominal. Kept snacking virtually out, (I did have a yogurt while I was waiting for dinner to cook. Eating while cooking is such a bad habit!) Its a yogurt, no big, so im happy if that is the extent of my problems. Also added some fun stuff to my stir fry. Ended up using a bit on canola oil to grease pan, soy sauce for flavor, broccoli, carrots, snap peas, bean sprouts, sweet onions, and water chestnuts. They cooked up BEAUTIFULLY. In fact, just had some for lunch! So excited about that, because my total cooking prowess is.......lacking.



Moving on, got into the gym at 8:30, and got in almost 2 circuits.

Bench Press 115 lb 12x2
Military press 45 lb 12x2
Arnold Curl 12x2 45lb
Deadlift 115lb 12x2
BW+35 pound weight squats 12x2
Lateral Pulldown 120lb 12x2
Assisted Pullup 150lb 12x1
Assisted Dip 150lb 12x1


Seems like a lot when I write it down, but it only took like 40 mins to finish it all. The assisted exercises are BY FAR the most challengeing. I'm looking forward to reducing the weight, and someday doing those with only body weight. Anyways, after we got that in, we played a little 1 on 1 basketball to close the gym out. He killed me. Again. He's way to agile, and been playing for years. Good thing is I worked up an alarming sweat considering the activity. Whatever works right?

Capped off the night with my whey (dessert!) shake and a cup of cold water. Got some extra sleep, and came in this morning at 257.8! SO CLOSE to my low. Gotta keep this train moving if I want to hit 250 by July! Tonight is cardio night. I was planning on running, but its kinda tedious. I may start by running for 15, and then transition over to playing any sport I can. Racquetball or basketball. Something where I am not staring at a TV or a timer the entire time :p

Have a good week everyone!
 
Hey everyone! Hump day woooooo!

Had another really great food day yesterday. The benefit I have gotton from switching all my fruit based snacks into vegetable based snacks is that I have dramatically cut my sugar intake. Its really been keeping my mind off food until its time to eat an actual meal. And if you cook them correctly, they really do taste good, and you look forward to them! Looking to continue this and have a **PERFECT** five day workweek. If I can keep up that, I'll deal with the weekend monster when I get there.

Got to the gym entirely too late last night. Got some good cardio in, but I feel like I could have done more before closing. Oh well, a little is better than none. Need to try and leave by 8:30 to make sure thats not an issue anymore.

A friend I haven't seen since December is having a going awAY party tonight. Really excited to see her before she takes off! Only problem is that its at a bar, so tonight my calorie goal revolves around nursing one or two beers all night. I'll make sure to account for that by doing a little extra time cardio, since I plan on hitting the gym before hand. Two reasons
A) It lets me feel a little less guilty about drinking mid-week, because I have accounted for it already.
B) I'm vain. I get water retention in my muscles after I lift, making them look awesome LOL.


Thats all for now. So far no obstacles have come up, so it looks like smooth sailing the rest of today. Will update if anything REMOTELY interesting happens!
 
Andy said:
Tonight is cardio night. I was planning on running, but its kinda tedious. I may start by running for 15, and then transition over to playing any sport I can. Racquetball or basketball. Something where I am not staring at a TV or a timer the entire time :p
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I agree totally. If it's nice out and I can run outside I don't get bored but lately I am really bored of any of the cardio machines at the gym. They don't offer any sports courts or anything at my gym so I just have to make do I guess - I think I need a new playlist or something.
Great work on the eating and nice work switching to veggies instead of so much fruit - I didn't realize how much sugar I was getting if I had more than one or two pieces too and it really makes a difference come weigh-in!
I totally think you can reach your goal for July - just sip a couple beers tonight and don't go over board - I like it that you know you have to work a little harder the next couple days though in case you decide to go all out!
Keep it up Andy!
 
chubbygirl said:
I agree totally. If it's nice out and I can run outside I don't get bored but lately I am really bored of any of the cardio machines at the gym. They don't offer any sports courts or anything at my gym so I just have to make do I guess - I think I need a new playlist or something.
Great work on the eating and nice work switching to veggies instead of so much fruit - I didn't realize how much sugar I was getting if I had more than one or two pieces too and it really makes a difference come weigh-in!
I totally think you can reach your goal for July - just sip a couple beers tonight and don't go over board - I like it that you know you have to work a little harder the next couple days though in case you decide to go all out!
Keep it up Andy!
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Thanks! I also think outside running >>>> inside running. By a longshot. I've been really happy with the switch to veggies - not sure if its placebo or what, but its getting me a lot more miles than the fruit.


Re: tonight, I know I won't go overboard. In fact, I'll likely stop by for about an hour. After all, its still a weeknight, and I have errands to run the next day! I know I mention alcohol a lot, but I really don't drink all that often. Only once a week(end) typically, and then I usually vent about it here only because the alcohol has no nutrition and its only excess cals. If I keep it to 1-2 drinks, then I just consider it a weekly cheat and throw it out of my mind. But still, I'll go ahead and push out an extra 300 cals tonight to compensate. I think doing this will make me value each calorie laden drink even more tonight, since I realize how much effort it takes just to offset it LOL.
 
Hey everyone! FRIDAY!

Didnt get around to posting yesterday, even though I had the day off! Spent my time sleeping in until 10ish, then I ran around all day shopping for some new stuff. I even bought a few reg XL tshirts as a goal. SO CLOSE! Went to the gym around 5:00, and played 2 fast paced games, since it was my cardio day. Felt really satisfied with the intensity, and got back home just in time to get a call to go see a movie. Showered up and saw "Get him to the greek" which was pretty funny if you like the type of humor. Hung out with a few friends, and called it a night.

Really happy with my intake. Had one of those days where I was so busy, I had to make time to eat food. Did spoil myself with a footlong chicken sandwich from Subway for lunch. Awesome. Also kept myself to a single beer while being social at a friends place afterwards. Pretty happy with myself there. Looking to stay on track this weekend. Will update later!
 
i love those chicken sandwiches from subway. they are so good on wheat or honeywheat bread. i ate a half one of those the other night as a dinner and the other half the next day as lunch.

i cant believe you lost 94 pounds. thats incredible and inspiring!
 
size32someday said:
i love those chicken sandwiches from subway. they are so good on wheat or honeywheat bread. i ate a half one of those the other night as a dinner and the other half the next day as lunch.

i cant believe you lost 94 pounds. thats incredible and inspiring!
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Ya, I really enjoyed the subway! I'm not sure why I haven't had it in forever!


and thanks for the compliment :)
 
Having a weak moment. I feel like I'll regret the rant later, but its my journal and I need to vent a little stress.

Still pretty unhappy with the shape I see back in the mirror, even considering how bad it was when I started. I feel like my all the remaining fat has settled right in my core region. upper arms/lower legs/face all look very lean. I'm thrilled with how those areas look. The rest not so much. I think its what people call the pear shape. DO NOT WANT!

I keep telling myself that its just going to take more time. Always more time. MORE MORE. Sometimes it feels like the final goal is so far away that its not even real, if that makes sense. It gets overwhelming. I almost feel like I was more secure about my body when I just didn't care. Odd. At the same time, I am terrified that I will slip up on the weekends, and go on a ridiculous binge, thus negating any of the weeks progress. As it is now, I am fighting tooth and nail, and I feel like I am just BARELY getting progress.

I am SO pissed that I let myself get that bad off in the first place. I mean, if I SEMI took care of myself in the past, I could be finished right now, and finally feel happy about my image. God, I crave that so much. On that, I know that when/if I ever get down to that pipe dream goal weight, I will never EVER EVER shoot back up and let it get out of hand. The anguish isn't worth it. Not by a mile.


So I guess the answer is to just keep plugging away. It will come eventually. I just feel like I am missing out on so much because of my ridiculous insecurity. Its so bad. In my mind, I feel like once I can get to that point where I am confident again, then the rest will fall into place. So, here is to December. Thats more 6.5 months away from now. I have 57 pounds to drop. If I can stick to 10 pounds a month, I'll get there. I told myself this wasn't going to happen overnight, but sometimes its a hard pill to swallow.

Day by day.
 
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Sunday morning! Had a really nice weekend. Reaaallly fun. Food was kept in check well. I need to get some more water in, so I'll make that a priority today. Plan on lifting in a few hours and then heading home for some home cooking! Its always really good, but full of caloric food. So, I'm just going to take it easy at dinner (or try too LOL) and compensate the rest of the day to make sure that doesn't sabotage my efforts.

Pulled a 180 regarding the prev post. Feel lots better now. Realized what was upsetting me, and took care of business. Kinda realized that it took me years to get this way. I've been at this for 1 year now, and made excellent progress. If it ends up taking me 1.5+ years, than thats what its gonna be. So, I've made peace with that.

Looking forward to cracking down this week, almost halfway through June! Desperatly looking to hit 252.4, and I really hope I can do that this week! Feeling pretty confident! We shall see!
 
MONDAY

Had a really nice weekend! Felt like it was stretched out, which is a nice change. Got to visit a lot of people I hadn't seen in a while, for one reason or another. It was great catching up with a lot of old faces. Kept the food in check, even when pizza was ordered on a whim at 2AM! Stayed away while friends around me stuffed face. I was pretty happy about that. On a different note, I again didn't find time to make it work out friday-sunday. I plan to take Sunday off regardless, but I'm a little dissapointed I didn't get there those other two days. It only takes about an hour a day, and it typically flys by quickly anyways. I guess I just need to make an effort to get in the car and drive up. Once I get there, I'm good to go haha.


Anyways, back to basics. Got my gallon in front of me, and my meals planned out today. Heck, I even managed to force myself to the grocery store at 11:00 last night, just so I wouldn't have to worry about choosing alternative garbage food because I was out of the good stuff.

Have a good monday everyone!
 
Andy said:
Having a weak moment. I feel like I'll regret the rant later, but its my journal and I need to vent a little stress.

Still pretty unhappy with the shape I see back in the mirror, even considering how bad it was when I started. I feel like my all the remaining fat has settled right in my core region. upper arms/lower legs/face all look very lean. I'm thrilled with how those areas look. The rest not so much. I think its what people call the pear shape. DO NOT WANT!

I keep telling myself that its just going to take more time. Always more time. MORE MORE. Sometimes it feels like the final goal is so far away that its not even real, if that makes sense. It gets overwhelming. I almost feel like I was more secure about my body when I just didn't care. Odd. At the same time, I am terrified that I will slip up on the weekends, and go on a ridiculous binge, thus negating any of the weeks progress. As it is now, I am fighting tooth and nail, and I feel like I am just BARELY getting progress.

I am SO pissed that I let myself get that bad off in the first place. I mean, if I SEMI took care of myself in the past, I could be finished right now, and finally feel happy about my image. God, I crave that so much. On that, I know that when/if I ever get down to that pipe dream goal weight, I will never EVER EVER shoot back up and let it get out of hand. The anguish isn't worth it. Not by a mile.


So I guess the answer is to just keep plugging away. It will come eventually. I just feel like I am missing out on so much because of my ridiculous insecurity. Its so bad. In my mind, I feel like once I can get to that point where I am confident again, then the rest will fall into place. So, here is to December. Thats more 6.5 months away from now. I have 57 pounds to drop. If I can stick to 10 pounds a month, I'll get there. I told myself this wasn't going to happen overnight, but sometimes its a hard pill to swallow.

Day by day.
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I totally relate to this post and all I can say is you are right and it's going to take some time - day by day. I too am not sure I will ever be happy with the image in the mirror - all the marks and loose skin - I just don't think that will ever go away and it doesn't seem fair. A friend of mine asked me recently if I've gone bikkini shopping since I'm so much smaller now and there is no way in hell I could ever wear one of those things! There are girls that don't even work out and eat crap that get to wear them so again it just doesn't seem fair. I know it's my own fault but because I'm making a change and getting to my goal weight you would think it would be enough but it's not. I do think that if I keep it up the skin will eventually get tighter but I think it's going to take years and by then I want to have kids so it's all going to start over again. Something I have been reading about lots lately on here is living in the present - I'm happier with the way I look and feel so much better so I'm just trying to concentrate on that and not think about the past or how things can be in the future - the present moment is all we have and you need to be happy with what you accomplished today!
You had a great weekend and awesome work making it to the grocery store - it's always easier to make choices when all you have is good stuff! I think you are doing great Andy and look how far you have come! Keep it up - I'm really enjoying following you in this journey lately and wish I would have starting reading sooner! Oh well that's the past and today is what counts!! Have a good one!!
 
chubbygirl said:
I totally relate to this post and all I can say is you are right and it's going to take some time - day by day. I too am not sure I will ever be happy with the image in the mirror - all the marks and loose skin - I just don't think that will ever go away and it doesn't seem fair. A friend of mine asked me recently if I've gone bikkini shopping since I'm so much smaller now and there is no way in hell I could ever wear one of those things! There are girls that don't even work out and eat crap that get to wear them so again it just doesn't seem fair. I know it's my own fault but because I'm making a change and getting to my goal weight you would think it would be enough but it's not. I do think that if I keep it up the skin will eventually get tighter but I think it's going to take years and by then I want to have kids so it's all going to start over again. Something I have been reading about lots lately on here is living in the present - I'm happier with the way I look and feel so much better so I'm just trying to concentrate on that and not think about the past or how things can be in the future - the present moment is all we have and you need to be happy with what you accomplished today!
You had a great weekend and awesome work making it to the grocery store - it's always easier to make choices when all you have is good stuff! I think you are doing great Andy and look how far you have come! Keep it up - I'm really enjoying following you in this journey lately and wish I would have starting reading sooner! Oh well that's the past and today is what counts!! Have a good one!!
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Wow, this was a really meaningful comment. Thanks so much Lisa :) I absolutely agree with living in the present. Sometimes its so easy to look ahead and take everything you already have for granted.


Need to start making my decisions based on this mentality, I know I can always use a fresh perspective, so thanks for that!
 
Late update today! Everything is going well with food/water! Staying on track and under maintainence!

One thing I noticed that I have changed is that I only eat now when I am hungry, and only until I am satisfied. I know before, I would eat just because I wanted the taste of something in my mouth, or I (admittedly) was bored and it was something to do. Then, on top of that, I was a star member of the clean plate club. Regardless of whether or not I was full, you can bet that I would eat everything I served up.

I don't know if I have become more in tune with my body, or if I just focus on what I eat more, but I'm happy I am finally eating until I am satisfied, not sickeningly full. Reason I bring this up, is that I have started to split my lunches in half, and eat some around noon, and the rest around 5:00 when I used to get hunger cravings. This keeps me on track until dinner, and my calories in check.


Also, I have 2 months until my next birthday. 60ish days. This morning I was racking my mind, looking for more ways to improve, and I decided that my weekend actitvites are not helping me achieve my goal. I know, its been a glaring problem for a long time, but I used to be losing consistently so it didn't matter. Now, push has come to shove, and every inch matters. With that in mind, i'm going to give up alcohol for the next 2 months and see how that effects me. Its a big goal, but I don't keep any in house, so I just need to do something else if I go out on the weekends.

Got my lifts in, and a fair bit of cardio last night. Closed the gym, but I was ready to go anyways. Trying to figure out something fun to do tonight that will get my heartbeat up. Will update tomorrow!


PS

I also have to move at the end of this month. ACK. Temps are going to be around 100-105 degrees during the day. Moving furniture by flashlight is more fun anyways right?
 
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Had a nice day yesterday! Work flew by, and I got off a little early, so I got a few errands done I was saving for this weekend. Food was REALLY good. Wasn't hungry much all day, and ended up having a nice rounded dinner before making it to the gym. Got my lifts in, wanted to do more, but also wanted to run around. So, I split my time in half and got a decent sweat in.

Weigh in this morning showed 254.6, which is a new low for me! Super happy about that! Just feels like the weight has been a lot tougher to drop lately, so every small loss I'm cheering for. 2.2 pounds until that even 100 pound marker! Which brings me to my latest obstacle.

Vegas. Looks like I am joining some friends on a last minute trip out there this weekend. I know I'll be fine on the food front, but getting enough water? Laughable. Sleep? Maybe. Alcohol? Almost unavoidable. At this point, it looks like I just need to prep hard today and tomorrow and really bust my butt so I can enjoy this weekend. I've heard that the hotels have gyms, so maybe ill stop by and do some of that. Its easy to say that now, so, ill figure out that when I get there. Planning on bringing some health food so I have something to eat and don't end up succumbing to the ridiculous buffets. I cringe when I think of what I used to do to those things.

Anyways, all is well in Andy's life. Will update tomorrow!
 
you could always order water instead of alcohol and plan on drinking "later". just be like im thirsty as a mofo. i just want a water. you can still have fun. any setback you have is correctable so try not to stress to much about it. I would rather see you drink water instead of alcohol though.
 
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