Weight Loss and Healthy Living

This journal entry marks the end of my first four weeks and a return from long vacation in South Dakota (I was living in Atlanta, Georgia at the time). It proves that you can go on vacation and have fun while still staying focused on your program (but only if you want to). I also talk about how I used the DietPower software to stay on track through it all.


6/1/2003

Training:

NONE .... REST!!!!!!!

Nutrition:

Supplementation:
1tbsp flaxseed oil
1000mg fish oil
50mg Niacin (B3)
1 tablet "The Bridge" multi-vitamin
4 tablets TwinLab multi-mineral
2000mg Vitamin C
400IU Vitamin E

Breakfast:
1 apple
1 orange
8oz orange juice

Lunch:
1 vegan burrito
1oz chili lime chips

Afternoon snack:
1 Ostrich jerky stick
1 bag protein chips

Dinner:
1 Luna (S'mores flavor) bar

KEEP IT GREEEEEEEN!

6/2/2003

Well, DietPower is mad at me for eating so many calories for my anniversary, so it retaliated by only budgeting 1650 calories! Fortunately, I had double training today, so I was able to eat a bit.

Can I just say that training went AWESOME?!!! It was incredible. Even though I increased the pace for running, it felt like a breeze. It was funny - my Polar heart rate monitor is out of batteries or on the fitz, so I only had my stationary bike (which has a built in heart rate monitor). So I put on the device, then I dragged the bike over next to the treadmill so I could read my heart rate. The bike times out if you don't cycle, so it added a level of challenge to my run, having to constantly reset the controls! At any rate, I quickly made it into the 160's, then I'd futz between 170 down to 160. It is actually interesting because on my 6.4 and 7.4 mph intervals, I'd actually go DOWN .. in other words, the 9.4 would have my heart rate in mid-170's, 6.4 would have it drop to low 170's and then 7.4 it still fell to mid 160's, then it'd creep back up. Even when I hit the 10.4, my heart rate would only hit 181 and then stay there even though I felt like I was going to have an out-of-body experience. I didn't drag the bike around for my weight training, however.

Training:

2.6 miles in 21 minutes @ 6.4/7.4/8.4/9.4 with 10.4 as the fastest minute

5 x 235 barbell bench press
12 x 75 dumbbell bench press
40 x 25 dumbbell flyes

WOOOOO-HOOOOO CAN YOU SAY PERSONAL BEST?! Never done 235 for reps, looks like the 240/reps goal is about to get BUSTED. Werd!

(Repeated two more times with 10% drop in weight each set).

Nutrition:

Supplementation:
1tbsp flaxseed oil
1000mg fish oil
50mg Niacin (B3)
1 tablet "The Bridge" multi-vitamin
4 tablets TwinLab multi-mineral
2000mg Vitamin C
400IU Vitamin E
3x thermogenic (total 60mg ephedrine/600mg caffeine)
2 servings CytoVol
6g creatine

First thing in the morning:
8oz organic apple juice

Breakfast:
1 orange
1 apple
1 cup grapes

Early meal:
1 cup wheat pilaf (whole buckwheat and semolina with seasonings)
2 cups broccoli

Lunch snack:
1 peanut butter granola bar, kid-sized

Afternoon meal:
1 cup split pea soup
2 cups broccoli

Dinner:
1 Clif Bar (Chocolate Almond Fudge)

Post-workout shake:
1 cup crushed ice
1 cup water
1/2 Florida avocado
1 banana
1/2 cup raw sugar

Calories: 2180
Fat: 43g (5g saturated) 17%
Sodium: 1780mg
Potassium: 4180mg
Carbohydrate: 412g (54g fiber / 35g sugar) 71%
Protein: 71g 12%
Water: 189oz (I noticed some gills forming at the sides of my neck today)

Alright ... what to say? HOOAH. That's right. Green, and here to stay. Gonna bust some records and kick it freestyle.

Here's a little rap I wrote back in the day:

Dope rhyme: the definition
Def words, without repetition
Here supplied to confide an inside
Personal guide that does reside
In the mind of my kind that you will find
Is not blind or unkind when asked to unwind
So if you will, be still until
I instill a fill of thrill and kill
All sleepers, who don't wanna dance
If ya don't got a partner, feel free to freelance
Coz I'm just here to make ya feel good
So get on the floor like ya know ya should
Like a surgeon I could lay ya on the table
Cut you rhyme after rhyme until ya unable
To be stable, not a fable, I'm just able
To lead ya like a dog at the end of a cable
I could throw ya a bone but then I'd digress
From the mix at hand, there'd be no progress
PEACE.

(Oh, reminds me of the old Urban Dance Squad ... surprise, surprise, as ya rub ya eyez, nevah knew UDS was as cold as iiiiicccceeeeeeeeeeeeee)

6/3/2003

YES, THAT'S RIGHT! AN ANIMAL!!! Because that's what I found in the gym when I went downstairs ... a raging, fierce, roaring, iron-pumping beast ready to make that iron cringe! I had a fantastic workout, and a terrific day.

Weight: 202 (hooah!)

Training:

5 x wide-grip pull-up w/ 27.5 pounds
12 x narrow-grip rows @ 185 pounds
40 x two-armed dumbbell rows @ 25 pounds

(Repeated with 10% drop - can you say, "massive biceps pump"?)

Nutrition:

Supplementation:
1tbsp flaxseed oil
1000mg fish oil
50mg Niacin (B3)
1 tablet "The Bridge" multi-vitamin
4 tablets TwinLab multi-mineral
2000mg Vitamin C
400IU Vitamin E
3x thermogenic (total 60mg ephedrine/600mg caffeine)
2 servings CytoVol
6g creatine

First thing in the morning:
8oz orange juice

Breakfast:
1 orange
1 apple

Early meal:
Bodybuilder eggs
2 cups broccoli

Lunch snack:
Peanut butter granola bar

Afternoon meal:
1 cup bulghar wheat and semolina
2 cups broccoli

Dinner:
1 sprouted wheat sesame bagel
1 tsbp almond butter
1oz organic potato chips

Post-workout shake:
1/2 Florida avocado
1 banana
1/2 cup raw sugar
1 cup ice
1 cup water

Calories: 2329
Fat: 66g (9g saturated) 24%
Sodium: 2020mg
Potassium: 4130mg
Carbohydrate: 382g (39g fiber / 47g sugar) 63%
Protein: 79g 13%
Water: 196 oz (yeowwwch!)

PEACE! KEEP IT GREEN!

6/4/2003

Er, last post of stats for awhile, at any rate.

Training:
HIIT

Nutrition:
You know the supplement routine.

I'm gonna simplify. Orange juice. Apple. Grapes. Wheat pilaf. Spinach. Lentil soup. More lentil soup. Chicken breast. Praline Pecan Ice Cream.

Calories: 2224
Fat: 55g (6g saturated) 21%
Sodium: 2970mg
Potassium: 6530mg
Carbohydrate: 343g (76g fiber / 73g sugar) 58%
Protein: 121g 21%
Water: 164oz

AVERAGE OVER PAST 26 DAYS:
Calories: 2375
Fat: 72g (12g saturated) 26%
Sodium: 2250mg
Potassium: 3920mg
Carbohydrate: 335g (41g fiber / 52g sugar) 55%
Protein: 102g 17%
Alcohol: 0.289oz 2%
Water: 145oz

KEEP IT GREEN!

6/15/2003

This is going to be very short. I'm still "decompressing" from vacation, and then it's going to be a hectic work week. At any rate, I kept it green all through vacation, and the results are in! I will have my 4 week picture posted later today or during the week (I'll certainly take it today - whether or not it gets posted is a different story). At any rate, here are the current stats:

Weight: 197 (exactly 12 pounds - WTG DietPower!)
Waist: 36.25" (down 2 3/4")
Biceps: 15 1/4" (just barely - starting to drop, let's hope it's fat!)
Blood pressure: no measurement
Resting heart rate: 38 bpm (man, does vacation relax me or what?)
Skinfolds: 36mm (definite drop there - 7mm!)

Vacation was a combination of fruit, bars, and buffalo burgers. Wasn't extremely restrictive - had chili on a few occassions, even potato skins (plain) one evening. However, being out of town and not having access to my scale meant some guestimation, and I purposefully took an extra day from training due to travel, so this meant my calorie budget was low. Here is the average food intake for last week:

Calories: 1704
Fat: 43g (11g saturated) 23%
Sodium: 2320mg
Potassium: 2430mg (see how potassium drops and sodium goes up when you start eating out or eating a lot of packaged foods?!)
Carbhoydrate: 229g (23g fiber / 55g sugar) 54% <-- fiber almost cut in half because i wasn't eating my big bag of veggies
Protein: 92.1g 22%
Alcohol: 2% (I had one 8oz glass of wine in historic Deadwood the day before we left!)

At any rate, I feel TREMENDOUS. Jeans I brought on vacation were falling off by the time we left. Shorts I couldn't fit into I'm wearing right now. Can't beat that!

The vacation was awesome. We went to many beautiful places. Went to Bear Country where we drove amongst Elk, Reindeer, and Black bears just to name a few. Stopped by reptile gardens and marveled at the 217 pound albino Boa and the 600 year old tortoise that has a shell as tall as my daughter, and went into prairie dog town. We drove through Wind Cave National Park and saw wild buffalo and prairie dogs, then stopped in Hot Springs, South Dakota and walked into an archaeological dig at a prehistoric sinkhole with an estimated 150 mammoth and wooly mammoth bones in it. Drove to Mitchell and peeped at the corn palace and ate at the historic Depot where my cousin is the chef (he later gave us 3 pounds of ground buffalo to take home with us!) and my other cousin met us (he sells cadillacs there). Visited my grandmother in Britton along with my uncle on my biological father's side. Drove back through the badlands and hiked up tall hills and, much to the excitement of my daughter, saw plenty of fossils. After that, my grandfather took the wife and kids to see Mt. Rushmore (I have been a few times) and then we drove past the house I was born in at Sturgis, South Dakota on the way to a nice dinner at Kevin Costner's Midnight Star Casino in Deadwood.

WHEW! There's the summary, I'll get highlight pictures up when I can. Won't be on the computer much today. Take care and Happy Father's Day to all those daddies out there, and many returns of the day to those who have already recognized this day!

Jeremy

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