Day One

[LeafUF]

November was a huge bust for me. After months of pretty consistently staying in the gym and eating well my schedule really got blown up. And my workouts and eating habits suffered.

To get myself back on track I am going to try posting here everyday for 28 days. I figure I log on to GC everyday anyway so it wont be so hard to do. And hopefully posting what I am doing will give me the extra motivation to get back on track that I need.

Feel free to chime in with whatever advice, encouragement or suggestions you have. And if you want to drop in your own workouts and other info go for it.

[LeafUF]

Stats:
Height - 5'10"
Weight - 185
Waist - 34.5

All in all not too bad of a starting place.

Workout:
5-3-1 with some cardio sprinkled in. I walk a lot because I commute to work most days and I may occasionally take some Krav Maga classes as well.

Diet:
Eat less than I burn. Nothing too extreme. Based on what I like and won't over indulge on my diet will be fairly high protein, low to moderate carb and low to moderate fat.

Supps:
Caffeine
Whey
Fish Oil
Multi
Creatine

[LeafUF]

Day one was a success.

Ate around 1800 calories.

Walked over 2 miles

Lifted for 25 minutes or so.

Hope today is just as easy.

[neisgator]

Good job.

What is your goal?

[LeafUF]

My main goal is just to get back on a consistent routine. Since I really fell apart in November.

For physical goals I would like to get my weight back between 175-180. Hopefully, losing BF while sacrificing as little strength as possible.

I took all of my measurements though I did not list them all. I figure I will measure again in 4 weeks and see where I am at.

[LeafUF]

Just got back from the gym. Deadlift day. I just started doing these this year and I don't know what I was thinking leaving them out of my routine for so long. Probably my favorite day in the gym now.

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by LeafUF

Just got back from the gym. Deadlift day. I just started doing these this year and I don't know what I was thinking leaving them out of my routine for so long. Probably my favorite day in the gym now.

Yeah, what were you thinking leaving deadlift out ?

They whip your butt. And when I'm pressed for time I'll just do the deadlift 5-3-1 then half the weight and do 100 reps for time.

[LeafUF]

Had another good day yesterday. Without the Gators grinding my nerves I was able to watch a bunch of football and not get hammered to make the pain stop.

Ate around 2000 calories. And spent 40 minutes in the gym.

I am sore all over so I will probably take today off entirely. Definitely no lifting. Though if I get bored later I may go do some cardio or something.

[ATL_Gator]

Good luck!

I have sorta had a similar epiphany. My eating habits have slowly deteriorated into crap. Thus far, from mid October until now has been an epic failure diet wise. I don't follow the scale too much, but I can tell a difference in how my clothes are fitting and in the mirror.

Based on this, I have decided to put in place the following plan.
1. My company hosts a 5k run every year in October. I WILL do this in 2011, and put up what I feel is a "respectable" time. I am FAR from a runner, in fact, I hate it. So this will be a minor challenge. I know I can cover the distance, but I want to cover it in less than 25 minutes, if not faster.

2. Be aware of calories eaten. I lost sight of this. Especially at dinner. Dinners were becoming huge and then snacking before and after. Just bad. Get this in check.

3. 4 day workout schedule. 5-3-1 on Monday's and Wednesday's (2 lifts per day). 3 mile jog on Tuesday's and Thursday's.

Will see how well that sticks.

[LeafUF]

Thanks ATL, good luck to you too.

I understand what you are saying about not following the scale. If that was all I looked at I would not be concerned with my weight, but I just dont feel as good as I know I could. And I think I could look a little better.

Looks like you have a good plan going forward. I would make sure to set some short term goals on the running since the 5K is so far off.

[LeafUF]

Yesterday I did end up skipping the gym altogether. I knew I wasnt going to lift anyway and spent the day taking care of other things around my apartment.

I still ate pretty well sticking to just above 2100 calories. My goal is to keep it between 1800 and 2200 which I have so far been able to stick to fairly easily.

And since I am going back to work today I will be walking a lot again today and plan to get back in the gym tonight.

[LeafUF]

Walked my 2+ miles yesterday in the freezing and windy conditions. I feel like that made it harder and not just because my ears went numb at one point.

Didn't make it to the gym, will make up for that today. And luckily, my office which is known for piling junk food on a table right by the door chose to lay out things I can't stand.

Ended up dropping my cals back down to around 1800 yesterday. Today should be a good day, bench press day.

[ATL_Gator]

Good work. Keep it up.

So far so good on mine. Did my run/jog outside yesterday, in spite of it being about 40 degrees. Wasn't too bad once I was able to sweat a little (in my sweatshirt and hoodie), but the first 3/4 of a mile was brutal.

[LeafUF]

Being outside in the cold is rough and trying to exercise is even worse. I know all I am doing is walking and I hate it, I doubt I could go for a run. Its 26 degrees here now, I might forgo the walking today.

Yesterday I managed to get in the gym and do my usual chest day. For the most part I think it went well though I felt a little sluggish on my final 5-3-1 set. Not sure if that was from diet, working out at a different time than normal or from consciously trying to back it down a little.

Its been pretty easy to keep my cals in the rang I want lately since I just dont have any junk around me. So far so good.

[ATL_Gator]

Good work.

Not that it is that cold here, but I know what you mean about exercising in the cold. It was 40 degrees yesterday on my run. Sucky.

I don't know how you are able to stay at 1800 calories a day. It isn't even lunch yet and I have already eaten 700 to 800.

[Sir_Gibby]

What is this 5-3-1 business? I haven't lifted weights since I was a junior in high school.

[LeafUF]

5-3-1 is just a lifting program designed to make slow progressive strength gains. It focuses on Bench, Deadlift, Shoulder Press and Squat. I think I posted the links to it in one of the other threads. I would post again but I dont have the link on this computer.

[LeafUF]

Originally Posted by ATL_Gator

Good work.

Not that it is that cold here, but I know what you mean about exercising in the cold. It was 40 degrees yesterday on my run. Sucky.

I don't know how you are able to stay at 1800 calories a day. It isn't even lunch yet and I have already eaten 700 to 800.

I ended up walking to the train this morning despite it being freezing, bad idea. It was painful.

As far as the calories, its weird, it felt hard the first few days but this is probably my fifth day and it just keeps getting easier. One thing is just making myself busier, the other is caffeine which seems to help. I drink water and chew gum a lot too. And when I do eat I try to make it foods that are more filling for fewer calories. I think that is the big thing. Yesterday I actually struggled to get to 1800 because I only 800 calories by 5pm thanks to a dentist appointment that took forever.

[LeafUF]

Almost one week in and have not broken down yet. Gonna hit the gym for Squats after work today.

I will see how my progress is on them and if I feel like my energy is lacking I am going to manipulate my carbs over the weekend.

I have kept them around 100 g or less. Which is fine for me but I would like to have more energy in the gym and I did not feel that way when I was benching. And squats are even more of a test. I am trying not to sacrifice my workouts as much as possible and I might need to rethink how much of what I am eating to help get the energy levels up.

[LeafUF]

Yesterdays workout went well. Was able to squat 225 for 6 on my last set, which is pretty good for me. All that while staying under 2000 calories for the day made it a pretty solid day.

Weighed in this morning after one week down to 181.