January has been a good month so far.

My running plan has been going well. Its actually seems easier than it was last year. I have not lost a single pound. But that is not my Primary concern while I am in "running training".

I am making a change to my exercise schedule. In the past I worked out 6 days a week. Monday thru Saturday. But I do not work on Saturday's. But I do on Sunday nights. So essentially I have no complete day off. So beginning tomorrow. Saturdays are now my day off. No exercise. My new Workout week will be Sunday thru Friday.

Saturdays will be days to do things for me or spend time with friends. I love to ride my bike (the motorized variety). In addition I am also trying to free up time for a team sport. I am attending an intro session for Rugby on January 31.

Run Fatboy Run

Week two into my 2009 running plan.

Its going well. I did a warm up week and and started the c25k plan Tuesday. I am running Tuesday Thursday and Saturday. It has been easier than it was last year.

I did revert back to my prior lifting schedule. After my run, I do my lower body workout. It seems to work well.

First post of 2009

As I posted last week. My first two months of this year has been set aside to add running back to my exercise plan. I am following the c25k plan again which I found to be very successful in May of last year. My goal is to cut about 10 pounds off my over all weight.

I started my running plan today. My new exercise schedule will be Monday Wednesday and Friday I will do full body workout. Both upper body and lower. The Lower body exercises will be integrated into my normal upper body plan. But the lower body exercises will be somewhat limited. My running plan will be implemented on Tuesday Thursday and Saturday. This will replace my standard lower body plan until I complete the c25k training plan.

December 30, 2008

The end of a challenging year is upon us. Today the US and the world is facing a huge Financial obstacle. I have had a mix of success this year. From a weight and health standpoint I have to be extremely proud of what I have accomplished. I continue to fight a battle with my weight and not always do I feel like I am winning. I have lost weight and I have added a significant amount of Muscle to my frame. I have also added back some of my fat. My weight fluctuates between 235 and 245. I will blame the holiday season for some of that. But not all of it.

My challenge for 2009 is to keep the fat off. I am less concerned with the number on the scale but I still consider it a good overall indicator. Beginning Jan 1, 2009. I am switching my focus for the month from Muscle building to running and cardio. In the last few weeks I have had a few comments from guys at the gym asking if I am a power lifter shows that I have added a lot of muscle. Its time to trim it down some. March 2009, I plan to return to muscle building.

End of a cycle and time to move forward.

In earlier posts, I announced that I intended to add a significant amount of muscle. And I have done just that. I am pleased to announce that in the last 3 months and primarily in the last 6 weeks I have been hitting the gym 6 days a week and pushing myself to lift heavy. I cut out a lot of aerobic exercise- hell you only have so much energy. I have added 13 pounds of muscle over the last 90 days.

To accomplish this I had to increase my calories to feed the growth about 700 kcals per day. That is a lot and Now its time for me to take a break from the heavy lifting that I was doing. Along with that's 13 pounds of muscle there were a few pounds of fat as well. This is expected and I was very happy that I did not gain any more than I did. After losing 82 pounds of fat I have added back about 13 pounds to my weight so I weigh between 238 and 240 on a daily basis. Seeing that number increased freaked me out at first and emotionally it was hard to evaluate my health on things other than a scale.

The most important thing it seems is how do your clothes fit? Well the facts are. My size 38 jeans fit exactly as they did before except the legs are tight now, and there has never been belly lap over. My t shirts are tighter in the chest , shoulders and arms. The belly fits the same. I will post some new picts in a few weeks.

Today is my last day in the heavy lifting and heavy protein cycle I started 12 weeks ago.

I am actually looking forward to the change. I have hurt my knees and my right wrist in this process. Nothing permanent, just some stress. Sunday I will take a break as I do and Monday will begin a new 6 week cycle. Lighter weights and shaping. More aerobic exercises, yoga and for my birthday ( December 20) I am going to finally buy that bicycle I have wanted for a while. I hope that I can eliminate a few pounds of fat in this next cycle. I will be consuming about 700 calories less per day. Check back soon.

UPDATE 10 30 2008

Tuesday will be election day and I expect that Barack Obama will win the office of the President.  This will be a historic event and I feel that the next 4 years will be a very difficult time for the new president.  I am going to take this opportunity to make a long term goal.  At the end of this first term.  I will maintain a weight management program to keep myself healthy.  I am not a big fan of very long term goals and I will not put an exact number on the weight goal as it will change.  My initial weight loss plan was designed to eliminate weight.  The vast majority of this weight was pure fat,  but my body composition has changed.  My fat content while higher than I want is well within an "average healthy" range.  

I am finishing a cycle of adding muscle.  I will take a 6 week break starting in two weeks were my primary focus will not be on muscle gain but on fat loss and muscle maintenance.