Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Can you say GIVEAWAY??

Ok....hurry on over to Tara's blog at 263andcounting.com and sign up for her amazing giveaway. If you are a runner or want to be, you must check this out. Head on over and tell her Vinny sent ya. :p

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Holy Elliptical Batman!

Have you been reading my blog? If not you need to go back and read some posts because it is the only way you will truly understand what I am about to say.

Tonight I think I can say that I have won a battle. I know there will be other battles and the war is not over, but tonight my friends I stand tall.  Tonight I took this one man army and marched on with one goal in mind, and that was to defeat this machine that people call the elliptical one on one.

It was a tough battle, probably my toughest yet. The last time I took this beast on I broke a personal record of 30 minutes and 2 miles. It was a tough fight and I felt good about it, but I still left feeling it edged me out a little. Not tonight my friends...oh no...not tonight. On this night I left sweaty, tired and sore, but I also left with this:


72 MINUTES and 5 MILES!!!


Don't ever...ever say to yourself that you can't lose weight. Don't ever say that it is too hard for you to exercise. Don't ever say that you're too fat and it's just too much work. Don't ever say these things because I know you CAN do these things. How do I know, because just 3 months ago I was saying I couldn't and today...
      
I AM DOING IT!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Week so far

It's been a few days since I posted so for any who follows this, sorry about that. This has been a pretty good week so far and I am feeling pretty good about my progress.

Monday I worked out for about an hour and a half. I started with my usual treadmill routine for an hour and then moved onto the weights. Tuesday was a killer day. I went to the gym in the morning for a hour and half of treadmill work and then I went again that night with my girlfriend for ANOTHER hour!! Not only that but in that hour I had the best workout ever on the elliptical. Yes you heard me, the elliptical. If you have been following this blog at all you know I hate that thing, it kicks my ass big time and then I'm pretty sure it calls me names. Not this time though! Tuesday it was all mine. So after working out for a hour and half earlier that day and then using the treadmill for 30 minutes that night, I got on the elliptical and did a record smashing (for me anyway) 30 minutes! Not only that, but I kept the pace and did 2 miles in that 30 minutes. That's a 4 minute mile for anyone keeping track. It feels really good to see my progress so far. Wednesday was an OK workout. I worked out in the morning and did my usual weight workout and also did some treadmill work.

As for my running progress, my legs still feel like lead but as long as it doesn't get painful I will try my hardest to run through it. I will also be making the bike and elliptical part of my cardio routine. I need to branch out and get off the treadmill some, I am getting a bit bored with it.

Also, in the weight news, I have not weighed myself yet or had my "measure-in" but I can tell some good things are happening because I can now pull my pants off while they are still belted (on the last notch). Yup, I might need to go down a size.

In other news, I am looking to spice up this blog a bit. I am not much of a blogger and at times this blog to me seems stale. So you might be seeing some changes pretty soon. Also if you have any suggestions  let me know.

Until next time I will leave you with this : "Stupid is the man who continues to do the same things and expect different results."

Monday, May 17, 2010

You can't out train your diet

This weekend was not all bad as far as my weight loss goes. I did not really eat too well, but I didn't go over my daily calorie count either. The main reason for this was we ate out pretty much all weekend and it ended with a birthday party on Sunday evening that let to a bit of over eating. I did however workout Sunday morning in anticipation of the party that night. I have also been logging all of my food this past week so I can keep it at the top of my mind at all times. I am hoping this gets me into a habit of watching my portion control and eating a bit better as well.

Today the gym was OK as well. I finally completed a full workout of C25k. I'm wont be totally happy though until I can complete a full week and finally get off week 1. My legs still feel like lead when I run, I am thinking this might be a weight issue but I am not sure. Any other overweight runners have this problem or am I the only idiot who can't make it off of week 1 on this C25k thing? I can be patient with this but I want to see some progress, who knows maybe this is the week I see some. After the 65 minutes on the treadmill I did my usual Monday weight routine of chest, triceps, shoulders and abs. The good thing about all this is that it's taking me more and more to get my heart rate up to where I need it to be during workouts. When I first started this I could hit my target heart rate just tying my shoes. Now I have to actually start running to hit my THR.

Another thing I am finding out about this weight loss stuff is that it's really hard to decipher all the information out there. Everyone has a "great way" of losing weight and there is always someone pushing a new diet plan or supplement to help. I take in new info everyday while researching this stuff and everyday I come out of it with a sense that I am doing something wrong or that I should be eating certain things or taking a certain supplement. Today is no different. I came across a site that said I should be taking whey protein shakes within 30 minutes after working out, so I started to research whey protein and why I should be taking it. Now I found out some helpful info, but it led me to believe that I NEED to be taking this stuff after all my workouts. So now I am taking this to you...my fellow bloggers. Do I need this stuff? Will it help me in my weight loss? Have any of you had any success with whey protein powders and drinks? I could use some answers because I walked away from today's workout feeling that I wasn't doing my body any good by not fueling it after my workout.

That's all for today. Live long and prosper.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Just another Friday

Not much to say today. Workouts have been going OK and I did another 4+ miles today on the treadmill. I was at the gym for 6:30am this morning and I have to say it felt pretty good. It was not a good feeling getting up that early to go, but getting there is the big battle, after that you just have to stay and workout.


I started using livestrong's Daily Plate website to track my calories and fitness. Are any of you on that site? Maybe we can connect on there. I really need to start keeping track of what I eat, that estimating thing was not working for me. Also, if any of you have a good Excel sheet or other method you use to track your workout progression please let me know, I could use a good one.

Oh and I am still trying to get up the nerve to post before pictures, so they might be on the way soon. Also my first official monthly measure-in will be held on the 1st of June.  These will be the first measurements taken since I took the initial ones back on the 1st of May. Hopefully I see some improvements. I will sprinkle some weigh in results in there occasionally too, but for the most part I am going to track this weight loss by measurements.

Well unless something cool happens over the weekend, I won't post again until Monday. Have a good weekend everyone!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Fo Shizzle

Ok, I don't even know what fo shizzle means. So if I just offended your daughter or something I'm sorry. :-p Anyway, just a few words for today and I'm done with this post. I'll leave you all with this:

4.25 miles today BABY!!

Walked for most of them but it's the most distance I've done on the treadmill yet.

Good day, and may the force be with you! 

Monday, May 10, 2010

Good start to the week

After last weeks mental tantrum this week started off good. I ran a total of a half mile again today (no...still not all at once) and still had enough zing left to lift some weights. I will also only allow myself one scale induced tantrum and will not be taking another week off from working out due to said tantrum.

I do however have a question about running. I find that I feel I have enough stamina to run a full half mile without stopping, but my legs are the ones to get real tired and give up on me. I realize I am hauling a lot of weight around but I'm not feeling I am making a whole lot of progress. I am still stuck on walking for 2 or 3 minutes and then running at 4.0mph for 1 min. Is there something I am doing wrong, or is this normal? Don't get me wrong, I am really happy I am even running at all but I feel that after a few weeks of this I should be running more. Any info you super bloggers can share would be great.

Polar Heart Rate Monitors

If you have been reading this blog you know that a couple weeks ago I won a Polar heart rate monitor from Tony over at antijared.com. I have had a chance to use it a few times (Polar FT7) and as a result I feel I should give Polar a shout out. This is a great little device and I highly recommend it instead of relying on the machine alone to track your calories and heart rate.  The first day I used it I wore it all day. The chest strap is really comfortable and I totally forgot I had it on. I would not call the watch portion extremely stylish but it is not totally ugly either. I found out that machines up your calories burnt count  by about 10% to 15 % and with the monitor on I found this to be true. The treadmill I was on also picked up the signal from my monitor and displayed it on he treadmills screen. That was a big plus seeing I no longer need to have my hands on the bar to track my hear rate. The downside to this was the machine next to me also picked up my heart rate and displayed it as well LOL. Without going into a long drawn out review, I really like this Polar FT7. I think it will come in handy for my calorie counting and keeping me at my target heart rate while working out. If you want any further info just ask.

Protein Shakes

The past week I have been experimenting with a protein shake recipe my friend gave me. I was going to try Matrix 5.0 but that stuff is real expensive so I decided to make my own for a bit and see how that went. Well, not only is it good but it is good for you. I make it as follows:

4oz of low fat or fat free vanilla yogurt (I use Dannon's Activia but am changing after seeing they use aspertame)
1/2 cup of oats ( not steel oats, they are expensive)
5 or 6 starwberries ( leaves cut off)
1/2 cup of banana slices (or a bit more to taste)
3/4 cup 2% milk or skim if you like that. 
Put in a blender for a min or more and you have a great tasting shake that is also good for you. The calories on this are about 450 and the protein is about 21gms. It makes about a 20oz shake that fills you up and the calories are all good calories.

Well that is all for today. Take care and all that good stuff.


Friday, May 7, 2010

Frustrations, Inspirations, Quotations


Frustrations
At some prodding from a few people to update my blog, I figured I should at least let you know what has been going through my head the past week and why there hasn’t been an update.  It has been a rough week on the weight loss front (mentally anyway) and because of that my time at the gym has suffered.
After ending last week on such a high note, Monday kicked me in the tenders so to speak and took the wind out of me. On Saturday I missed my weigh in so Monday was going to be the day. After two weeks of not weighing in I was sure to see some weight loss…right? Wrong, I stepped on the scale and it said exactly the same thing it did 2 weeks prior…311.6 (I know I know, but Vinny I thought you weighed 303? I did, well I thought. I’ll get to that later).   I was so mad I walked out of the gym. Really, just stopped my work out and walked out.  After coming off such a good week thinking this time is it, this time I have the determination, this time there are people backing me up, it was extremely frustrating to see no progress.  So I sulked a bit, took a mental tantrum and didn’t go to the gym all week.
Now I didn’t gorge myself on food all week either. I did have some mind left to sit back and try to put together why I did not lose a single pound.  At the suggestion of my girlfriend, I should look at the fact that I started to lift weights. I should also look into starting a food journal and track calories. I really didn’t think that after two weeks of using weights that I could impede any weight loss, but I do know that I need to count calories now. This estimating stuff that I have been doing just isn’t cutting it. Counting calories has never worked long term for me before but I am willing to give it another try. Besides, I have to do something.  My girlfriend said that if I don’t get my ass back to the gym she will hurt me LOL. So today I will get back to the gym and try not worry about the scale anymore. I took measurements for a reason and I will continue to use those to track my progress.
Inspirations
After weeks like this I guess I need to sit back and take a look at all the inspirations that I have to lose weight. After all, those inspirations are the things that got me started on this journey. There is my girlfriend who is very supportive and looking at her makes me realize I would really like to be around a long time to share my life with her.  Then there are my sisters. They are both into this fitness stuff and give me tips on this whole weight loss thing. They inspire me because they both set their minds to things and were able to run their first 5k last year. Also on my list of inspirations are the great bloggers that I read up on all the time. Reading their struggles and triumphs always lets me know that there are others out there going through the same stuff as I am and there is a way to make this weight loss happen.  Last but certainly not least is my Dad.  He is an inspiration because he has struggled with weight his whole life and 3 years ago had open heart surgery. Now, what is inspiring about this is that he was around 67 years old when this happened and now at almost 70 he has lost a bunch of weight just by dieting and watching what he eats.  I figure if someone at the age of 70 can have the determination to lose weight so can I. Besides, he is always so happy to talk about the weight he has lost so far. I’m not sure of the exact weight he has lost, but I do know that it was quite a bit and he is almost at his goal.
Quotations
Well that is all for right now. I need to get ready for the gym and get back on track mentally for this long road I’m on. I will however leave you with one of my favorite quotes. I’m not sure who said it but I do know that it can be motivational at times.
“To be challenged is inevitable. To be defeated is optional…NEVER give up!”
Oh and one last thing. I have a blog roll over to the right of this page. Consider reading some of those blogs on a regular basis.  They are all great people and have great info to share about weight loss and other topics.  If you have a blog and are not on my blog roll that means I have not discovered you yet. Introduce yourself and I would be more than happy to check out your blog.