Ok, so it's been a while since I posted. Just haven't had the same passion for exercise and eating right lately. Surprisingly, I've maintain my previous weight loss. I think it might be that I'm still running 3-4 days a week. But, I'm eating like crap, so no fat loss.

So, shake things up today, I did some research on YouTube.com and found some great in-home cardio workout. I just got done with one! OUCH!!!!!!

This killed me. I can hardly type.

Try this below tonight when you get home. It only takes about 10-12 minutes, but its a killer.

First Set: Duration 4 minutes.

Burpees (20 sec. on, 10 sec. off)

Mountain Climbers (20 sec. on, 10 sec. off)

Second Set: Duration 4 minutes.

Bodyweight Squats (20 sec. on, 10 sec. off)

Mountain Climbers (20 sec. on, 10 sec. off)

How bout them apples?

JF

Hello all.

My recent move and schedule have greatly interrupted my daily workout routines.

Time to re-evaluate.

I intended this blog to give me some form of accountability. It's not working. After day 30, my focus and intesity started to wane.

It's not like I've fallen off the wagon totally. I'm still lifting every other day on average. I'm maintaining a 15 pound weight loss. However, I have to admit I'm not on my game when it comes to eating and cardio.

My goal is another 50 pounds. However, I will have to step up the intensity if I'm gonna make it.

The weather is changing outside, so I'll have to move cardio to the basement each morning. Maybe, jump roping and boxing for cardio.

I'm looking into getting a treadmill, but I'll have to save up for it.

It's 1:30pm. Time to eat something.

I plan to write out another 30-day plan tonight and post it in the morning.

Thanks for reading and keeping up. Please comment to the post as a source of encouragement. I need it right now.

JF

Tough times.

After thirty days of really getting after it and losing 15 lbs, I moved. I spent 6 days moving from one house to another and I've been exhausted both mentally and physically. I haven't really been working out with the same passion lately.

I know, I hate excuses too. I really believe part of getting in shape is not only overcoming the pain and discomfort of changing, its also about overcoming adversities.  The past 12 days have been hit or miss. Suprisingly, I got on the scale this morning and haven't gain or lossed any weight.  I've maintained at -15.

I've really been down emotionally this past ten days or so. Maybe I'm just tired, definitely stressed.

It's time to put the excuses aside and get after it again. So, check back, I'll be blogging everyday starting tomorrow morning with day 45.

JF

The last five days have been crazy.

We've been moving into our new house in Cincinnati and I haven't had much time in front of the computer.

Tomorrow will be the last day and I'm so glad. I'm sick of moving. It's the seventh level of hell.

The past 5 days I've been climbing stairs, lifting boxes and burning 1000's of calories so don't fret.

Its all good.

JF

Caught a quick moment to post day thirty-one.

We're packing and moving to our new house this weekend, so the next few posts may be short.

Question of the day: To supplement or not supplement, that is the question.

I had a good conversation with a friend this morning who is really fit about working out and supplementation.  He doesn't supplement, but does believe that it gives a person measurable results quickly. He says he does believe that supplementation can help with recovery too.  The only reason he doesn't supplement is that he just doesn't want to spend the money.

So, let me ask you, do you believe supplementation works and do you think its a crock?

Do people supplement because they don't eat a balanced diet?

What are your thoughts?

Here is a good site to browse articles on supplementation.

JF

Sticktoitiveness.

That's a great word isn't it?

It means dogged perseverance; resolute tenacity.

Thirty days ago I decided that I wasn't going to be fat anymore. Since then, I have "stuck" to three self-promises.

1. Set goals, follow through.

2. Eat healthy, drink water, no supplements.

3. Exercise everyday by doing cardio first thing in the morning, resistance training (weights) 3 times per week.

30 DAY ASSESSMENT

GOALS:

Lose 15 pounds in 30 days. Today I'm at -13. Not bad, but didn't reach the goal.

Feel stronger and less stressed. Totally reached the goals here. I'm feeling more enegentic, mind clear, less stressed.

Make it past two weeks. Obviously, I'm developing workout and eating habits after 30 days. Feels great.

EATING & DRINKING:

Eating heathy: While I have drastically improved what I eat, I am still eat too much and I'm eating before bedtime. Still craving a lot of sugar and carbs. Biggest improvement needed here.

Drinking water: I can remember having a soda maybe 6 - 8 times over the past thirty days. I used to drink 4 - 6 per day. Definitely a win!

EXERCISE EVERYDAY:

Cardio first thing in the morning. Without a doubt, this has been the highlight of the month. Everyday, even weekends, I started walking and now I'm walking/running on avg. 3 miles per day first thing in the morning. Big win here.

Resistance training 3 times per week. I really only started the resistance training two weeks ago, but already have completed two weeks of the hundred pushup challenge and can do about 50 pushups now. bum shoulder and all.

IMPROVEMENTS AND GOALS RESET: (September 23 - October 22)

OVER THE NEXT 30 DAYS, I will lose another 12-15 pounds. This will put me at 235 - 240.  I will eat more "live" foods and try to reduce acid in the blood and increase metabolism be eating smaller portions. NO BEDTIME SNACKS! I will increase cardio and resistance training intensity. I will maintain cardio first thing in the morning and increase resistance training to 4 times per week.  I also will begin a supplementation regimen. I will add two protein shakes per day (84 grams protein, creatine and CLA) to replace two meals.  I feel like this would give the body a good jump start on really burning the fat and building lean muscle.

Weigh-ins will be Tuesdays. I plan on taking body fat % measurements this week. I want to know how much lean muscle I'm gaining. I tend to "switch" fat for muscle when I work out and the scales can be tricky. Measuring body fat % will be a telling sign of how things are going.

GOALS:

I'm in a wedding on October 11. Would love to look and feel better and people notice. I also have about 4 - 5 shirts in the closet I'd like to start wearing again.

Eating more "live" foods means fruit and veggies.

Continue to drink 8 - 10 glasses of water per day.

Increase intensity on cardio and resistance training. Want to be at 7+ on most workout for 90 % of the workout.

Wish me luck!

JF

Bodybuilding | Lifebuilding

How much is building your body connected to building your life?

You tell me.

Click below to comment.

Saturday was a free day. Eat anything, no exercise.

I highly recommend this. I call it reward day.

I take all week to eat right, do the workouts, etc. And then, I eat everything in sight.

Today, I was back at it.

Had a real good work out this afternoon with the kids and then got some cardio around the neighborhood.

Coming this week...

Monday is weigh in, I'd like to be a -15. We'll see.

I've decided to take the commitment up a notch, though.

I'm going to start integrating 2 protein shakes as meal replacements. This means I'll eat 3 real meals per day, 2 shakes and 1 small snack.

My choice for supplements are the following:

EAS Myoplex Strawberry Cream (42g of protein) + Phosphagen HP Fruit Punch (Creatine) + Betagen HP Orange

It tastes good and is high quality. Can be a little expensive, but you can find on it the internet for less.

You should be able to do two shakes a day for about $120 per month. That's less than $3 per shake.

JF

It's Saturday. It's mid-September. It's College Game Day.

Check out my post for today here.

Busy Schedule.

Over the past couple of weeks I've been talking with a colleague by phone. He's asked me a couple of times how the weight loss thing is going and then proceeded to tell me that he started P90X but stopped because he didn't have the time to work out.  Excuse?

Yes, it's an excuse, but one I can identify with. I'm not going to lecture anyone about the way they spend their time, heaven knows, I suck at time management too. For example, I was gone from 8:00am - 8:00pm yesterday. And then, a long-time friend called to talk around 9.  As of that time, I had not done any of my scheduled workout.  So, was yesterday a wash? Did I miss the opportunity? Did I make the excuse, "well, I just didn't have the time today"?

Nope.

I politely asked my friend if he didn't mind talking while I jogged. He said, "Of course not, man."  As we talked, I told him about my weight loss goals and I actually jogged 2 miles farther than planned because we were talking.

So, how do we avoid the "I don't have time" excuse?  Here is some of the stuff I've been studying.

1.  Determine the results you want today.
Yesterday was a cardio day for me. Now, I like to do cardio first thing in the morning, but yesterday, I adjusted the workout to the evening and then took action to achieve the result.

2.  Chunk your day into 3 parts.
This may sound wierd, but instead of working from a list of 10 things to do today, I've learned to "chunk" my day into bigger parts that are results oriented. This has brought more flexibility and longer lasting habits. Let me give you an example.

My friend who doesn't have time to workout actually did at one point. He told me that he got the P90X and started out like wildfire. But, after a week, he stopped.  Now wait, he did the P90X because he could work out at home. This would save time and money. So, why did he quit and make the "I don't have time" excuse?  Here is my guess.

My friend took action but didn't prepare for the time investment. He didn't make adjustments. He didn't really know what result he wanted. So, he simply "added" a workout to his to-do list. So, when his schedule "got busy" the workout was the easiest thing to drop from the list. So, what could he do to make the difference?

Instead of "adding" a workout to your to-do list, I suggest break down your day into 2 or 3 "results" lists and create a sense of momentum for your day. My friend's schedule really didn't more or less busy when he was doing the P90X. He just didn't know how to integrate the workout time into his schedule.

There is a lot more to this "chunking" thing. Start with this article and then search the internet for more info about chunking.

3. Take action out of purpose.
If we don't take action (talking to friend while jogging) we will never achieve the results we want. In order to take action though, there must be a driving force behind what we want. This is called purpose.  You have to know and believe why you are "doing" this. The exercise isn't enough, we must come up with reasons why we want to achieve.

So, here's the assignment.

Trash the to-do list and create the day you want by identifying the results you want.

"Chunk" your day into manageable parts.

Remember the "why".

Have an awesome day, I hope this helps. Let me know by commenting below.

JF