Lessons Of The Week

I'm finishing up my first week of Body Beast and I've learned a couple things this week.

1) I never knew how to lift weights.

I mean, yes, I know how to physically pick things up.But with as much weight training as I've done in my life, this week I realized that the reason I never got the results I was looking for was that I wasn't putting a good program together. Body Beast uses Dynamic Set Training, which means every workout is full of a mix of single sets, drop sets, super sets, multi sets, giant sets, etc. I like to refer to the giant sets as holy shit sets. I've never trained like this before but so far I'm loving it. The workouts are tough as hell and by the end you're pretty much at muscle failure. I'm already starting to see results and now I think I might be becoming addicted.

2) Eating a lot of food is hard work.

That sounds weird to say. I guess if you're just eating whatever you want without a care in the world, you can really throw some food down. But with this program the nutrition plan calls for a serious increase in the amount of calories you eat. But in order to help the muscle growth, it can't just be more calories, it has to be the right kind of calories. They've got me with a calorie goal of 2,884 per day. That's a lot of food. But let's face it, there is a difference between 2,884 calories of fast food and potato chips and 2,884 calories of healthy food. So I've been logging all of my food in the MyFitnessPal app. It's really pretty awesome. If you haven't checked it out, you should.

As I mentioned, this extra food needs to be the right kinds of food. For the first two phases (Build and Bulk) the macro-nutrient breakdown goal is 50% Carbs, 25% Protein and 25% Fat.This can also be tracked in MyFitnessPal. I actually did pretty good with keeping this balance this week. My weekly breakdown ended up being 44% Carbs, 28% Protein and 28% Fat. I guess that's not bad for still trying to figure this thing out.

I'm officially on vacation and heading to the beach with the family in the morning. Really looking forward to getting away for a couple days. We need it. Going to try to keep up with the eating plan, but I know we'll be eating out a lot so we'll see how this goes.

Weigh In Sunday - So, about that plan...

As I mentioned before, I had started a hybrid schedule of Focus T25 and Body Beast. I like both programs, but after about a week and a half I realized something just wasn't feeling right. Basically, for me anyway, I think they're just too different to do together. The goals are too different. T25 is heavy cardio and a fat burner, awesome for weight loss. Body Beast is a pretty hardcore weight lifting program for serious muscle building. And so having such different goals, they also have VERY different nutrition plans. And I think that's what was causing the issues for me. See, according to the T25 plan, I should be eating around 1,600 calories per day to lose weight.But on the Body Beast plan I should be eating much more, around 3,000 calories per day, to support the muscle growth and prevent the body from burning up muscle if it doesn't have enough fuel. So what was happening was I tried to balance my calories but I just wasn't eating enough and by the end of the day I was totally burned out and I felt like I was being counterproductive.

So I've decided to make a change in plans. I'm now focusing fully on the Body Beast program. It's a 90 day schedule, just like P90X3 was. I'm doing the Lean Beast version which includes a bit of cardio to help burn fat. So nutrition-wise, it means I need to up my daily food intake. My target calories are 2,884 which is a lot more than I've been eating over the last 6 months. So it's going to be a bit of a challenge just to make sure I eat enough, which seems weird. Also need to make sure it's the right food so I'm packing on muscle and not putting fat back on.

So yesterday we went shopping. With the increased food, I'm trying to do it as cheaply as possible, buying stuff in bulk and going for some inexpensive but really good food like Tuna. And Produce Junction right near us here in Jersey has super low prices for a lot of fruits and veggies (got 5 lbs of bananas for $2).

And here's the schedule I'm following:

My numbers for this week pretty much show exactly what I was feeling. Everything stayed basically the same. Aside from my weight being .5 lb lower, I had no change. So hopefully that changes with this new program. 

Weight -

Starting Weight: 213.8 lbs

Current Weight: 179.4 lbs

Total Change: -34.4 lbs

Body Fat Percentage -

Starting Percentage: 27.7%

Current Percentage: 18.1%

Total Change: -9.6%

Starting BMI: 31.5

Current BMI: 26.5

Total Change: -5

Time to get Beastly.

Weigh In Sunday - Beast 25

I need to get back to posting more often. The past few weeks I've pretty much just been posting on Sundays. I'm totally slacking I know. Things just get busy during the week so it's tough, but I'm going to make an effort to post more about stuff other than just my weigh ins.

Here are couple of quick updates.

One of the cool things that Beachbody does is after you finish a program you can submit your results and they send you a free T-Shirt for the program that you completed. These shirts cannot be purchased anywhere. The only way to get them is to earn them. And yesterday I got my P90X3 shirt. I earned this one and I'm pretty proud of that.

This week I started a new program. I had been doing Focus T25 and I like it, but I also felt like I was missing out on strength training. So the solution to that - I picked up a copy of Body Beast. If you're not familiar with Body Beast, it's a pretty hardcore lifting program with trainer Sagi Kalev, a former Mr. Israel. What I did was combine the two into a custom hybrid schedule. Basically I'm alternating between the two programs each day. For the first month I'm using workouts from the Build phase of Body Beast and the Alpha phase of T25. So far I love it. It might be a perfect combo. I'm also throwing in X3 Yoga from P90X3 one day a week to take a break from the really high intensity stuff and work on flexibility and balance. 

My goal at this point is to cut body fat and build muscle. I'm thinking this hybrid progam could help me do just that. After the first 3 days, I weighed in this morning and saw my weight go back up one pound but body fat take a nice drop. Here's where I stand right now:

Weight -

Starting Weight: 213.8 lbs

Current Weight: 179.8 lbs

Total Change: -34 lbs

Body Fat Percentage -

Starting Percentage: 27.7%

Current Percentage: 18.1%

Total Change: -9.6%

Starting BMI: 31.5

Current BMI: 26.5

Total Change: -5

Weigh In Sunday - Wasn't Expecting That

This week has been crappy. And that's putting it lightly because my mother will probably read this. I was on the road for work and one night while out to dinner one of my new contact lenses irritated my eye and I woke up the next morning with my eye crusted shut, totally bloodshot and sore as all hell. I had to go back to glasses for the rest of the week because my eye was just throbbing for days. So that was fun. Then I came home and took my son out to this event at the Garden State Discovery Museum here in Jersey. That was fun and he had a great time, but then he tells me he wants to race me. I don't like to turn down a challenge so we went over to this open area of grass to race. We start running along. Yes, I let him win. I mean he's 4. I'll wait until he at least hits double digits before I take him down. But just as we get to the end of the race I step down directly into a hole in the ground and completely rolled my ankle. It was really painful. The pain just shot straight up my leg. I have barely been able to put any pressure on it for a few days now, which means I've also had to skip some workouts. Yesterday it felt better when I woke up and I was going to test it out, but the more I walked on it I realized it still needs another day or so. So I've been feeling a bit frustrated not being able to work out. It makes me afraid that I won't get back to it again. So if I'm not back into my programs within the next 2 days you all have full permission to come to my house, throw the DVDs in and tell me to get my ass off the couch. And to top it all off, the past couple nights have sucked on a whole different level. But that's another story for another time and place.

So when I got up this morning, knowing it was weigh in day and that I probably wasn't going to like what I saw I was hesitant to even do it. But then I got on the scale. And saw that I still dropped another 1.8 lbs since my last weigh in!! BAM! Thankfully with all the crap that's been going on I haven't let my eating plan slip so I've at least managed to keep myself on track somewhat. And the crazy part of that - this 1.8 lbs puts me at exactly 35 lbs that I've lost since February. 35 POUNDS! That's awesome. So even though this week hasn't been the best, I've got a renewed focus today....in several areas...and I'm ready to get back to it.

Weight -

Starting Weight: 213.8 lbs

Current Weight: 178.8 lbs

Total Change: -35 lbs (YEEEEEEAH!!!)

Body Fat Percentage -

Starting Percentage: 27.7%

Current Percentage: 18.8%

Total Change: -8.9%

Starting BMI: 31.5

Current BMI: 26.4

Total Change: -5.1

And today's final thought:

Weigh In Sunday - Hold the Weigh In

I'm on the road for work this week and don't have a scale or my body fat monitor with me so I'll be holding off weigh in until next week. I do have my Shakeology and my T25 DVDs with me and have been working out in the hotel room. But it's probably good I'm not weighing in this morning. Last night we went out to a big group dinner at this pretty amazing Italian restaurant called Ciao Bella in Baltimore's Little Italy. The food was incredible, but the healthiest thing on the pre-arranged menu was the Chicken Parm so I got that. I haven't eaten like that in months and my body doesn't quite know how to handle it anymore. I woke up not feeling so good this morning. I didn't eat the whole thing and I know it was only one meal, but the reason I really don't do cheat meals is because even though it was just one plate of Chicken Parm I feel like I did this:

But I just have to keep telling myself that it's OK to have one bad meal. This is the mental part of this that I've always struggled with. Still trying to get my head right I guess.

I'm just going to keep thinking about The Rock's Legendary Cheat Day and maybe this will make me feel better. I mean he did this and he's the friggin' Rock, right?

On another note, before dinner we went to the Opening Reception of the conference I'm at which was at Camden Yards and we got to do a tour of the ball park which was pretty cool. It's a beautiful park. Here are a couple views from the field.

Ok off to another 10 hours of trade show booth duty. Enjoy your Sunday folks. 

My P90X3 Results

In my earlier post I told you that I had completed all 90 days of P90X3. I gave you the numbers, but thought I'd also show you the physical results. It was really difficult to take pictures like this early on. Actually it's still not easy. But once you start seeing actual results it becomes motivating to see the next batch of pictures to see how you've progressed. All I ask is that you pay no attention to my patchy body hair.

And here are the numbers again. During this round of P90X3 I lost 21.2 lbs, 6.9% body fat, and dropped my BMI by 3 points. 

This program is no joke. If you commit to it, you will see results. And don't forget about the Shakeology. In all honesty I was skeptical about Shakeology.  I wasn't sure it would do anything for me. But now I wake up and my body just craves it. I have more energy and I just feel healthier all around. It's so good that I kinda want to lick the cup when it's gone. And I'll leave you with that.

Weigh In Sunday - Special Edition

I COMPLETED P90X3. 

That's right folks, earlier this week I wrapped up a full round of P90X3. All 90 days, 0 workouts skipped. I'm a little proud of myself for that. Honestly after day 1 back in April I felt like I was going to die. I wasn't sure that I'd be able to make it all the way through. I had tried the original P90X a few times and eventually missed a day or two then lost motivation and stopped. A lot of that I think had to do with the longer workouts. With X3 only being 30 minutes a day it's a lot easier to stick to.

I really can't tell you how much better I feel now than I did just three months ago. I have more energy. I'm not short of breath all the time. I'm not having random sharp pains shooting through my chest anymore. I keep saying that this program saved my life and it truly did. When I list off my numbers below I'm going to also point out how much of each came during this 90 days since I started my overall weight loss program in February. You'll be able to see how much more weight and body fat I lost once I started X3.

Weight -

Starting Weight: 213.8 lbs

Current Weight: 180.6 lbs

Total Change: -33.2 lbs

Weight Lost During P90X3 - 21.2 lbs (64% of total)

Body Fat Percentage -

Starting Percentage: 27.7%

Current Percentage: 18.4%

Total Change: -9.3%

Body Fat Lost During P90X3 - 6.9% (74% of total)

Starting BMI: 31.5

Current BMI: 26.7

Total Change: -4.8

BMI Reduction During P90X3 - 3 (63% of total)

This past 90 days has  been pretty incredible. It's changed my life forever. And it's only motivated me even more to keep improving my health and fitness. I finished X3 on Thursday and Friday I started my next program. I'm 3 days into Focus T25. This is another great program for those with time constraints. The workouts are even shorter at only 25 minutes each, but they are NON STOP. Shaun T doesn't let up. It's also much more cardio based, which is what I think I need now to try to burn off the remaining belly fat that I still have. Here's to getting it done. 

Weigh In Sunday - Burnin' Fat

Now that I've gotten my weight down around the range I was targeting, I'm not as overly concerned with that number as much as I am with the body fat %. I really want to get that down. Eventually my goal is to be in single digit body fat range, but still got a way to go on that one. However I've seen a nice drop over the last 2 weeks. My body fat has gone down by 1.3% over the last 2 weeks. I'm pretty happy with that. I'm looking forward to starting T25 later this week once I wrap up these last few days of P90X3. Although I have to say, I'm going miss X3 and I will most definitely be coming back to this program in the future. It's so amazing and as I've said before, it literally saved my life.

If you're interested in joining me with T25 or maybe getting into one of my free challenge groups, connect with me on Facebook. Here are my two pages:

www.facebook.com/stevelovejr
www.facebook.com/stevelovebeachbody

And I really encourage you to check out my wife's blog too. She's kicking some serious ass with Les Mills Combat. She's getting great results. Go here: http://whenyouwishuponastars.blogspot.com/

Let's check out this week's numbers:

Weight -

Starting Weight: 213.8 lbs

Current Weight: 182.6 lbs

Total Change: -31.2 lbs

Body Fat Percentage -

Starting Percentage: 27.7%

Current Percentage: 18.6%

Total Change: -9.1%

Starting BMI: 31.5

Current BMI: 26.9

Total Change: -4.6

Creature Of Habit

It’s 10:30 PM and I just finished the Eccentric Lower program from X3. I normally get up early and get my workout in before work. I haven’t been feeling that great the past couple days and the last two nights I’ve fallen asleep on the couch only to wake up around 1:00 am and then up to bed. Then this morning I overslept and didn’t have time to workout so I had to wait until tonight. I felt really off all day, like I was doing something wrong by not working out. See, I’m very much a creature of habit. Once I get committed to something I become addicted to it. I’ve always been this way. It’s worked both for and against me. As mentioned before, I’ve had some ups and downs with my weight throughout my life and a big part of that has had to do with my ability to develop habits, good and bad.

Back in college when I was horribly out of shape and decided to get healthy I started with small changes. Once I started seeing results it became an obsession. I become totally focused on losing weight and getting fit. I loved everything about it. Back then my dream was to open a gym. Now I wish I had changed my major to Kinesiology or something. But instead I got a business degree as if that would help. If I could give my college self one piece of advice now it would be – change your major, idiot.  But I’m getting a little off topic. My point is that I became addicted to fitness. I worked out constantly, ate totally clean. By the time I graduated from college I had lost 55 lbs over the course of about a year and a half. It totally consumed me.

Shortly after graduating I was at work and having a bit of a bad day. A few guys were going out to have a cigarette and for some stupid reason I thought I’d just go have one. I hadn’t smoked in a couple years but I was in a pretty bad way and caved. By lunch time that day I was at Wawa buying a pack (if you’re not from the Philly area google Wawa NOW – best place ever). After that I smoked about a pack a day for the next couple years (sorry Mom and Dad). I also started drinking pretty heavily. When I say heavily I mean that when I went out I was going out with the intention of getting very very drunk. Again my habits consumed me, but this time they were very bad habits and they killed my health. I had some fun, but I was not in a good way.

Eventually I wised up and quit smoking again and really cut back on the drinking. But it wasn’t until recently that I really started focusing on my health again. And now that I am, I’m completely addicted again.  I’m highly focused and I’ve got a pretty solid routine going. The problem is that because of my obsessive nature, if anything in my routine changes it totally throws me off and I don’t feel good about it. Like I really have a hard time dealing with it in my head. I can’t even tell you how many times today I thought about how I didn’t work out this morning. It drove me crazy.

A lot of people have made comments to me over the last couple months about how I should have a little cheat meal here and there and don’t need to eat 100% clean all the time. And while I do totally agree that if you eat healthy 90% of the time, you’re in good shape. The reason I don’t let myself do that is because I don’t want to add back in any bad habits. I’m afraid of where it would lead. I’m afraid of the “I’ll just have one” situation again. So I stay away from it. I’m a creature of habit. But from here on out, I’m pretty driven to make sure only the good habits hang around. 

Weigh In Sunday - Everything's Down!

Getting close to the end of P90X3, just 11 days left now.  I'm pretty happy with my numbers this week. Everything took a nice dip. After I wrap up X3 I'm going to be starting Focus T25. If anyone's interested in joining me with that one I'd love to have some company. Find me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/stevelovejr

Also, remember to check out my wife's journey too: http://whenyouwishuponastars.blogspot.com/

Now let's get to the numbers:

Weight -

Starting Weight: 213.8 lbs

Current Weight: 182.0 lbs

Total Change: -31.8 lbs

Body Fat Percentage -

Starting Percentage: 27.7%

Current Percentage: 19.3%

Total Change: -8.4%

Starting BMI: 31.5

Current BMI: 26.9

Total Change: -4.6

BONUS PHOTO!!!

Happy 4th of July (on the 6th) from our little family:

A Little Reminder

It's not easy to lose weight, to stay focused, eat right, keep up with your workouts. There are days when my alarm goes off at 5:00 AM and the absolute last thing I want to do is get up and workout. I would love to just roll over and go back to sleep. There are days when I don't feel like taking the time to cook something healthy when it's so much easier to just order a cheesesteak and fries. But every once in a while I get a little reminder of why I need to stay on this path. That little reminder is an almost 4 year old named Parker. He's the reason I get out of bed and push play on the workouts. He's the reason I opt for grilled chicken and veggies over take out. I want him to see me doing things to improve my health. I want to be a good influence on him. And I think it's safe to say that the healthy changes my wife and I have made are rubbing off on him. On Sunday morning we went out to breakfast with some friends and their kids and Parker asked me if they had Shakeology on the menu.

And then there's this. He has become obsessed with doing Les Mills Combat with mommy:

I hope he never loses this enthusiasm for "doing his workouts"

Weigh In Sunday - 30 LBS GONE!!

That's right ladies and gents, as of this morning I have officially gone over the 30 lbs mark since February. I'm pretty excited about that. It's been a long road, but consistency, dedication and busting my ass are paying off. My weigh in results for this week are below. Body fat percentage stayed level, but a nice dip in weight and BMI so I'm totally good with these numbers.

Oh and before we get to that, I also wanted to point you all in the direction of my wife's blog. She's working hard too and also documenting her progress. She's using the Les Mills Combat program (and Shakeology of course) and she's killing it. I'm really proud of her for what she's doing and what's she's getting into with her blog. I know it's not easy for her. She's also a much better writer than I am so go read this too, just make sure you come back. http://whenyouwishuponastars.blogspot.com/

And now back to our regularly scheduled results show:

Weight -

Starting Weight: 213.8 lbs

Current Weight: 183.2 lbs

Total Change: -30.6 lbs (Boooyahhhh!)

Body Fat Percentage -

Starting Percentage: 27.7%

Current Percentage: 19.9%

Total Change: -7.8%

Starting BMI: 31.5

Current BMI: 27.1

Total Change: -4.4

So that's where I am.

I'd love for you all to join me on Facebook as well if you haven't already. Here are my pages:

www.facebook.com/stevelovejr (be my friend)

www.facebook.com/stevelovebeachbody (like me)

See ya next time.

The Way Of The Hand

Since I started this journey a few months back I've been really good with my food choices. It's been all healthy food all the time. I haven't had any junk food, fast food, alcohol or anything else that would derail my results. The one thing I haven't been overly strict on has been my portion control. I really need to work on that because it's certainly possible to over eat healthy food too. I've got 22 days left in the P90X3 program and I'm making it my goal over these next 22 days to really do my best to stick to the portions listed in the X3 Nutrition Guide. I'm hoping that by sticking to these guidelines I'll really be able to blast the remaining belly fat that's still hanging around.

So I thought I'd share some of the info in the Nutrition Guide. I know it's tough to read some of the items listed in these pictures so if you have some questions just fire away.

Based on my current weight and goals, this is the meal plan I should be following. The numbers are number of servings of each: Protein, Carbs, Fat. And yes, your body needs a certain amount of fat and carbs.

So how do you measure out a serving? If you have a measuring cup and/or food scale those are the most accurate ways of course, but if not...just use your hand. The guide below shows you how to measure food with your hand and then in the food lists you'll notice amounts listed as "1 fist" or "2 fingertips."

Here's a sample of how the food is listed in the guide. All of these foods are healthy, but they're listed from "healthiest" at the top to "healthy" at the bottom. These are the protein and fruit carbs pages. If you're interested in what else is listed just let me know. Hopefully you can read these. 

So starting tomorrow I'm really going to try to stick to these portion sizes. I'm going to plan out my meals as much as possible. Here is what I put together for tomorrow. We'll see how this goes...

Breakfast	Shakeology w/ 8 oz Almond Milk and Banana
AM Snack	Strawberry, Mango, Pineapple Mix (Frozen, thawed) & 6 Whole Raw Almonds
Lunch	6 oz Lean Ground Turkey, Avocado Slices, 1/3 cup Quinoa
PM Snack	1 1/2 Cups Broccoli (cooked)
Dinner	Skinless Chicken Breast, 10 Brussel Sprouts, Bell Pepper/Onion Mix over Lettuce Mix, 2 Tbsp Grated Parmesan Cheese

Oh yeeeeeah

So I've had this pair of size 36 jeans sitting in my closet for God knows how long. They haven't fit me in years. This morning I decided to try them on and see where I stand. Turns out they not only fit, they're a little bit LOOSE on me. Wow. That is all.

Weigh In Sunday - I'm under 20% Body Fat!!

Ok, so i'ts not much under. My numbers actually stayed pretty level this week. But for the first time in who knows how long, my body fat came in under 20%. That's right, it's......19.9%! I'll take it. It's progress. And I'm pretty sure the last time my body fat was under 20% was about a decade ago. So I'm happy. About a half pound drop in weight and BMI stayed level.Here's my current stats:

Weight -

Starting Weight: 213.8 lbs

Current Weight: 186.0 lbs

Total Change: -27.8 lbs

Body Fat Percentage -

Starting Percentage: 27.7%

Current Percentage: 19.9%

Total Change: -7.8%

Starting BMI: 31.5

Current BMI: 27.5

Total Change: -4.0

Target hit

Well, today is the day I had in mind back in February when I decided to start on this journey. I didn’t want to turn 35 feeling the way I did back then. And today I turned 35. And today I feel about a million times better than I did in February. I’m down around 28 pounds. I’m no longer short of breath constantly. I don’t have any more occasional sharp pains in my chest. You know, life is good. I had set a target for myself of losing 20lbs by my birthday and I surpassed that target. Now it’s on to the next goal - 6 pack by Christmas! 

Here are my updated results photos since starting P90X3. I’m really happy with where I’m going. 

Weigh In Sunday

As I mentioned in my last post, I was traveling last weekend so I wasn’t able to weigh in, so these results are over a two week period. I’m pretty happy with where I’ve gotten. When I started out on this mission my goal was to be in better shape by my 35th birthday. Well that’s this coming Wednesday and I’d say I’ve certainly made a few improvements. 

Weight - 

Starting Weight: 213.8 lbs

Current Weight: 186.6 lbs

Total Change: -27.4 lbs

Body Fat Percentage -

Starting Percentage: 27.7%

Current Percentage: 20.0% 

Total Change: -7.7%

Starting BMI: 31.5

Current BMI: 27.5

Total Change: -4

And now the journey continues….