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….