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.