Finally Done with UNYR2 Challenge

The last couple of weeks have been miserable.  Miserable in a good way, but miserable none-the-less.  I started doing Insanity in the morning and CrossFit in the evening six days a week.  Then I started doing Insanity in the morning, CrossFit in the evening, and then Insanity again later that night for the last week of this challenge.  I probably looked like a zombie and I felt kind of like a zombie, but after staring at the results in the mirror, I know my hard work paid off.  My diet really helped me out during this whole competition.  30g or less of carbs every day.  Evening meal I allowed myself some more carbs to help get me through the week.  I was able to drop tons of fat while maintaining as much muscle as I could.  I have never had those ripples in my chest ever.  I have never seen this much of my abs before.  Previously I thought they had gone on a permanent vacation, but I guess it was just that my fat had gotten in the way.  I still have more work to do on my body and I plan on putting in just as much effort to get that way.  I want to see the rest of my six pack.  I want to get bigger arms.  I want a more defined chest. 

It is funny that at school where I teach all of the not overly healthy teacher ladies come up to me and ask me, How did I do it?  The only answer I can give them, eat the right foods at the right time, exercise like its going out of style, and do it consistently for a few months.  It sounds like one of those random infomercials about weight loss, but I guess that's just the way it goes.  I worked hard, sweated like crazy, and did the best job that I could.  I celebrated with a fast food meal(s).  My wife is happy that this competition is over.  One because of the way that I look, and two now I hopefully won't be as crabby.  Thank you to all of the people from the competition that pushed me past my limits and to the extreme. 

UNYR2 Challenge Half Way Body Shots

Hopefully you can see the yellow calculator that is tucked in my shorts.  Here are my front, side, and back half way body shots.  Excuse the messy stuff in the background.

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UNYR2 Half Way Body Shot Comparisons

When you are gaining weight you look at yourself and you see a slow change if a change at all.  You start getting a little bit bigger and your scale looks a little sadder but you don't really feel that you are changing that much.  When I got to 244 I knew I looked different but somewhere in my head I was still denying that I had gained so much weight.  I would look in the mirror, suck it in as much as I could, stand up tall, and make myself believe that it wasn't that bad.  I would stand on the scale and be like, well, at least I'm not xxx weight.  It happens to the best of us and I am going to try my best to not let it happen to me again.

I had looked at my before pictures by themselves and it was disgusting at best.  Then I took my half way shots and looked at them with my originals and disgusting got left in a distant second.  It was absurdly horrendous what I had done to my body.  It almost makes me a little sick.  The motivating part is that I can see a tremendous difference in how I look.  Granted, like most people, I wish the scale was showing a lower weight, but that aside, look at me!!!!  I feel more energized, though its hard to tell sometimes from working out so much, but I know that losing the weight has made me feel more alive.  I have made strength gains in the gym and obviously am dropping fat, which is hard to do at the same time.

Overall my body is shrinking not only on the scale but on the tape as well.  I have lost 1.5 in. from my neck, 5 in. from my chest, 6.5 in. from my waist, 4 in. from my hips, 1.25 in. from my upper arm, 1.5 in. from my upper leg, and .5 in. from my lower leg.  I have lost over 20 inches overall from my body. 

I am happy that we are only half way through this competition because it will give me the motivation that I am looking for to see this thing through to the end.

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UNYR2 Challenge 3-10-12 Update

It's nice to be under 210.  I have been shooting for it for like a month.  I got hung up around 217 for a long time.  Then it was 213.  Then I would jump back and forth between 213 and 217.  I woke up this morning and I was 207.  The other exciting part is I am down to a 37.5 inch waist from a 44 inch at the start.  I also fit into most of my pants now. 

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I've Been Busy

The cliche is that life gets in the way, I'm too busy, I don't have time to workout.  Most people would see the name of my post and think that.  Actually the opposite is true.  I have been spending a lot of time working out trying to find what is going to work the best for me. 

I have been continuing to do the carb nite solution and I feel that it is going great.  I am not dropping a lot of pounds at a very fast rate but I have been dropping and I feel like this is a great approach for me. 

A couple weeks ago I started doing Bikram Yoga.  Quick summary is, 105 degrees, 20% humidity, 90 minutes, 26 poses.  It challenges me in a different way than I'm used to.  Slow deliberate movements that works on flexibility.  I am used to training for short bursts to promote strength and explosiveness.  It's nice. 

Today (Saturday), I went to an intro class for CrossFit.  It was tough.  It was short.  Did I mention it was tough?  We warmed up and went over the basic movements that we were doing and then did our baseline test.  400 meter run, 40 squats, 30 sit-ups, 20 pushups, 10 pullups all done for time.  Goal under eight minutes.  I did mine in 7:47.  It sucked, I was tired.  Again I am used to doing my 30 seconds of hard work, and then resting.  It was a change just like the Bikram.  This was more about endurance for me than anything.  My endurance sucks. 

I plan on doing my yoga for flexibility and balance, crossfit for functional strength and endurance, and weights/plyo's for explosiveness and speed.  This should be a great approach to accomplish everything that I am looking for.

UNYR2 Scale Pic 2-25-12

211 feels good.  According to my blog I haven't been in the 190's in almost four years.  High school I was at 160, college I was at 180, adult I have been over 200.  I am hoping to get down past my high school weight more like in the 150's.  I was stuck at 217 pounds for a long time, like three weeks.  I changed things up a little bit and dropped the weight. 

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UNRY2 Challenge Update 2-13-12

This is my scale pic from February 12, 2012.  I usually upload it to the site, Weight Loss Wars, but they do not like pictures at the moment, so I will upload it here for the records. 

Went to the gym tonight, did my shoulders workout and it went pretty well.  Did my intervals.  I added one second to the work time and took off a second to the rest time.  I know that it isn't much, but it makes me feel good that I am trying to improve. 
I also sat in the sauna again tonight, no particular reason, it just makes me feel good.  I wrote an article about if sauna sweat was as good as the real thing.  I still have no idea, but like I said, it makes me feel good.

I have 82 days left in my competition and I am currently sitting in 4th place.  To reach my goal I have to lose somewhere around 5 to 6 pounds a week.  I have been averaging about 4 pounds a week since the start of the competition, dropping a lot my first week and then tapering off to the 4 pounds a week.  I know 4 pounds a week is good, but I need it to be better.  4 pounds a week will get me down to about 173 which will be a weight loss percentage of 29%.  Again I know that is a good number as well, but not sure if it is good enough.  Either way, I am happy with my weight loss so far, 27 pounds in about 5 weeks.  I hope I can hit my goal.

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Long Time No Anything

It has been a long time, too long since I have updated or done anything really to help myself out. I have joined a website called weightlosswars.com. The short and long of it is people can set up their own competitions be it private or public. I have joined a fairly large competition, 86 people and it has a substantial pot that goes along with it.

I have tried to find the motivation for a long time now to get off my butt and do something productive, but nothing seems to really get me going. I am married so I am not looking for anyone. I do not play sports any more. I am not trying to impress anyone, only myself I suppose. There are really only two things that motivate me, money, and my daughter, not necessarily in that order.

I want my daughter to grow up and be healthy. I want to be able to play any and all things/sports with her for as long as she wants to play them. I don't want to be the dad on the sideline who is out of breath simply by cheering for her when she plays. I want to be the example for her by showing her that she needs to be fit and healthy, not just by telling her.

I am also motivated by money. I mean who isn't? People like money and I am a person, so therefore, I like money. I want to do this to be healthy, and I want to do this for my daughter, but a little money doesn't hurt.

With that being said I am going to try my best to post as often as I can.

I have been doing the Daniel fast for the last 16 days. I have lost around 15 pounds so far. Today was my first sort of workout. I am following the program found at iwantsixpackabs.com. This program will take me through my competition and I plan on sticking with it, unless I need to change it up for something better. I was tired, and I was weak during it. I finished most of the workout, but was lacking big time. I also know myself and I know that when I first start working out after a time being gone, I have to walk that fine line of pacing myself and overdoing it. I tend to error on the side of over doing it and I feel miserable for a while. Tonight I just did what I could so that I wouldn't feel horrible, and so that I would feel like I accomplished something. Give it a week, and I'll be able to push myself once again.