Bench Pressing Earth

Lots going on around here, so not a ton of time, but I just wanted to let everybody know that I've gone back to my old school push up program in an effort to get back on track. I started last night, and instantly noticed the loss of strength and muscle endurance I've had over the last two months.

My thought here is to go with what works, and doing the sets of push ups scattered through the day, then adding in walks, runs, etc. worked wonders for me.

For those not aware, I simply do a set of push ups, go about my day, do another set, take care of the kids, do another set - until I end up doing roughly 100 - 150 or so push ups over the course of a day.

This is how I started my whole thing back a year ago, and I lost a lot of weight, and gained noticeable muscle doing it. I feel the need to go back to square one right now, so I am. For better or worse.

Here's to finishing this awful year strong.

Ugh...

And now if I can just lose this sore throat/cold/flu thing, I can actually DO the workout in the post below. Stupid sicknesses.

No major word on the Michigan thing - still hovering about 80% sure we're going to be out there in March sometime. And when we get there, HUGE housewarming party at our place.

Behold...The PLAN

Alright, so, it's Colorado, which means the blizzard could come at any second, and then again a few seconds after that, etc. Point being, working out in the outdoors of Colorado during the winter can sometimes be challenging. Of course, other days will be 50 and sunny.

Still, my options are limited, so I need to find something quick and easy to do to get back on track. So, leave it to Men's Health to give me something I can sink my teeth into.

Click to enlarge, if you'd like more detail. The Pistol Squats are going to be funny. Not "whee, this is fun!" funny. but more "look at that dude trying to do those" funny. 8-10 reps on each leg? Yeah, I'll be lucky to do 4-6 TOTAL for the first several weeks. But you have to start somewhere, I guess.

I'll do this 3 days per week as they suggest, and I'll try to get Becky to lace up the sparring equipment a few other nights per week so we can do something a little different.

I'm going to need some warm pants, some non-bulky gloves, and one of those cool Under Armour hoods to keep me from freezing out there. Maybe Santa can oblige...

Also, I'm back to 1,800 calories today, with 5-8 large glasses of water. No more screwing around. I haven't weighed myself in the last 4-5 days, and I think that's wise. If I see a number I don't like, it's more likely to disable me than it is to push me. So, I'll be perfect for five days, and THEN I'll weigh myself. I just need to focus on my performance for a while, and I don't want that number to get the way.

In other news, mainly for the Michigan branch of the Coalition, things look pretty good right now. The original reason we were trying to get out there is still being worked through, but Becky also has another, somewhat-related opportunity that seems to be presenting itself. We'll know more about that later today. But, if we had to put a number on it, we'd say that the chances of us being out there by early April are in the upper 80% range.

Stay tuned...

Checking In

Well, I have sucked yet again these last several days. Lots of stress that I have NOT been handling well. But we hope that will go away soon.

Met Rob for the first time ever after knowing him for four years, met Kristen for the first time since roughly 1995, when I likely ordered a Big bacon Classic from her at the Rawsonville Rd. Wendy's, and I met Melissa for the first time since ever. Significant others, too.

I just want to say that meeting you all was AMAZING. You've re-motivated me to get my butt moving again. You guys were all an inspiration to me last night, and I want to say thanks for that.

I hope it's not too much of an assumption to call you all my friends. You can always use more, right?

Still some potential big news today, and I'll fill you all in as soon as I know anything.

Talk to you all later!

Greetings from Meeeeechigan

Hope to have some major news and updates for the coalition on Sunday. Until then, aren't we cute?

http://www.antcliff.photoherald.com/

BiggerFatterWider

That's my new blog name.

Dude, I've been sucking like a Hoover the last two weeks. Thank GOD I'm only about a pound up from the last time I blogged, though I DID see two days where I saw 280.8 and 280.4.

It's bee a nasty three weeks. I worked out ONCE since I started my 12-week program, and I've put on a pound.

Food? No discipline. Working out? Too many excuses.

It's been ugly.

I'm leaving for Michigan on Tuesday afternoon, and my goal was to be under 270 by then. Well, that ain't gonna happen, people. My new goal is to just get back to the 272.5 I was at several weeks ago.

I find myself disappointed in who I've been these last couple weeks. I'm pissed at myself. Two days of 280's? Really? I mean, I actually feel fatter. My chest feels flabbier. My arms look scrawnier. The mirror has NOT been kind.

How do I let that happen? I have no idea, but it stops today.

By Tuesday morning, I WILL be AT LEAST 272.6 on my scale. I will have counted every calorie for five days. I will have done as many sets of push ups, curls, shoulder presses - whatever - as I can do by then. I'll get back to taking walks, or tossing a football.

I'll do everything I've been doing to get myself from 363 to 272.

And I'll do better about blogging. I just haven't cared enough to put thoughts down on cyber paper. But I'll blog every day between now and vacation.

There's a lot going on with us right now - some kind of stressful situations, and a lot of uncertainty about our future - but to blame my lack of focus on that would be wrong. My lack of focus is solely responsible for my lack of focus. Nothing else. Nobody else.

And so, here I go again with the reset button. It's helped in the past, so we'll see how it does this time around.

Wish me luck.

Not off to a Great Start

Eating has been great. Haven't topped 1,800 calories so far, which is good. But I haven't worked out at all to this point. It's been a mix of lack of time and lack of energy due to a lack of sleep. I did take the girls for a 2-mile walk yesterday to get them out of Beck's hair, but that's been about it.

Of course, my weight was WAY back up today, which makes perfect sense. Eat great, do something active, put on 1.4 pounds.

Stupid.

So, here's what I'm going to try to do over the next few weeks - until the Colorado Blizzard Season makes itself known:

> Sprint/Strength Circuits 3x Per Week
60 yard sprint, 25 plyo hops, 10 push ups, walk to starting point, repeat until death

> Dumbbell Workout 3x Per Week
Bench, row, curl, shoulder press, shoulder extension, straight dead lifts, squats. Use moderate weights and reps, 3 sets of each.

> Add in basic crunches and sit-ups on Weight Days

I'm hoping my dad doesn't know about this blog, but Beck and I are bringing our girls to him for a surprise early Christmas gift. We'll be taking a day off from Grand Rapids to head to Detroit to meet up with the Michigan branch of the Coalition at a Pistons game. My big goal right now, outside of getting to 260, is to be 10 pounds lighter on 12-9 than I was on 11-12, when I started this thing back up. That would mean that I'd need to weigh in at 267.4 - on a foreign scale - on the 9th.

100% doable.

So, I'm going to make a real effort to do my Cardio stuff this afternoon. We have a meeting at 3:30, and Beck and I both need to go do this today, so timing will be tricky. We'll do what we can, though.

Anyway, just wanted to get some thoughts on "paper," so I now return you to your regularly-scheduled blog-reading...

My 350th Post

Let's play everybody's favorite blog game...

Good News / Bad News!

Good News: Weight went down 2.6 pounds from yesterday, placing me back under 275 at 274.0.
Bad News: I STILL need to lose 3.2 pounds to get back to my lowest weight of the transformation.

Good News: No fire alarms last night.
Bad News: I was still up from 2-4, and I have no clue why.

Good News: I don't have any obligations today, so I'll have time for some sort of workout.
Bad News: I'm still feeling wiped out, so it ain't gonna be easy to push through.

Alright, enough of that.

Took my measurements Monday to start this 12-week stretch. Here are the comparisons to my last set of measurements on July 28th:

Neck:
18/18, no change

Chest:
49.75/49.5, -.25"

Bicep:
15.5/15.32, -.12"

Waist:
47/45.5, -1.5"

Hips:
43/41.5, -1.5"

Thigh:
24/22.5, -1.5"

That's about it, everybody. Another day in the fight we're all fighting. Just do the best you can today, and don't worry about yesterday or tomorrow. It's cliche', but let's all just take this things one day at a time. It's all we can do.

Day One - Ugh

Calories - 1,790
Workout - Nada

So, yesterday kind of blew. We were all over the place with work-related errands in the morning, then we came home, put the kids down for naps, and we each had some more work we HAD to get done.

Next thing we know, it's 4:30, and we have to walk over to Target, as we promised our oldest we'd so when she woke up. We got back home around 5:30, and I kept the kids busy while Beck made us some 3-bean turkey chili.

We eat at 6:15, finish up around 6:45, and now we're playing with the kids for a little while before work calls again. Now we're both back at work.

Fast-forward to 8:15, and it's sleepy time for the kids. The youngest needs some special attention to get her down (teething), so I keep the oldest busy while Becky deals with the baby.

It's now 9:00 p.m., and I put the oldest in bed. Now Beck and I are available, but we both realize we have some more things to do.

And now it's 11:00 p.m., and I need to unwind. So, I pop a game in the 360. Now, I know that I COULD be lifting right now, but it's been a long day, and I have nothing in the tank. I SHOULD have powered through and done what I needed to do, but I took the easy way out.

So now it's 1:30 a.m., and Beck and I are wiped out. So, we head to bed, and 45 minutes later our fire alarm goes off. It seems one of our downstairs neighbors was trying to knock a door down to beat his wife (all heresay), and she got out and pulled the fire alarm to get the police there.

So, from 2:15 to 2:45 our entire apartment building was filled with a constant, shrieking "BEEEEEEEEP-BEEEEEEEP-BEEEEEEEEP." The fire department finally got things turned off before 3, so we were all back to bed. Well, all except the baby, who decided she was pissed and was not going to go back to sleep anytime soon.

So, Beck tried to rock her out, and I stayed up as moral support. And it was 4:30 a.m. by the time we were finally back to bed.

And I was up at 9. I have NO energy, my eyes are blurry, I feel numb - it's not going to be a good day.

In good news, I did eat 100% clean yesterday, and my calories were right on track at 1,790. I could have had 1/5 of a slice of cheese if I wanted and still been at 1,800! Whee!

Here's to a better day today.

And to the many of us who are still struggling, I hope I can count on you to be here with me. I don't need comments, as I know I've been struggling to find time to comment on your blogs. But I still read, and I'm following along with all of you. I need you to be strong for me, and I'm going to do all I can to be strong for you.

Screw This Noise

It's back on tomorrow, people. Just like Rob, I weighed in before bed last night (Rob, we're MORONS), and I saw 280.0. Now, I dropped four pounds overnight, and I'm 276 this morning, so I've pretty much maintained over these last three weeks. But that 280 sucked the life right out of me, man.

Maintenance is cool, and all, but I can't worry about maintaining until I actually get to my goal weight.

The good news is that I feel the fire creeping back in. I told Beck we need to get the sparring equipment back out. I'm going to be laying out a dumbbell workout for each of us this afternoon. I'm back into my Under Armour addiction phase.

I mean, look at those dudes on the top of the page. The one guy is like, 100 years old. If a dude that's 100 years old can get that lean and strong, I sure don't have any excuses.

The other dude has HIV. One of the deadliest viruses in the universe, and he transforms like that.

Dang.

So, here's the deal. I STILL don't have a gym. I STILL can't afford a trainer or supplements. I STILL can't go to boxing training. It's me, my 100 pounds of dumbbells and my $7 dumbbell bench. Would I prefer to have access to any or all of those things? You bet. But I can't let my lack of extras stop me. I'm down 90 pounds without spending a single day in a gym, and I can drop another 20, if need be.

So, here's how it's going to work-

Dumbbell weight workout 3 days per week
HIIT Cardio (sprints? stairs? hiit sparring?) 3x per week.
Saturdays off

Goals-

Drop my final 16 pounds (more if needed)
Achieve noticeable toning improvements
Increase strength
Increase cardio endurance (mine still blows)
Achieve 90% or higher success over the next 84 days*

*I'm only shooting for 90% because of our schedule. When deadline week comes, things get NUTS. If I can stay at 90% those weeks, I'll kill this thing.

Misc.-

I will be counting calories - not portion sizes
I'll aim for 1,800 calories per day
No Myoplex or EAS supplements
I will be buying Kashi Go Lean Fiber/Protein rolls**
Saturdays off

**I'm choosing these because they're gross, so I won't be tempted to eat the whole box in one sitting, which I have been known to do before.

I started the process last night. I went to Wal Mart at 9pm last night to go get some snacks. Did I get SNICKER'S? Reese's? Ice Cream? Candy Corn?

YEP!

Just kidding. I bought us each a couple of Kashi bars. Lower calories than 2 candy bars, and lots of fiber and protein. The journey of 100 pounds begins with a single good decision. I think that was a pretty good one.

Also, idle note-

We took our kids trick or treating this year, and I saw something truly sad - kids walking, mom - HUGE mom - riding along side them in her car. Now, do I have all the facts? No. Is it possible she CAN'T walk? Sure. But, on the surface, it made me a little sad. Assuming she was driving out of laziness, I wonder if she's made the connection that that may be WHY she's so out of shape? I don't know, but I know I'll never be that way with my kids. Never.

That's it for today, kids. And a quick word of advice? DON'T WEIGH IN AT 11PM!

Later.

Go, Lions.

Weighing my Options

As usual, not a ton of time. But, I wanted to toss this out there and get some feedback.

I yanked out my old copy of Body for Life tonight and read a few pieces of it. While I don't agree with everything Bill Phillips preaches in that book, I do have to admit that a lot what he says rings true with me, and his training and eating focuses sound pretty reasonable.

I've tried BFL in the past, but I always quit after a week or so. Never saw it through. I'm wondering if, now that I've lost 90 pounds over the last year, if I'd be more apt to finish it this time.

Some of the positives:
BFL lays out a pretty good workout, of which, I could do about 80% of the exercises with my dumbbells.

I'm already down to 15 pounds to go to hit my goal weight, and spending 12 weeks focusing less on weight and more on working out and eating right could help get me focused.

The food that BFL suggests are now foods I'll eat. That wasn't the case the last time I tried this.

I'm just not sure. I can't afford the myoplex crap they want you to take, but maybe some Kashi protein and fiber bars for midday and evening snacks to replace them?

I'm not sure what I'm going to do next. I feel stuck in mud right now. No motivation, no energy, no desire or drive - it's bad, man. This is by FAR the worst funk I've been in since I started this thing.

Guess we'll see what happens, huh?

Anybody have any thoughts on the BFL program as it would relate to me at this stage? Or any general comments on it?

Still Plugging Away

It's been a crazy few days - a lot going on in the professional and personal words.

Quickly, I'm down three pounds in two days as my eating has finally leveled off. I'm hoping to get back on the weight bench tonight.

From here on out, it's just business. I have a job to do, and I'm going to do it. 259.9 by Christmas morning.

I gotta admit, it's gonna feel good to go from 6-8, 365 to 6-8, 259. I'm looking forward to it.

Motivation

This helps get me fired back up.

Damn.

To put it simply...

I've sucked.

Not a ton of time, but here's the basics:

Ate too much, didn't work out, put weight on, need to fix it.

I'm back up to 276.4. Two weeks ago I saw a 270.8 on the scale. The truth is, this could be MUCH worse. I tried to do well for about 2/3 of each day, but it was that last 1/3 that killed me.

So, here are my "back on the horse" goals:

By Thanksgiving Morning - See a 268.8 or lower on the scale
By 12-04 - See a 266 on the scale
By Christmas Morning - See a 259.8 on the scale

How will I do it?

Count calories again
Drink more water
Hit the weights again
Hit the sprinting again
Take walks with the family again
And keep my calories under 1,800

So, I'm back, I'm mad, and I'm determined. I'm hoping that produces some serious results.

I'm Swapmed

Still here, but wanted to explain my lack of blogging.

The company I work for (Score Publishing) produces Colorado Hockey Insider. Well, we also now publish Colorado Football Insider in print and online. And we're also working on putting together several other Web sites to cover other sports that will eventually turn into publications. And I'm trying to staff all of the papers and sites this week.

And it's deadline week.

So, getting a few minutes to come up for air is rare. Yet, here I am.

Otherwise, things are going alright. Hit a new low with a 270.8 yesterday, then ate pizza last night (moron), and was back up to freaking 273 this morning. Still somewhat sick, though I'm feeling better.

Things should get back to normal next week, and then it's on to 260.

Everybody take care!

Still Alive

Not only did I get Beck's cold, but I think I got the flu on top of it. So, I've been barely mobile the last four or five days. My days have consisted of getting up, changing diapers, making breakfast, and laying on the couch until bed time. It's bee awful.

Here's the awful news: When I'm sick, I CRAVE crap. I mean, I CRAVE it. Pizza, burgers, chinese, wings, cookies - I want it all. And this week, I ate it all. Our dinners were pathetic. We ate whatever we wanted. We didn't care.

The good news is that I'm only hungry once per day when I'm sick, so I pretty much only ate dinner all week. I had an occasional bowl of Wheat Chex or a sandwich, but mainly I just ate at dinner time. I didn't eat well, but that is all I ate.

The miracle is this: I only weighed myself twice in the last five days - Wednesday and today. On Wednesday (when I was hoping for something in the 276's), I saw a 274.0 - only .4 up from my average. I weighed myself again this morning, and I was even more shocked. I was hoping to match my 274 from Wednesday, and instead, I got a new low of 271.0.

Pure luck. It's all I can think of. No matter, I'll take it, thank my lucky stars, and press forward. I'm still feeling pretty nasty today, and it's deadline week with the papers (we have two, now), so I may wait until Monday to get back on the bench. I just feel way too weak right now.

So, thanks for the concern from everybody. I'm still here, and I'm closer than ever to my goal of 260. I can still be there by Thanksgiving, I think. Guess we'll see.

No Shame

Well, this is really my first weight-lifting experience since I started my transformation. It certainly felt like it.

First, I'm too damned tall for that bench. So doing my decline bench presses was almost impossible. My head was on the floor, my butt was 1/2-way down the back, and my calves were on the seat. Thanks God for my huge feet holding me on.

Second, dumbbells are tougher than push ups. It's cliche', but I was using muscles I didn't know existed to stabilize those things. I only had 44 pounds on each, but I did three sets of chest presses til I couldn't go any higher, and I followed up with a set of close grip presses, and a set of decline presses. I've NEVER done anything with the close grip, so I was MUCH weaker there than I'd care to admit. But it's a jumping off point.

I then did my curls, my shoulder presses, and my rows, with some decline sit ups mixed in. I have a long way to go with the sit ups. Again, like with weights, haven't done sit ups in MONTHS.

So, this makes me think about some things. I'm really kind of bummed that I'm this far behind everybody else. I wish I would have thought about going out to look for a bench like this sooner. A lot of what feels like wasted time has gone by.

Still, I'm excited to have done a real, weight-driven workout. I'm hurting right now. My arms are rubber, my core hurts, and my chest feels swollen - and those are all amazing feelings.

So, I have a Looooooooong way to go, and I understand that. But this is going to be fun. To be able to feel myself get stronger. To see true differences in my physique. To grow.

I'm going to enjoy the ride.

Editor's Note:

I flexed in the mirror when I was done, because I'm really still 19 inside, and my arms/chest/shoulders looked GREAT. I can get used to always looking that way.

Read the Post Below This One...

But also answer this question:

Does anybody know of a site that will show what exercises will work what muscles? A diagram with each move would be nice, and a dumbbell-specific chart would be ideal.

Thanks!

Also, here's the routine I'm starting today:

Dumbbell Workout - 3 Days Per Week

Chest Press - 3 sets of max reps to exhaustion
Biceps Curl - 3 sets of max reps to exhaustion
Shoulder Press - 3 sets of max reps to exhaustion
Bent Over Row - 3 sets of max reps to exhaustion
Triceps Kickbacks - 3 sets of max reps to exhaustion
Decline Sit Ups - 3 sets of max reps to exhaustion

Sprint Intervals - 3 Days Per Week

Sprint 60 yards, perform 25 plyometric hops, walk back to starting point, repeat until passed out.

EDIT

Here's what I was looking for.

Merry Christmas to Me!

Ok, so some quickies, first.

After my nasty weight jump last week (I deserved it), my weight is steadily coming back down. I was 276 and change four days ago, and I was 273 and change today. Slowly but surely. I hope to eclipse my low of 272.8 very soon.

Anyway, Beck and I were able to do a little early Christmas shopping to get each other a few things we needed. You've all heard about her new shoes, but now it's my turn.

First, I got some jeans - 38's, baby. I think my official size is 39 as these are a little snug, but I'll be fitting into them well soon enough. Also got a 2XL shirt that I hope shrinks a little bit, as it's right on the line of too big. Yes, a 2XL shirt that is slightly too big. Mind-boggling.

Lastly, and most importantly, I got this:


Three positions so I can do just about everything, from benching to rowing to sit-ups. I only have about 120 pounds of weights and two dumbbells, but I'll do what I can with what I have. I'd like to move up to the nice Hex dumbbells, but those things cost more that I realized. For 50-pounders they were $30 per dumbbell.

The best news about this thing? It was at a local thrift store, and it cost a whopping $6.95.

Yes, $7.

Now, I start to build. I've been waiting for this for a long time.

This is gonna be fun.

I'll Be Back...

Eventually.

The 10th sucked, and I didn't feel like blogging. And today was crazy and non-stop. I'm hoping to have some blogging time tomorrow. Though, to be honest, you haven't missed much.

Later, gator.