New Crack

Coca-Cola Cherry Zero has me in its clutches.

Didn't I say I was off the crack?
bah
whatever

This is a beverage sans calories, and thus it woos me in to its sweet caffeinated embrace.
Though, at the rate I'm drinking the stuff I certainly hope all the fears about aspartame are unfounded. Otherwise I won't know whether to blame it on the Coke or the cell phone if I develop cancer. And when that happens, how can you be part of a class action law suit? Can you just blame both and be part of two class action law suits?

My headphones, they saved my life

I went to guestroom last night to buy Patty Griffin's new album as a birthday present for a friend because I was certain it was something she would like. They didn't have it, so I figured I would get her The Crane Wife even though it would probably be different from what she usually listens to because I think that she'll like it when she gives it a chance.

Something new since I'd been to guestroom last (about a month and a half ago) was a wall full of Steve Keene paintings (mostly) based on album covers. I was talking to the owners while checking out and Travis asked me if I wanted to get the painting of The Crane Wife. I told him I didn't but asked if it was too big a pain for him to get the ladder out and get the down the Bjork Post He was glad to (Travis is a nice guy, and I suppose asking him if it's too much trouble to sell me something was kind of stupid anyway)

I'm quite happy with my purchase. I know a lot of people think Keene's stuff isn't really art, and that's just fine with me. It looks good on my wall and I'm pretty certain it's the best 25 bucks I've spent in quite some time.

245.5

Felt kind of crappy in the gym this morning, overall I was fine but not really lifting as much as I wanted to.
The gym's scale said I'm down to 245.5 which surprised me because I was almost certain I'd gained some weight back. I suppose I haven't been eating too poorly and have kept off the crack (dr. pepper and coca-cola) but I haven't been too consistent in doing cardio. I know I could pretty safely create a bigger caloric deficiet than I do now. I really ought to find something I can do at home in the evenings- maybe start playing DDR or get some sort of cheesy exercise video. I was thinking of a Katamibar based on Meta's endorsement. It seems like a cardio program that includes some core strengthening might be good (and let me skip on core when I do leg days.) But, I checked out the website and it's about twice what I expected (or am willing) to pay. If anyone does read this, and has recomendation for home cardio videos I certainly am open to recomendations.

247!

Tonight (or, I guess this morning) was leg day. My legs feel great but I know they will hurt tomorrow.
Pancho working this schedule this week is a bit crap- but it actually is nice to have the gym pretty much to ourselves when we go at night. Not sure whether we are going to lift on Friday before he has to work or after he gets done. Morning makes a better schedule for the rest of the crap I have to do, but night's not too bad and I can sleep in during the time where I would have been at the gym in the morning.

Now, for the kind of good news. The scale at the gym says I weigh 247. That doesn't actually mean I've lost 13 pounds- I was using a different scale before- one that seems inacurate (if the one at the gym is accurate) but also does say I've lost at least a couple of pounds. It's just the bathroom scale we've got is so non-precise that it is hard to tell if I've lost 1 pound or five. Despite my starting weight probably being lighter than the just over 260 that the bathroom scale showed I'm going to stick with the original goals and look to be somewhere between 190 and 230 by the end of the year but at about 12% body fat instead of 35% body fat.

Workin out

Well, to update I've done well lifting but haven't gone on a couple of cardio days. Pancho has gone to lift with me once and we're going again tonight rather than this morning.

I lost some weight and then gained some back. I'd love to say I'm gaining muscle and that's all that's going on- but I'm certain it isn't. I feel a bit stronger after a week and a half of lifting but I don't think I've really gained much muscle yet. I'll re-measure after a month to see.

As for the weight loss then gain I have had a couple of crappy eating days going out for mexican food with friends. I think that I am about a pound lighter than when I weighed myself but it really is hard to tell with the crappy bathroom scale here at the house- it really isn't very precise. I need to start weighing myself at the gym, at least once a week. I'll hop on and see tonight or tomorrow.

Fat!

Well, I'm 5 pounds shy of the fattest I've ever been.

And I do want to change. I figured that just wanting to be different is pretty nebulous and that I should make some goals. Of course, as the saying goes, goals are just wishes if they aren't written down. And I suppose putting them up for the world to see (even on a blog that I know no one reads) ups the ante a bit more.

To know where I want to go, I figured I should know where I am so I pulled the scale out of the cupboard and stepped on. (which is how I know I'm five pounds shy of the fattest I've ever been)
Wow...
Yeah two hundred and sixty pounds. Two. Six. Zero.
then I got out the fat pinch caliper measurer (which I bought years ago but are almost brand new) to figure out my body fat percentage. Looks like I'm right at 35% Yeah- not just fat- but obese. I am officially obese.
But, I didn't stop there. I got the clothing tape measure out.
Neck - 17.5"
Chest - 48"
True Waist (gut measured at my belly button as opposed to on my hips where I actually wear my pants.) - 48" (if I fully inhale and stick my gut out rather than holding it in.)
Biceps (flexed) Right/Left - 15.25"/15
Thighs (quadriceps flexed) 25"/24.75"
Calves (flexed) 17"/17"


So, I know where I am (fat) so where do I want to be?
By my birthday (December 30)
Weight - 215-220
Neck - 16.5"
Chest - 46"
True Waist - 40"
Biceps - 17" each
Thighs - 26" each
Calves - 18.5" each
between now and then I want to lose 60lbs of fat and gain 15-25lbs of muscle. Have a body fat percentage of 12-14%

That means if I start Monday I'd need to lose almost a pound and a half of fat each week and gain just under half a pound of muscle. Seems do-able.
What am I going to do to actually get there? No super strict diet plan, but some changes. First- I need to stop drinking soda (which I've recently done) and drink a lot more water. I eat out all the time currently. I need to only eat out two or three times a week and only do crappy fast food once or twice a month. (and not drink soda any of those times) I definitely need to start eating breakfast (either oatmeal or an egg white omelet) much more often and just generally eating less crappy food. To gain the muscle I want I'll need a lot of low fat protein along with decent carbs. I'll start on the protein shakes Monday and start eating more lean chicken and fish.

I also have really missed going to the gym- so that's definitely on. Pancho has committed to going to the gym 3 times a week to lift with me (and he needs it more than I do) I'm going to go lift with him Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday I'm going to run or do some other focused cardio (occasionally I may swim)
In addition to the exercise I'll go do more sports type activities with friends- racquetball with D-Train and the Mench, some basketball, and ultimate Frisbee with the institute kids.

OK, so that's a long post. But it gives my yearly goals and some general plans for reaching them.
I think that I may eventually want to put my progress up on a sidebar like some other bloggers tracking their weight loss. I'll blog about how the first day goes on Monday- after that I'll put up progress every Friday or Saturday along with goals for the next week.