Workout Log 302 - Week 42 Review and Pic

Another week has passed and time for a review. In the passed week, I successfully completed 5 workout days, even with a self inflicted stab wound to the hand! ;-p  ... Looking back at the stupid stabbing incident, this little speedbump did not keep me back.

In perspective, it actually made me feel stronger in the mind. I understood that I had a goal of reaching 5 successful workouts for the week and nothing was going to keep me back. That being said, it helps me move forward with confidence that I will get the job done, even if there is a speedbump in the way. (Just get 'er done..) ;-)

Now, mind you I'm not perfect, so there will be times I just can't make it in the gym. But at least I know I'm putting exercise as a priority(or a commitment) and not when it's convenient...This is a lesson that I've learned throughout my journey's and a lesson that hopefully you can take home yourself. Understand that your weight loss goals are a commitment...not a convenience. =)

Week 42 Stats

Which now brings me to the stats for the week....Well looking at the stats, the 5 day workouts this week definitely paid off...I reduced from 28.7 waist to 28.5 and gained 1 pound. This brings my fat% down to 6.17%...Cheyyaa! I'm almost to where I was 4 weeks ago(5.9% fat), when I was on my way to the Dominican (since I gained 1% fat from eating junk during my vacation). So, IMHO this is good progression and looking forward to another good week of training hard and eating well...

Week 42 Pic 1

Week 42 Pic 2

As for today's commitments, I completed a 40 min blade around the city along with a couple of sets of pushups, situps and chinups.. In the evening, I killed the whole workout by eating pizza and 2 beers... =) hehehe... It's my poker Friday - there is no way I'm giv'n that up... =)

Tomorrow and Sunday are my rest days...Look'n forward to some rest after 5 days of hard work.

Mission 4 Commitments - Status of the Day

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Workout Log 301 - What does a Healthy Lifestyle Change mean?

Have you ever heard that the best way to lose weight and keep it off is to change the way you eat which requires a lifestyle change? I have, and after months of experience I can agree with this statement.

Diets are temporary and not something you can keep up for the rest of your life. Learning to change your eating habits is much easier than trying to diet and changing your eating again once you lose the weight and want to maintain weight. It's a slower process and you won't see massive weight loss fast but it is healthier and will last longer. Many of the diets I see are designed for quick weight loss but don't take into consideration what happens after.

There was a guy in a forum that asked about of what a lifestyle change means and this made me really think....What did I change in my life that brought to where I am today? I gave the following advice and took a quote or 2 from other people in the forum that really explains it all...Maybe y'all can learn from it as well....  =)

What is a Healthy Lifestyle Change??

It means changing your Eating Habits; little things such as

• incorporating more veggies in your diet
• white bread to brown bread
• koolaid to Crystal Light
• white delicious jasmine rice to Uncle Bens brown (already prepared)
• Drink more water throughout the day (tip : leave a 24 pack of water bottles in the trunk of your car. (very convenient and it's always there)
• Keep treats/unhealthy foods to a minimum. (1 or 2 bad meals a week - no more)
• incorporating more foods that contain protein (oatmeal, yogurt, etc.),Keep treats/unhealthy foods to a minimum. (1 or 2 bad meals a week - no more)
• Limited to zero alcohol. I love beer and this was tough..but like other treats/unhealthy foods, moderation is key
• keeping the overall meal portions smaller (no larger than your fist)
• eating more often throughout the day. (like 5 to 6 times) to increase your metabolism while maintaining a caloric deficit.

As for Exercise. Lifestyle changes will mean :

• Taking the stairs instead of the elevator/escalator
• Walking/riding/blading to the corner store instead of driving
• Create a routine for at least 1 day of the week to go walking, running, jogging, swimming, biking, blading, basketball, hockey, etc) - my point here is finding something that you enjoy that is physical.
• Got kids? Play with your kid outside - your knocking 2 birds with 1 stone here..
• Get in the gym and start weight training - Men and Women. My advice here is to get a workout plan and follow it. I wouldn't know what I know now, unless I took a program to assist me

"A committed lifestyle change should allow you to attain a goal of a sustainable healthy body fat % and lean body mass as well as embracing a sustainable healthy diet as a direct result of a plan that embraces some generic core principles / guidelines that can be adopted and maintained for years...not just 90 days.."

"This may take longer than 90 days to achieve those goals, but once you do, the various principles that brought about those changes should remain in place for years to come."

"And the training ad nutritional tools should be learned and understood so you can make up your own nutritional and training programs ' knowledgeably ' - such that you aren't dependent on being spoon fed how to get in shape by virtue of watching some DVDs or health books for the rest of your life simply to stay healthy."

So I hope the above helps ya...

So quickly...My today's commitments were all on par where I toughened up and completed all weight training exercises working on calves, quads, triceps, traps, back and abs. All this followed by 15 min cardio. The stabbed hand is still not 100%, but I was able to manage by using my palm and not the stab wound..(hehehe). Food intake, water & sleep was good and looking forward to tomorrow's scheduled cardio - rollerblading in the city. Lookin' forward to it.

Mission 4 Commitments - Status of the Day

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Workout Log 300 - 300 Day Milestone Reached!!!

So today marks the 300th Workout Log since I started from day 1(ground 0). If you look back at my journey for the passed 300 days(ya...that's a lot of reading), you'll notice that each day was not easy, but in perspective it was the little steps each day that evolved into giant leaps over time. Again, patience and continuous hard work was key to my success thus far. And If I can do it for 300 days, you can too...

OK, enough reminiscing...Moving forward with today's activities, I completed 20 min HIIT cardio on the elliptical as I watched a really funny episode of Kings of Queens on the itouch. I also kept it pretty healthy keeping my calorie count lower than 1800 calories. Overall good day for day #300 and looking forward to day 301.

Speaking of Day 301, I have weight training scheduled, 15 min cardio and abs...Not too sure if I'll do the weight training as my hand is still healing from stabbing myself(yaya..laugh). So anyhow, I'll play it by ear....Lookin forward to it... ;p

Mission 4 Commitments - Status of the Day

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Workout Log 299 - Injured...But Not Out of Commission

In an effort to keep up the pace, I wrapped up the injured hand (from stabbing myself yesterday...ya,ya - it was stupid)and attempted to push some weights in the gym.

After the 3rd rep on the 1st set, I had to immediately drop the weight and resort to plan B : cardio. So I completed 20 min on the bike and 20 min on the treadmill. Total of 40 minutes cardio and an overall great workout burning approx. 350 calories.

So the lesson for the today is not to quit(or take a break) for any reason. Momentum is key... Even at this stage where I know I could easily take a day off, I'm still determined to complete the week with 5 workouts for the week and I'm only on day 2. Knowing that it's only my hand that is injured, does not give me the excuse to sit on the couch and sulk about it. If anything, this unfortunate and stupid injury, makes me feel even stronger (in the mind).

It is these defining moments of the journey that I'll reflect later on which proves that with a determined goal in mind, I can jump over any hurdle or overcome any obstacle. Today was just 1 example....and you can too...

This is why it's important to have a goal in mind when trying to persevere any task. Again, as I said when I completed my 1st journey, it start's with the mind...then the body....

Scheduled for tomorrow is cardio - 20 min only. It's HIIT, so it's gonna be intense...looking forward to it. :)

Mission 4 Commitments - Status of the Day

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Workout Log 298 - So I got Stabbed.....

Hehehe...It's not exactly what you're thinking, but I did get stabbed though..By me and only stupid me...

While trying to separate 2 pieces of frozen ham with a very sharp knife(yes I freeze my ham at times), I accidentally stabbed my hand at least a centimeter into the hand. Funny thing is, it's didn't bleed nor hurt for at least 2 min...then after it started to bleed like a waterfall...Ya - it was stupid, but what sucks even more is that it may effect my scheduled workouts....Well..at least this happened after today's workout. =)

So overall, today's was a perfect healthy day...It's just too bad that I had to stab my hand in the process. But moving on...for today's workout, I completed 30 min weight training working on legs, chest, back, arms and abs. Also 15 min cardio which I used all 3 machines (elliptical, treadmill and bike - 5 min each)

I have bandaged the hand and placed some ointment on it..Hopefully this thing will heal soon and really hope that I don't need stitches....But we'll see...As for tomorrow's workout, I'll probably do some cardio if the hand is still out of commission. Lookin forward to it.. ;)

Mission 4 Commitments - Status of the Day

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Workout Log 296 - Rest day today

No workout for today, but did keep pretty healthy. My only fall back for today was that I didn't have enough meals for today as I was out on the road all day with my nephew.

Tomorrow I'd like to get in the gym, but we'll see...

Mission 4 Commitments - Status of the Day

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Workout Log 297 - Confined to Quarters

I really wanted to go the gym today as I had an hour to kill before dinner...But the wifey begged and insisted that I stick around her to keep her company while she made dinner. So being the good husband that I am - I stayed put. =)

But since I agreed to stay home, there was one request from me...That she has to go to the gym with me tomorrow and do the same exercises. This will ensure that I get in the gym with no excuses and at the same time spend time with da wifey...It's a win - win situation. =)

Looking forward to tomorrow's workout. =)

Mission 4 Commitments - Status of the Day

 

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Workout Log 295 - Week 41 in Review

Another week has passed and it's now time to provide a review. 

For the passed week, I had provided some tips on the differences between using the treadmill, the cycle and the elliptical. I also had a few days where I didn't do to well in regards to eating healthy. But if you put in perspective for the amount of times I eat per day(approx 5 times) and compound it by 7 days which is 35 meals. If I have 2 to 3 meals that are not too good out of the 35 meals that I had for the week - I believe that I'm still ahead of the game. As I always say, all in moderation.

In regards to the amount of times I went to the gym for the week, I went in 4 times for the week. I'd like to however increase this to 5 times though - 5 days a week for the weekdays and no workouts on the weekend. I will try this method for this week and I'll see how it goes.

Week 41 Pic

In regards to the numbers for this week, nothing has changed. Weight is the same, and my apperarance seems to be the same as well...In order for me to forward this week, I'll need to keep my calorie count under 1800 calories everyday (except reward meal day) and go to the gym at least 5 times a week. Right now, my goal is to lose the vacation weight and get back to 5% fat.

Today was reward meal(pizza and beer) along with an hour an in the gym. Tomorrow is rest day and looking forward to a good rest. Looking forward to it. =)

Week 41 Stat Results

Mission 4 Commitments - Status of the Day

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Workout Log 294 - A Perfect 10

Today was a prefect day. All 6 meals on time, got enough sleep, more than enough water and completed 45 min on the bike and elliptical. Again, a perfect day and I could only hope for more.

Tomorrow is weight training, abs and cardio along with my results for the week w/ weekly pic. Looking forward to it. ;)

Mission 4 Commitments - Status of the Day

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Workout Log 293 - Afghan Food. A love/hate relationship.

I was doing pretty well all day until later in the afternoon when I got a wiff from one of my colleagues eating Afghanistan food. With temptation driving my hunger I quickly went outside and grabbed myself 1/4 tandoori chicken and a side salad from a very popular Afgan restaurant called "Bamiyan Kabob" just west of Toronto.

Each bite into the chicken made my mouth water like a faucet and the naan(bread) is always super fresh and perfect(only ate a little piece of naan today ;p) . Their food is always absolutely amazing and is worth every penny for the amount of food you get (avg. $9 per plate).

The only thing is....My stomach unfortunately can't handle the spices...This is not only with Bamiyan Kabob, but also with other Middle Eastern/Indian style cuisines that I've tried around the city....It's an unfortunate curse that I carry, but for Bamiyan it was well worth it. But the consequences for my greedy actions was not so good....I say this because I was feeling so sick to the stomach in the early evening, it killed my motivation to go into the gym. So to be blunt, I missed another day...No biggie...As long as I'm in the gym tomorrow and continue to eat healthy - I should be on track with my 4th journey.

So tomorrow will be cardio. Looking forward to it. =)

Mission 4 Commitments - Status of the Day

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Workout Log 292 - Puff, Puff, Pass...Celebrating 420...

So there I was just finishing my 2nd set on the treadmill in the gym and through the window I see a few of my buds gathering in the front of my condo getting ready to go up to my bud's place and celebrate April 20th (4/20). All excited, I had to leave the gym quick and catch up with them as they all came 30 min earlier than expected.

Even-though the time was well passed 4:20pm, we all celebrated this glorious day/evening passing around a Backwoods wrapped blunt and only had 1 beer. If you're not too sure if  about the origins of 420 (the national day / time to smoke weed),  you can read an article on it here from Huffington Post.

As with every year for the passed 10 years(I think) Downtown Toronto had their demonstration today in Dundas Square protesting the legalization of weed while people spark up their joints on the street. I think it's obvious that I support this protest, but in this day of age I'll leave it up to the 20 something year old's to protest for me. (I think this is a sign of old age).. ;-)

Anyhow, I think I'll be getting a good night sleep tonight. Tomorrow is cardio - looking forward to it. =)

Mission 4 Commitments - Status of the Day

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Workout Log 291 - Treadmill vs. Bike vs. Elliptical

Since the workout routine I'm currently on involves cardio everyday(5 min cardio - for 3 sets), I tend to try to find a machine that doesn't bore me, but at the same time get the best bang for my efforts.

 On average, if you spend an hour on the treadmill you burn approximately 750 calories(lower body workout - high impact). If you spend an hour on the stationary bike, you burn approximately 570 calories(lower body workout - low impact). And finally if you're on the elliptical you burn about the same as the treadmill at 700 calories(lower and upper body workout - low impact),  If you do the math, it's quite clear which exercises are more effective.

But if you're like me, I can get quite bored of the same exercise machine and I'm not exactly a huge fan of jogging/running in the 1st place, so I sometimes rather ignore calorie count and just concentrate on having fun instead(where fun trumps effectiveness). Plus I worry about the common knee/joint problems that come along with high impact exercises. 

So a simple solution to this is to balance between the exercise machines that are available to you and find the one that you enjoy the most. For me, this solution has instantly killed cardio boredom and now look forward to burning the calories. Before, I used to go on the treadmill(or elliptical) for the full session and sometimes get extremely bored - even with my itouch on hand.

For my personal opinion as to which is "best", I would have to say the elliptical and the bike. On paper, the treadmill may have it's benefits, but I believe it really comes down to what is your own personal favorite when you reach the gym.  I like them both(bike and elliptical) as it has low impact on my joints and as you can tell, I'm not a big fan of running marathons. IMO, the elliptical is probably the best bang for your efforts since it is low impact and it works the upper body(when using the poles), but I can easily see myself getting bored after awhile. So again, it's always best to change it up.

So for today, I had 3 sets of 5 min cardio which I split the 3 sets into 5 min. of treadmill, 5 min. of bike and then 5 min. on the elliptical. Altogether I burned approximately 160 calories. As for the rest of my weight training, I worked on chest, biceps, quads, traps and abs. Overall great workout and again got that feeling of accomplishment leaving the gym. =)

Tomorrow is weight training and cardio again...Looking forward to it. ;-)

Mission 4 Commitments - Status of the Day

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Workout Log 290 - Working off the extra calories

In an effort to work off the extra calories from the passed 3 days, I spent 45 min on the cycle and 15 min of chinups, situps, pushups and dips. Ahhh..it felt pretty damn good to get 'er done.

Tomorrow is weight training and cardio. Looking forward to another productive and healthy day.

Mission 4 Commitments - Status of the Day

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Workout Log 289 - Wedding Bells

 With knowing that I had a wedding today and definitely knowing that I'll be drinking lots at the all-you-can-drink bar, I unfortunately did not take the opportunity of working out. Since I know I'll be going to the gym tomorrow(for sure), I'll use this day as a "rest day" from working out.

So, as you may have guessed from an Italian/Portuguese wedding, there was lots of booze, lots of pasta, lots of desserts and lots of fish. So, yup, I was stuffed, drunk and feeling a 'little' guilty after... I say 'little' because I don't see any other weddings coming up  anytime soon, so this might be the only wedding I hit this year. =)

So, with all that being said, my calorie count for today is well over 5000 calories(extra). Tomorrow I'll be definitely heading to the gym - well.....maybe after I sober up. =)

Mission 4 Commitments - Status of the Day

See here for last weeks picture and status results