Pushing it to the Limit

Midweek Post

noreply@blogger.com (Omar A.) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:07:00 +0000

Well, it's officially the middle of the week, so I figure I would update with how my workouts have been going.

One thing I can say for sure, I haven't been this sore in a long time.

So like I mentioned in the last post, starting this new workout was probably going to involve me tweaking it quite a bit. And that's for sure. This is what I come up so far.

Monday
Bench Press 3x10 (40 lbs)
Dumbbell Pullovers 3 x 10 (25 lb)
Barbell Deadlifts (conventional stance)(90lbs)
Neutral Dumbell Bench PResses 3 x 10 (15lbs)
One Armed Dumbell Rows 3 x 10 (15 lbs)
1 Mile Ran (2.0 increase, 5.5 speed)

It was weird, because while I was doing the free weight excercises, I actually didn't feel very tired. I was sweating, but feeling good. Then I hit the threadmill and it hit me like a ton of bricks. It was a struggle finishing up that mile, and when I got home I had a case of the shakes. Woke up the following morning extremely sore.

Tuesday
Weighted bicycles 3 x 20
Side Leans 3 x 10
Ball Crunches until you can’t do any more and wish you were dead
Incline Sit Ups 3 x 10
2.5 miles ran (2.5 increase, 5.5 speed)

The odd days are going to be the days I concentrate on cardio and abs. Really kicked my ass again

Wednesday
Incline Dumbbell Rows 3 x 10 (15 lbs)
Pulldowns (wide grip overhand) 3 x 10 (90 lbs)
Pulldowns (Close reverse grip) 3 x10 (90 lbs)
Calf Raises 3 x 10
Bicep Curls 3 x10 (15 lbs)
Weighted Lunges 3 x 10
Stair Machine (20 minutes)

Man I tried doing pull ups and couldn't do more than 2. It's pretty damn embarrassing really, specially when some older chick was doing them with no problem. That's why I'll be doing the pull downs on the machines, while trying to do more pull ups.

Well, that's about it. So far, so good. I'm feeling good about the workouts, they're the change I needed. Every morning I been waking up sore, which hasn't happened in quite a while, so that has to be a good sign.

I'll update on Sunday with the final changes I make to my workout.

Tube's Exercise Regime For Faggots

noreply@blogger.com (Omar A.) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:29:00 +0000

Current Weight: 193

So tomorrow,I'm going to start off my new workout routine. It seems like a good time, with the start of the week, and pretty much the start of the month. Today was the last day doing my old workout, and I gotta admit, I kicked ass. Left me feeling great, and I felt motivated throught out it. The trick is going to be keeping it up with the new workout.

It's going to be one that's focused on actual toning up and building more muscle. Credit goes to Cardboard Tube from the PA forums for posting this regime. I'll probably alter/add to it depending on how I see I handle the first week. But without further ado, here's my planned workout.

Monday
Bench Press 3x10
Dumbbell Pullovers 3 x 10
Barbell Deadlifts (conventional stance)

Tuesday
Weighted bicycles 3 x 20
Side Leans 3 x 10
Ball Crunches until you can’t do any more and wish you were dead

Wednesday
Incline Dumbbell Rows 3 x 10
Pullups (wide grip overhand) 3 x 10
Pullups (Close reverse grip)
Calf Raises 3 x 10

Thursday
Swimming for an hour. I'll have to work out the laps and what not.

Friday
Barbell Squats 3 x 10
Standing Military Press 3 x 10
Whatever isolation work I feel like.

Saturday
Weighted bicycles 3 x 20
Side Leans 3 x 10
Ball Crunches until you can’t do any more and wish you were dead

On top of all this I'm going to attempt to do my usual cardio of running for 25 minutes. This usually involves the speed of 5.5 with an incline of 2.0 for the first 10 minutes, increase the incline to 2.5 at for the second 10 minutes and for the last 5 minutes reset it to zero but raise the speed to 6.

I'll report as to how I do with this workout hopefully around the middle of the week.

Giving this one more try.

noreply@blogger.com (Omar A.) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:42:00 +0000

Back one more time. Hopefully for good.

Wow. It's been quite a while since I posted here. Close to a year actually, and that's plain bad. But here I am again, giving it the old college try.

So what brings me back? Why try updating now? Well, ironically enough it's because I once again found myself falling into a funk and asking myself the question of "Is it worth it?". That's a question I found myself asking lately, it echoing in my mind as I drove from work to the gym, feeling too tired (lazy really) to work out. Luckily enough once I hit the gym, got my music blasting in my ears, and sweating up a storm that thought passes. None the less it was a troubling thought that came coming back, and one that worries me.

So I came back here, re reading some of my old posts, and thinking about all the effort that I continue to put into working out/losing weight/living healthier. And I came to a couple of conclusions:

1)It has been worth it.
Sometimes I forget that losing 60 plus pounds is a huge accomplishment, and one that really can't be taken away. I feel better day to day than I used to a year and a half ago, I don't get winded walking up the stairs, and I can actually hang with other people when playing sports.

2)It's a never ending journey.
This is something that I had already begun to gather, but being healthy is a long term lifestyle, a never ending road. I think I had grown complacent, and to keep with the analogy thing, decided to take a nap in this road. Once I hit 200 pounds, I can honestly say I stopped trying as hard as I used to. I think I even gained like 5 pounds for a while there. Luckily since the start of the year I told myself I was going to get to 180 this year, and have re focused on my attempts. I'm now inching closest to my lowest weight ever as I sit around 195, so it's going okay.

So in the spirit of that refocusing, apart from adding an extra day (or two!?) to my work out routine, I decided to start posting here. Can't promise anything, but I'm going to try to update this more frequently, for me, and anyone that may stumble across it. In my next post I think I'll update with more specifics about my work out plans, routine, and just at what level I am right now.

All the Small Things

noreply@blogger.com (Omar A.) — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:33:00 +0000

Alternate Title: No, I didn't off myself..

Wow, that was a depressing previous post, wasn't it? I guess I'm finding myself in a bit of a funk, and not having my passed through my plateau hasn't entirely helped. Still though, I need to try to at least remain a bit positive.

And how exactly shall I go about doing that? I think the easiest way would be that since the larger picture is depressing me at the moment, I need to look at the small things. The details and events that happen every day of my life, that remind me that I'm on the right track. Things that make me smile or cause me to realize how far I come. So now, in no particular order, and to have something to remind myself about, here they are.

1) I can wear nice clothes
2) I can walk up cardiac hill without dying
3)People comment on my weight loss
4)Running a mile under 9 minutes
5)Feeling just a hint of muscle in my arms
6)Having more energy than ever
7)Having steadily gone to the gym for 6 months now
8)Being able to eat only half of what I used to and getting full
9)Feeling a bit more confident than I used to
10) Seeing the spare tire and gut slowly (And very at that) dissapearing

Weekend Update

noreply@blogger.com (Omar A.) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:15:00 +0000

Alternate title: Not my most upbeat post

And here is the rest of it.

Yeah, I haven't updated as much as I promised I would. Reasons are two fold. For one, work and school are keeping me busy (though not to busy to work out thankfully) and secondly and more important, I really haven't had much to update about in the past few days. I'm continuing my workout routines, as well as the push up challenge. I actually been doing each week of said challenge twice, since one week wasn't working out very well for me. Apart from that, there hadn't been much to write about. Till this weekend at least...though sadly enough it's not the happiest of my posts.

Two things happened this week that got me thinking. They where both pretty small really, but I do have a tendency to over think things as it is. So what where they?

First, there was me getting shot down by a girl in a bus stop. Not a big deal for most I'm sure, but one of the biggest flaws I have been trying to work on is my lack of confidence and self steem. It's not easy when for 20+ years I thought of myself as a loser, and one that no girl would even glance at in a good way. So it did take some prodding from myself to try to talk to this particular girl, which I actually have in one of my classes. I started generically enough, asking her how she liked the class, and asking some other random questions. She wasn't rude or anything..but I got the feeling that I was the one keeping the conversation going (a feeling I HATE), and she couldn't care less. So I stopped trying, and felt like an idiot afterwards on the ride to my car.

Secondly was going swimming with the guys yesterday. I actually hadn't gone swimming in years, so it was a nice opportunity, specially with the weather. The problem is my psoriasis. Its something I gotten used to over the years, and luckily enough thanks to some medication, it's not very noticible usually when I'm wearing my regular clothing. Without a shirt though, there's a part on my side that's really noticible, and just looks weird. Then there's a couple of specks here and there along my back. I'm horribly embarassed about them, and actually dread the day when I have to show them to a significant other (Guess there's one good thing about being single..) so it meant wearing a shirt inside the pool.

Then I also noticed that although I'm not as a big and fat as I used to be, I'm still in bad shape compared with my friends. That just made me even more self consious and depressed. And that leads to that voice in the back of my head asking a question that I heard before "Is it worth it?". Is it worth going to the gym after school instead of relaxing a home? Denying myself those urges of pigging out? As much as I love the changes in my life my weight loss has given me, the things that still bother me remain, and seem to be staying for a looong time.

Luckily enough I know better than to listen to those questions. I'm not going to stop working out, as I never want to return to what I used to be. I just wish I didn't have to ask myself that question still.

I'm not dead!

noreply@blogger.com (Omar A.) — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 20:25:00 +0000

Alternate Title: Been a while...

Wow, time has really slipped by me. I hadn't realized that it had been some time since I had updated the blog.

With me having fallen sick, and school having started last week, I been kept pretty busy. Luckily enough things should calm down soon enough, and I'll start falling back into a routine, which will make things easier.

Luckily, even as crazy as the first week of school has been, I managed to keep at my workouts, hitting the gym after school, and continuing to push myself. I'm now running my mile at 8:50, which is pretty exhausting but it does feel pretty damn good. Weight lifting and the rest of my work outs continue to keep me going.

It's actually funny, the other day I got a chance to work out with my friend Steve, since he wanted me to check out the gym at his apartment complex. To make a long story short, Steve wasn't able to keep up with me during the excercises. He did less reps, and less weights in all of them. I don't mention this to bring him down, or make me think I'm better than him, but it was just surprising. In gym I was always the slow one, the last one of the pack and struggling hard. It's weird not being that person again, but in a good way.

So yeah, overall everything been going good. I'll update more tomorrow.

Being Sick Sucks

noreply@blogger.com (Omar A.) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:48:00 +0000

Quick Random Thoughts

Well, annoyingly enough, I felt sick today during work. Nothing too horrible, just the usual headache and stuffy nose. It wasn't too bad..but I imagine that if I didn't rest up at least for the day it would have been probably gotten worse. Not to mention that I start school next week and I really don't want to be sick for that. So with all that in mind, I took a day off my work out routine. I may return to it again tomorrow, depending how I wake up.

It's funny though, since even when I take a day off exercise for a good reason, I still feel guilty about it. I feel like I'm slacking off, and that I should be working out. Guess that's a bit of my obsessive personality that I usually try to keep in check. Not to mention that my biggest fear is returning to my old weight, and that any day off will just lead to that.

I did kinda lie though. I did manage to do part of my exercise routine: The Push Up Challenge.

Like I mentioned in earlier posting, I'm redoing week 1 since I wasn't very happy with how I originally did. At first I was dissapointed with myself but now I see it was the right choice. This two days that I redid, not only did I do more push ups in the max section each time, but my form has improved. So overall, thumbs up for me. I'm continuing to track my progress in the spreadsheet, so I'll update that as soon as I finish writing this.

Monday's Meal

noreply@blogger.com (Omar A.) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 02:11:00 +0000

Your New Weekly Column

(One of the most important aspects of losing weight is a healthy meal. I never been the best at that aspect, with me still preffering to eat out, even if I opt for healthier options. In an attempt to change this, each Monday I'll be preparing a healthy meal, and recording my progress. )

Today's Meal:
Grilled Chicken Breasts (2)
Brown Rice (1 cup)
Assorted Veggies

Good old rice and chicken. Probably one of the easiest meals to make, and one of the few things I actually do know how to make. Brown rice is actually what I try to cook most often, since it's healthier..even though it does take longer. It usually takes about 45 minutes to cook, but at least that gives me time to mess around with the chicken.
I'll admit it, for the longest time I been eating frozen chickens that are pre-bought. Yeah, it's easier, but it's more expensive. That's why I decided today to actually grill some chicken breasts that I bought using the George Foreman Grill. I add some random spices I have in the cupboard to give it some taste.
To complete the meal, I then put about a bit of veggies and letucce that I had bought the other day. And in all a pretty good meal, and it took me about 45 minutes. It was surprisingly easy to make, and I hope that next week I'll try to make something a bit harder.

Results for first week

noreply@blogger.com (Omar A.) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:32:00 +0000

Alternate Title: Upside and Downsides

First, I want to say thanks to Scott Keith, for giving me a plug on his own blog. He's an entertaining read if you want to read opinions on tv/wrestling/pop culture, so check him out.

Well, I have done the first week of the 100 Push Up Challenge, and the results have been mixed. These where my results for the week:

Day 1: 10/10/8/6/12
Day 2: 12/12/10/10/10
Day 3: 15/13/10/10/13

So basically I met the requirements for each day except in the last day. That day I wasn't able to pull off the minimum required in the max section (15). This has let me conflicted.

Naturally, failing at anything is not a good feeling, and it actually reminds me how I used to feel when I was younger, and overweight. That's probably why I took me failing today harder than I really should have. None the less it's easy to remind myself that I still did more push ups this week that I probably would have done in a year a while back. And it really did feel good adding them to my workout, so it's not like it's a wasted effort.

So I'm probably going to be re-doing this week again in the upcoming week. I'm not sure how easily I'll be able to pull of week 2, so I rather re do week 1 and build up some more strength.

Speaking of which, I also made use of google documents to make a Spreadsheet to track my progress. Anyone is free to add themselves to it, so hopefully it'll be filling out in time.

Midweek Report

noreply@blogger.com (Omar A.) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 01:58:00 +0000

Alternate Title: Catching Up

Well it has been a pleasant enough week. Nothing too shattering to report, but I been trying to make the layout of the blog better, and the 100 push up challenge has certainly made my exercise routine interesting.

Blog Work

Added a new link colum. Hopefully better links will be added in the future.
Edited previous posts, doing the whole "click here to read entire post thing"
Also added a spreadsheet link to the 100 Push Up Challenge post
Started working on getting some of my old posts moved here

100 Push Up Challenge Update

Day 1 was 10/10/8/6/10
Day 2 was 12/12/10/10/10
Made a Spreadsheet to track progress.

This has been way tougher than I would have expected. After Monday's workout I swore I felt as if my arms where going to be falling off. I swear that during the actual push ups I was drenched with sweat..it kinda reminded me of the first time I worked out. Today's was pretty hard as well, but it wasn't as bad. My arms where shaking by the end of it. Still, this was the good kind of tired.

That's about it to report. Nothing else too big.

The 100 Push Up Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Omar A.) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 03:42:00 +0000

Alternate Title: How many push ups can you do?

The 100 Push Up Challenge

First, credit to both the Penny-Arcade Forums and 360 Arcadians for cluing me into this particular program.

So push ups. We all have done them at one time or another, probably back when we actually had to take gym in school. I remember actually hating them, and being really, really, really bad at them. Even when I started my workout program, and weight loss attempts, they where something I hated doing, and was the worse at it.

Which brings me to today. While trying to come up with something new to add to my excercise routine, I remembered this particular challenge. And I figured, you know what..it's time. I'm going to attempt it, and going to see just how far I can get into it.

So first, read up on the Initial Test. Done? Okay, good. This is what the entire challenge centers on, so when doing the push ups, make sure to do them right, and go all out. In my first attempt to measure my rank, I pulled off 16 push ups. This is a pretty good accomplishment considering that

These where real push ups. Not the "girly" knee push ups I used to do. (No offense to any women who may read this..as I'm sure some can probably do more..)
Some time ago I doubted I could have even been able to do 1.

So having done 16 push ups, that puts me in rank 3, which is not too bad. Seems to be about average, according to the website.

Now its time to move into the actual plan. This is a 6 week, 3 day a week program with each week progressively becoming harder, and harder. The goal is of course to move from your initial number of push ups, to well...100 push ups. Duh. So let's see what Week 1 has in store for me.

WEEK 1

My upcoming week...

Week 1 looks like this for me:

Day 1

10
10
8
6
Max Amount (least 7)

Day 2

12
12
10
10
Max (at least 10)

Day 3

15
13
10
10
Max (at least 15)

This already looks pretty daunting actually. But I'm going to stick with it. My schedule from will me Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. At the end of the week I'll be updating my progress, and hopefully moving on to the following week's program.

And if anyone comes across this and decides to do it, leave a comment, and let me know how you're doing.

The Fat Princess Controversy

noreply@blogger.com (Omar A.) — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 07:56:00 +0000

Alternate Title: Norbit got away with it, didn't it?

(This is the first, of many, posts where I will discuss issues relating to weight and don't directly deal with my own weight loss. Let's see how it goes.)

A couple of months ago controversy sprung up about Sony's newest PS3 game, Fat Princess. In this game, there are two opposing teams, each guarding a princess. In order to win, each team must rescue the other team's princess, and the only way to prevent this is to feed her so she gets bigger and bigger, which means it's harder for the other team to carry her back to their castle. Hence the name.

Shakesville was the where the controversy started, with Melissa McEwan writing:

Anyway, congrats on your awesome new game, Sony. I'm positively thrilled to see such unyielding dedication to creating a new generation of fat-hating, heteronormative assholes. It's not often I have the opportunity to congratulate a cutting-edge tech company on such splendiferous retrofuck jackholery. Way to go! The Fat Princess of Shakes Manor salutes you.

This of course got the internet gaming community talking, as it was reported in Kotaku, Joystiq and other gaming sites. Response was mixed, with some taking McEwan's side, other's claiming she was overreacting and yet many others simply insulting the writer's physique, instead of dealing with the actual issue. McEwan also misses a point, which is that the game actually is doing the opposite of what she accuses of it. The teams are trying to rescue their princess without care for her current weight. They are looking past her physical appearance.

McEwan, in her condemation of Fat Princess does strike close to a much larger issue. Should society grant the political correct treatment it has granted other groups? After all, when Norbit came out, many reviewers where quick to point out how it villified and mocked the overweight. Furthermore, looking at entertainment options, many of the overweight portrayals tend to fall in a couple of categories. The fat funny guy, or the lazy, overweight loser. Is this right? Will there be a time in the future when we will look at these portrayals much in the same way as we look back at old Bug Bunny WWII cartoons?

There are those that are quick to point out (some less tactfully than we would wish) that being overweight, unlike being a race or gender, is a choice. Something can be done about it. Furthermore, this is an unhealthy choice as some would argue. Already there was controversy when Chloe Marshall, a 16 size beauty queen reached the finals in the Miss England contest. Was she encouraging a lifestyle that was not healthy by setting herself as a standard of beauty? Should such behavior be encouraged?

All these are tough questions. Ideally, we would live in a society that both respects its individuals while at the same time promoting a healthy lifestyle. And perhaps both sides do not have to contradict one another.

Motivation

noreply@blogger.com (Omar A.) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:51:00 +0000

Alternate Title: What drives you?

Original Posting Date: 05/25/08

I actually been meaning to write this blog for some time now. Ironically enough I never really made the effort to do so, even though I wanted to. Since I'm not doing much right now, I figure I'll give it the old college try.

So, losing weight is no easy task. Whenever it's 5 pounds, 20 pounds, 50 pounds, 100 pounds, etc, it is always hard stuff. Hell, I should know, with all the times I tried to lose weight before. I think it was partly because I never tried very hard those times, but also because I lacked that motivation that would keep me going. Now that has definately changed..and the other day I got to thinking about what motivates me, keeps me going. And I came up with this list:

1)Friends
I really couldn't have done this without my friends. And not just those that encouraged me, kept me in track, and rewarded my efforts..but also my more assholish friends who didn't believe I could do it (Can I blame them?), or made bets how many days it would take me to give up. Proving them wrong became A HUGE driving force. Though really, at the end of the day, it was those that congratulated me, commented how good I looked, and just gave me good feedback that I think had more effect. And that continues even now.

2)The Scale
Seeing that scale, and those numbers growing smaller and smaller was something that really pushed me on. After all, those first pounds, when they dropped, it wasn't very noticeable. But it was on the scale. And that's what kept me going, and helped me out.

3)The Future and the Present
Thinking about the future is certainly something that keeps me going. Knowing that eventually I'll reach that point when I'm actually at a healthy weight, and when I know I'm happy with myself. That said, the present keeps me plenty of motivated as it is. Each day when I work out, and feeling that high from working out. Knowing I made a good choice in picking my food for the day. Or just looking at the mirror, and realizing that I look pretty decent.

4)South Park
Yes. South Park. Particularly one episode, and one exchange at the end.

Stan: Dad, you like to drink, so have a drink once in a while. Have two! If you devote your whole life to completely avoiding something you like, then that thing still controls your life and... and you've never learned any discipline at all.
Randy: But, maybe I'm just the kind of person who needs to have it all or nothing.
Stan: No. All or nothing is easy. But learning to drink a little bit, responsibly? That's a-disiprin. Disirpin come from within.

Maybe it was because I was just starting off and needed encouragement, but this really spoke to me. I just took it to mean that I could mess up, I could have those days when maybe I ate a burger, or didn't work out. The important thing was discipline, and not to let those old habits control me.

Those were just a few things off the top of my head. I'm sure there's even more I could think about at if I had enough time. The point is (I think..I been known to ramble) is that we all need that motivation. Motivation which can be found in all sorts of places. Hell, hopefully if anyone comes across this, they'll be slightly motivated. I know I was writing this. :P

A work in progress (in more ways than one)

noreply@blogger.com (Omar A.) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:48:00 +0000

Alternate Title: First posts...kinda.

Well, this is the first post, one of which I hope are many to come. I actually kept a blog before but I was getting tired of where I kept it, and wanted a change. Hence why the restart though think I'll get to importing some of my older posts in the future since I did have a couple of good ones.

So here's a quick recap. All my life I had been on the heavy side, which is a nice way of saying I was fat. Like many people that are overweight I would try to lose weight every so often, but even if it worked, it was just short term. Over time I grew to accept, and to think that no matter what I would never lose the weight. I used to think that about my only chances was some drastic operation or what not.

Then, about a year ago I decided to give losing weight another try. For one reason or another, something actually kicked in. I started counting calories, working out..doing things that I had done before but never had stuck to. This time though, they did, and a year and a half later, I have lost 73 pounds.

I still have a long way to go though, but I'm getting there. This journal will help keep track of that journey. Hopefully I'll improve in the topics, and change up the different layout, but this works for now. So if you stumbled upon it, stick around, comment, whatever. I don't expect all comments to tell me what great job I done..criticize my posts, posts your own storie, etc. Lets hope this goes good.