227.1 lbs!

Down 5.6 from 7 days prior. Not too shabby!

Most importantly I feel 1000x better. I *feel* like working out – and I don’t feel like “cheating” today at all (even though it’s cheat day technically). What a big difference a week can make. o.O

Not too much changes in the pictures, but obviously moving in the right direction!

Days 4 & 5 were incredibly boring as far as updates. Courtney continued to help by packing my lunch each day, and I simply ate eggs for breakfast, chicken and peas for lunch, and usually more chicken of beef for dinner.  It changed a little, but not much.

I also took both these days off from working out. My legs were still weak to the point of having trouble taking steps or sitting – and I wanted to ensure I didn’t burn myself out. Funny enough, both days weighed in at 229.3 exactly (meaning 3 total mornings in a row).

I wasn’t discouraged at all though, because I was sticking to the diet with no problem and knew once I resumed working out, it would likely continue to drop.

Day 6 was the first morning I hit the workout scheme again, doing:

I did complete the stretching cooldown that was prescribed, as well.

Overall, I was happy with the workout. It’s embarrassing not to be able to complete some of the exercises, but I know in time I will be able to. I also need to buy heavier dumbbells as 30 pounds is the max on mine (and only 1 dumbbell at a time at that weight).

Day 7 (Friday) – I decided to take off again to recover from the previous day workout (and because I needed to work).

We had a meetup in phoenix with hamburgers, hotdogs, fruit, and brownies – and while the fruit and brownies did look good – I wasn’t even really tempted. I ate some chicken skewers and a hamburger patty without the bun and was fine.

Tomorrow is “cheat day” according to the diet – but honestly – I don’t even feel like cheating. I don’t have any intense cravings and am fine just eating what I’ve been eating.

It’s so insanely different than the last time I did the routine – but I’m not sure why. Last time I was deprived at this time – feeling terrible – and that the eating would be impossible.

Not convinced at the reason why – but I’m happy at the progress!

-Baker

I woke up this morning to a 231.3 bodyweight – that’s cool – but wasn’t the most exciting part.

The exciting news is I felt normal. Slightly more energized – but normal.

Last time I switch eating plans this radically it took *weeks* to adjust. But after only 2 days – I felt perfectly normal (at least for now).

After stepping on the scale, I put on my shoes and headed out to do a light workout. I could barely move my legs – and had trouble putting on my workout shorts due to soreness. (I literally had trouble lifting my legs into them)

I knew I wouldn’t be pushing it too hard, but I wanted to stay committed to the act of working out.

Funny thing, working out actually made them feel better. I only got 7 pushups in before my sore chest collapsed on the pavement – but I was able to get up and still put in my 100 jumping jacks.

Attempting to keep my heart rate up, I varied most arms exercises – some overhead lifts and traditional bicep curls with the dumbbells. I also got in some more of what Steve Kamb calls “rotational chops” which is essentially stepping to the right, while swinging the dumbbells in a circle and out – and then stepping back into the middle and left – and circling the dumbbells back out to the left.

You get in this really fluid motion that really burns a big part of your arms. It makes me feel like swinging a really heavy golf club or baseball bat. (It’s essentially my new favorite exercise).  ;-)

I was able to cooldown a little better this time – but didn’t really push it as much as I did yesterday. I didn’t want to test the limits of my soreness.

Courtney made today easy by cooking eggs with bits of sausage mixed in for breakfast – and packing my lunch comprised of deli meat in a big lettuce wrap (and left over cut-up chicken breast). For the first time in forever, I took my lunch to the coworking space with me.

To my surprise, lunch time came and went easily. The chicken and deli wraps held me over just fine! Dinner consisted of a few pieces of cabbage and sausage – along side a single handful of almonds. Strangely, I remember thinking that my mind was telling me I was still hungry – but my body was just fine. I went with my body.

I also started taking PAGG for the first time tonight. I took the first part of it PAG (blue pill) before bed. It’s an expensive supplement – and normally I wouldn’t be into it – but I’ve heard from too many people I know about it’s benefits.

I’m up for testing out anything – once it’s recommended independently by several close friends.

Today went awesome really – light workout – great eating day – and I never once felt weak or tempted.

Have I already hit my stride?

I hope so!  ;-)

There are many people against daily weighing (including Courtney), but I sincerely think that weighing myself as the first thing I do out of bed – helps solidify my commitment to fitness.

Today, I weighed 233.2 (+0.5 lbs).  :-)

No biggie, I’m not attached to going up and down daily as much as ensuring it’s my focus every morning.

After weighing, I got out my dumbbells and jump round – and headed outside for my first workout in way too long.

13 pushups, 100 jumping jacks (dang, I was tired), 15 “kettlebell” like chops, 10 hip raises, 20 rotational chops, 2 sets of 15 deadlifts (using dumbbells), 15 + 6 (failed my second set) of overhead press with dumbbells, 2 sets of 15 backward lunges, and 2 sets of 15 one-arm rows later…

And I almost puked. In fact, I almost passed out upon re-entering the RV and took a good 5 minutes to return back to normal.

One thing I learned was the power of combining seemingly easy exercises back-to-back. You are really cocky in the beginning and freakishly exhausted afterward. o.O

It felt good after my heart rate came back down – even though I didn’t complete my actual “cooldown” period. Courtney had to help me stretch as I laid on the floor broken.

*****

Today’s diet actually went really well.  I couldn’t constantly feel the flow of blood in my limbs anymore – and I was rarely hungry during the day.

Nothing special to report. Courtney made eggs and ham for breakfast – and I had turkey, green beans, and broccoli for lunch. Dinner consisted of chicken breasts and a few pieces of califlower. I was perfectly happy!

I’m optimistic because the first time I converted to this eating plan – we had a week of really tough adjustment. If today is any measurement moving forward, this will be a quicker change than the last time!  :-)

Sorely yours,

-Baker

As I outlined in the “My Approach” section, I’ll be using the “Slow Carb” diet from the book Four Hour Body. Essentially, this means no white carbs, no dairy, and no fruit.

Meat, green vegetables, beans, and nuts will be about it!

I stuck loosely to this diet for around a month, before falling off the wagon while on the road in January. Being in a different location everyday (and spending some full days on the road) requires additional planning. I simply didn’t do the work!

Adjusting to the diet on the first day was really hard again. By nature, when not eating all the white carbs I normally would – you feel a LOT more hungry than normal. It takes what seems like a much higher quantity of foods to achieve the same level of hunger.

In addition, my stomach still needs to shrink back to normal after the last month of eating like shit.

I told Courtney I essentially could feel the blood flowing through my body throughout the day. There were times I got actually hungry – and I ate during those times. But that weird sensation of feeling the blood run through my body was consistent for the whole day.

It was hard, but not impossible. The day went rather fast – and I went to bed early.

I avoided exercising today – as I didn’t want to bite off more than I could choose early on. Today’s focus was shifting back onto the diet.

Mission accomplished.

No cheating, reasonable calorie intake. Day 1 down.

Xoxoxo,

-Baker

For those of you that don’t know, a Bod Pod is a new(er) machine/technology that measures bodyfat percentages by controlling air pressure in a little egg-like machine. It looks very futuristic and is supposedly one of the most accurate ways to measure bodfat (in conjunction with underwater weighing).

Truth be told, I already did the Bod Pod back in early December, but knew at the time that the person doing the test didn’t know what they were doing. This time the woman administering the test was very professional.

You have to strip down to compression shorts and a swimming-cap-like head gear only – which should be really embarrassing, but wasn’t too bad. I guess I’m more confident in where I’m going then where I am now.

Here were the humbling numbers:

Some more rough stats (these measured by Courtney – so less scientific):

As you can guess, this belongs in the “Risky” category rating.  :-(  But you have to start somewhere!

Here are the starting pictures (taken April 2nd, 2011):

As you can see I have some work to do!

(But isn’t it weird how I seem to carry my weight much better from the side?)

Appreciate your support!

xoxoxo,

-Baker