Week 11–Progress Pics and Carb Results

After one week of adding carbs to my daily eating plan, I was certain the scale would show the opposite of progress.  But how bad would it be?  I actually ended up losing a pound.  Not a lot, but it was way better than what I expected.  The trainer wasn’t surprised.  He knew my body was drained from the previous 4 weeks and the carbs would do more good than harm.  He was right…trust the process!  So my starting weight was 214.  So 5 weeks in and I’ve lost 18 pounds.  The number was more than I expected, but the pics haven’t shown much progress.  This week was the same eating plan…carbs for breakfast and mid-morning snack. 

I did have more energy.  That was noticeably different than what I had felt before when I had lots of energy on carb days and was barely staying awake on days when I was just eating protein and healthy fat.  I forgot to take progress pics over the weekend, so I had the trainer take the pics at the gym.  He gave me the poses he wanted and I did my best to hold each one and not look like I was in complete pain.  Each pic shows some serious progress over the last two rounds of pics.  Still a long way from where I need to be, but these helped my confidence level in where I was in the process.       

The other challenge I faced this week was noticing that I was much more alone in my workouts.  I entered these 16 weeks knowing I had my co-worker, WC also going through the same thing.  It seemed like all week we were on different schedules and we could never get to the gym at the same time.  It helps to have someone backing you up and forcing you to push yourself.  This week I didn’t have that.  I had to focus on myself and my process.  There are always other guys in the gym that make it fun to be in there and are willing to spot me when I need it, but hopefully WC and I are able to get back on the same schedule.  Especially leg day…everyone needs a workout partner on leg day…enough said.

Week 12–Catching Up!

I am a little late in getting my updates posted.  Between moving and losing internet for a couple of weeks, I am finally getting back to reflecting on where I am at in the process.  Week 12 started with some major concern on my part.  My weight started at 215…down 2 pounds from the previous week.  Suddenly I noticed progress on the scale was slowing down.  The trainer fashioned me with a new eating plan for the next 2 weeks.  And instead of having one or two re-feed days with carbs, I would now be eating carbs every day (1/2 cup of oatmeal at breakfast and a bag of steamfresh brown rice for a morning snack).  My protein was increased as well.  I was now eating about 24oz of chicken throughout the day.  No way I could have made it through this much chicken without some of the Walden Farms barbecue sauce.  I was certain the next two weeks would not show much progress.  The trainer said these were solid re-feed weeks to build some strength and to get ready for the lack of carbs in the coming weeks.  Trust the process!

Workouts didn’t change at all.  He added some increased cardio, which should help with increasing my appetite and burn some of the carbs off.  So far the cravings are staying at bay.  It surprises the heck out of me.  I have some sort of addiction to chocolate that has to be fed on a daily basis.  I was certain there would be some long days where I would go insane trying to tell myself no.  I think all of the changes in eating and then keeping busy with other projects have kept my mind on other stuff.  It’s the days and nights where I am not as distracted that will be the true test. 

Week 13…Pics and Green Beans

Second week of super low carbs was just as tough as the first.  The scale was good to see as well…

Week 13 Starting Weight: 217

So overall a loss of 4 pounds from the previous week.  And a total loss of 15 pounds in just 4 weeks.  I’ll take that!  I pushed my cardio this week and our workouts seem to be more intense even though we haven’t changed a thing.  The biggest challenge seems to be balancing work with eating and squeezing in the workouts as prescribed…that never seems to change no matter what my eating plans look like or my workouts require.

The food has gone down better than expected.  Only having one carb day hasn’t left me with much to look forward to in the week.  But I still love eggs every morning and I can never get tired of steak or lean beef.  This week I went for 96% lean beef and made 8oz burger patties for the grill.  Three weeks of top sirloin every night was a bit much.  The worst part of the day is the green beans right now.  I can think of a million other things I would like to eat after having green beans every day for the past 3 weeks.  Just insane.  I think I OD’d on them!  I’m at the point where I just start shoveling and chewing and don’t stop until it’s over.  I could probably mix it up with some other green veggies, so we’ll see what happens next week.

I finally started talking to one of the girls in the gym that competed several months ago using the same trainer.  We swapped stories and she shared some of her tips for the food….different sauces, spices, etc.  I could buy stock in Mrs Dash right now, and the dry spices are getting a little old.  So I may venture out and try some of these zero calorie, zero carb sauces.  

Apparently shaving my legs will be required for the next round of photos and perhaps a trip to the tanning salon.  These showed some progress from 2 weeks ago..more muscle definition, less inner tube.  The lighting was much better than two weeks ago, but more than anything the pics don’t lie.  More pics to come in 2 weeks…

Week 14 Progress

I was surprised with how quickly the weight came off these first few weeks.  I am trying to stick with just looking at the pics and using the mirror or my clothing size/fit to determine progress, but the scale has been great to watch as well.  Here is my progress:
Starting weight Week 16:  232
Week 15:  224
Week 14:  221
So 11 pounds in 3 weeks is not bad.  I’m sure the initial drop of 8 pounds was mostly from the bloating and my body’s shock from being re-introduced to cardio….but it felt great to see such a huge drop.
Every two weeks my meals are adjusted.  Week 14 saw a few changes.  I dropped egg whites and went to 4 whole organic eggs and a protein shake for breakfast.  My carb days went from twice a week to once (Wednesdays).  And just to eff with my sanity levels I was given one pop-tart on my carb day.  It’s insane.  Pop-tarts come in packages of two.  But I don’t get two!  So on Wednesday of this week I warmed up one low-fat raspberry pop-tart in the toaster, carried it back to my desk as if it was the most precious food ever, and slowly ate away.  Now for the worst part.  Somewhere along the way I was taught to eat everything on my plate or not to waste food.  It took every ounce of energy to throw the other pop-tart in the trash.  It sat there laughing at me for a good half hour before I finally pitched it. 
With only one carb day I can definitely feel the ebb and flow of my energy levels.  By Saturday and Sunday I was falling asleep just sitting in a chair.  I knew I needed something to reward my efforts.  This was a much tougher week than I had in the first two.  So I scheduled myself for a sports massage.  It was 60 minutes of deep tissue massage plus physical therapy.  I didn’t realize how sore certain muscles were until she started burying her elbows in my hamstrings or pecs.  It was well worth it!
The other challenge we faced this week was due to the holiday weekend.  The gym at work was closed Friday for Good Friday and again on Saturday.  There are no excuses to miss a workout so we went and got a 10 day punch card at another gym to use.  The gym at work is the only gym I’ve used for the past 5 years and the new scenery and equipment was a great break.