I made it to the gym for the first time in this new phase.
I've decided to go in the morning before work, with enough time to go home and shower and maybe eat before leaving to work. This is a challenge for me for a few reasons.
1 - I love to sleep
2 - I hit the snooze button about 50 times every morning
3 - I take a med that forces me to sleep for 8 hours which means
3a - I have to go to bed early
So, I've decided that it's been 10 years since I got fat, and I'm tired of hating myself in the mirror and failing to do something about it.
It's time to get real. Time to fix my health. Time to get back under 200 lbs.
I walked for 15 minutes, and rode a recumbent bike for 10. I'll be working on getting both the time and intensity of those activities as I go forward. Also will be adding some basic strength training to the mix.
Showing posts with label Anytime Fitness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anytime Fitness. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 7, 2018
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Previous Post Was A Downer
Wow, that previous post got down in the dumps.
I went to the gym for the last two days, and I feel a lot better today.
On my drive into work this morning, I decided that I think I probably have Depression, and have for quite a long time, but have always called it other things - low self esteem, introvert, shyness, etc. I'm going to see my doctor in two weeks and get started on getting it diagnosed and treated.
My weight got up to 270 by the end of last week. I skipped the gym for the entire week.
Last night, my weight was 265.2, so I feel like I'm back on track.
I went to the gym for the last two days, and I feel a lot better today.
On my drive into work this morning, I decided that I think I probably have Depression, and have for quite a long time, but have always called it other things - low self esteem, introvert, shyness, etc. I'm going to see my doctor in two weeks and get started on getting it diagnosed and treated.
My weight got up to 270 by the end of last week. I skipped the gym for the entire week.
Last night, my weight was 265.2, so I feel like I'm back on track.
Friday, June 19, 2015
Tale Of The Tape
Potential for embarrassment: high.
These are my measurements. I'm not proud, I'm not happy. The only silver lining is that my arms are symmetrical, so at least I have that going for me.
Measurements & Body Composition
Girth & Circumference Measurements as of 6/15/15
· Upper Arm – Bicep (left): 16.25”
· Upper Arm – Bicep (right): 16.25”
· Chest: 47.75”
· Waist (arms at sides, feet together): 46.25”
· Abdomen (across belly button): 51.5”
· Hips/Buttocks (feet together): 48”
· Thigh (left): 26”
· Thigh (right): 25.75”
Body Mass/Composition Numbers as of 6/15/15 at 12:00 pm – no fasting
· Weight: 268.4 lbs
· Body Fat %: 39.7 (healthy range for your gender & age 11 – 22%)
· Body Water %: 46.1 (Normal Range 50 – 65%)
· Muscle Mass: 153.8 lbs
· Physique Rating: 3 (High Fat % w/ High Muscle Mass Index)
· Metabolic Age: 50
· Bone Mass: 8.0 (Normal Range 8.1)
· Visceral Fat: 22 (Healthy Range 1-12)
Basically, the most important numbers here are the body fat percentage and visceral fat rating. Visceral fat is the fat deep inside your body surrounding your organs (viscera, obvs). I've often wondered how I can have a large belly, but still feel strong abs just below a relatively shallow sub-dermal fat layer, and now I know.
The treatment is the same as it is for anyone who is obese: reduced calories; reduced refined starches; reduced saturated and poly fats and increased unsaturated; increased physical activity (cardio mostly, but also strength training).
The main difference is that I don't have to do a bunch of crunches and be disappointed that my belly isn't going away because tighter abs over the top of a bunch of visceral fat is still going to be a big belly.
As much as I hate cardio, it's going to have to become - almost literally - my bread and butter.
These are my measurements. I'm not proud, I'm not happy. The only silver lining is that my arms are symmetrical, so at least I have that going for me.
Measurements & Body Composition
Girth & Circumference Measurements as of 6/15/15
· Upper Arm – Bicep (left): 16.25”
· Upper Arm – Bicep (right): 16.25”
· Chest: 47.75”
· Waist (arms at sides, feet together): 46.25”
· Abdomen (across belly button): 51.5”
· Hips/Buttocks (feet together): 48”
· Thigh (left): 26”
· Thigh (right): 25.75”
Body Mass/Composition Numbers as of 6/15/15 at 12:00 pm – no fasting
· Weight: 268.4 lbs
· Body Fat %: 39.7 (healthy range for your gender & age 11 – 22%)
· Body Water %: 46.1 (Normal Range 50 – 65%)
· Muscle Mass: 153.8 lbs
· Physique Rating: 3 (High Fat % w/ High Muscle Mass Index)
· Metabolic Age: 50
· Bone Mass: 8.0 (Normal Range 8.1)
· Visceral Fat: 22 (Healthy Range 1-12)
Basically, the most important numbers here are the body fat percentage and visceral fat rating. Visceral fat is the fat deep inside your body surrounding your organs (viscera, obvs). I've often wondered how I can have a large belly, but still feel strong abs just below a relatively shallow sub-dermal fat layer, and now I know.
The treatment is the same as it is for anyone who is obese: reduced calories; reduced refined starches; reduced saturated and poly fats and increased unsaturated; increased physical activity (cardio mostly, but also strength training).
The main difference is that I don't have to do a bunch of crunches and be disappointed that my belly isn't going away because tighter abs over the top of a bunch of visceral fat is still going to be a big belly.
As much as I hate cardio, it's going to have to become - almost literally - my bread and butter.
Thursday, June 18, 2015
New Fitness Plan
For my new gym, I've taken a new path to fitness.
I plan to alternate cardio and strength training, with cardio taking the fore. Previously, I've been content to just strength train - mainly because I get so bored with cardio, and also because I've yet to find a form of cardio that doesn't cause me pain.
My current plan is to do cardio on Mon-Wed-Fri and strength on Tue-Thu, taking the weekends off.
Sundays are my new "Scale day" and I won't weigh myself during the week anymore.
Yesterday was my first cardio day, and I rode a regular upright exercise bike. The first thing I noticed was that it hurt my butt - like, a lot. I figured that this was because I'm not used to supporting all 260 pounds of me on a small portion of my inner ass cheeks. For the record, the discomfort never faded, I just got accustomed to it.
The next thing was that my feet started to hurt, which surprised me. The outer edge of both my feet started to ache, and I think this is because my form is bad. I have to ride somewhat bowlegged in order to get around my gut, which means that I'm putting uneven pressure on my feet, knees, ankles, and hips. Which lead to the 3rd thing I noticed, which happened around the 15-minute mark, my left hip started to ache like it needed to pop or something.
Overall, though, I did manage to ride for 25 minutes and hit my cardio range. I rode something like 4.5 miles, and the machine at one point said "Congrats! You just rode the equivalent of a 5K race" so, there's that. I broke a good sweat, though, so I felt like I accomplished my goal, and I pushed through the pain.
After cardio, I did some core strength work on my abs - my degenerative disc disease, ruptured and bulging discs can only be helped by making my core stronger. Years of being overweight (and an 8-year career pushing around hundreds of tons of cargo per year) have been stressful on my back, and my body shape causes me to carry all of my weight in my lumbar, which is bad. I'm trying to get real strength in my abs, while also strengthening the muscles that line my spine in order to carry that weight with muscle instead of bone and cartilage.
That's it for the time being. I'll post another update with my body measurements as soon as my gym manager sends them to me, in case anyone is curious.
I plan to alternate cardio and strength training, with cardio taking the fore. Previously, I've been content to just strength train - mainly because I get so bored with cardio, and also because I've yet to find a form of cardio that doesn't cause me pain.
My current plan is to do cardio on Mon-Wed-Fri and strength on Tue-Thu, taking the weekends off.
Sundays are my new "Scale day" and I won't weigh myself during the week anymore.
Yesterday was my first cardio day, and I rode a regular upright exercise bike. The first thing I noticed was that it hurt my butt - like, a lot. I figured that this was because I'm not used to supporting all 260 pounds of me on a small portion of my inner ass cheeks. For the record, the discomfort never faded, I just got accustomed to it.
The next thing was that my feet started to hurt, which surprised me. The outer edge of both my feet started to ache, and I think this is because my form is bad. I have to ride somewhat bowlegged in order to get around my gut, which means that I'm putting uneven pressure on my feet, knees, ankles, and hips. Which lead to the 3rd thing I noticed, which happened around the 15-minute mark, my left hip started to ache like it needed to pop or something.
Overall, though, I did manage to ride for 25 minutes and hit my cardio range. I rode something like 4.5 miles, and the machine at one point said "Congrats! You just rode the equivalent of a 5K race" so, there's that. I broke a good sweat, though, so I felt like I accomplished my goal, and I pushed through the pain.
After cardio, I did some core strength work on my abs - my degenerative disc disease, ruptured and bulging discs can only be helped by making my core stronger. Years of being overweight (and an 8-year career pushing around hundreds of tons of cargo per year) have been stressful on my back, and my body shape causes me to carry all of my weight in my lumbar, which is bad. I'm trying to get real strength in my abs, while also strengthening the muscles that line my spine in order to carry that weight with muscle instead of bone and cartilage.
That's it for the time being. I'll post another update with my body measurements as soon as my gym manager sends them to me, in case anyone is curious.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
New Era
A brand new Anytime Fitness has opened up shop in the adjoining parking lot to my work building.
I've been venturing over there and watching the construction all winter/spring, and chatting with the owners when I could. I really like their philosophy and the gym itself.
In case you're not familiar, Anytime Fitness gives you a personal key fob that lets you in the doors of the gym any time, day or night. They are staffed during daytime business hours, usually, they have fixed and flexible scheduled classes like TRX and Yoga. They have a meditation room. They have individual shower/dressing rooms (5 at this location, I think).
Pretty much anything I could want as a self-conscious wannabe gym rat with social anxiety.
They worked out a deal with my company where my company subsidizes part of our membership fee, and I pay a greatly reduced fee for access, get free fitness and body evaluations monthly, and 5 free classes per month. On top of that, I really like the owners and staff that I've met so far. It couldn't be a better scenario.
Yesterday I got my body evaluation. Tomorrow I'm having my fitness evaluation.
Body evaluation - no surprises: Obese BMI; high visceral fat; high body fat %; low hydration %. What was surprising was that I have symmetrical biceps, and my quads are only 1/4 inch different (favoring the left because my right knee is giving me lots of pain, I assume).
268.4 lbs. Still 10 pounds under my heaviest 2 years ago, but I want 69 pounds gone, I want to be below 200 lbs. At a reasonable-but-difficult 2 pounds per week average, giving me 8 lbs per month, it will take me 9 months to get to my goal weight.
July is month 1.
I've been venturing over there and watching the construction all winter/spring, and chatting with the owners when I could. I really like their philosophy and the gym itself.
In case you're not familiar, Anytime Fitness gives you a personal key fob that lets you in the doors of the gym any time, day or night. They are staffed during daytime business hours, usually, they have fixed and flexible scheduled classes like TRX and Yoga. They have a meditation room. They have individual shower/dressing rooms (5 at this location, I think).
Pretty much anything I could want as a self-conscious wannabe gym rat with social anxiety.
They worked out a deal with my company where my company subsidizes part of our membership fee, and I pay a greatly reduced fee for access, get free fitness and body evaluations monthly, and 5 free classes per month. On top of that, I really like the owners and staff that I've met so far. It couldn't be a better scenario.
Yesterday I got my body evaluation. Tomorrow I'm having my fitness evaluation.
Body evaluation - no surprises: Obese BMI; high visceral fat; high body fat %; low hydration %. What was surprising was that I have symmetrical biceps, and my quads are only 1/4 inch different (favoring the left because my right knee is giving me lots of pain, I assume).
268.4 lbs. Still 10 pounds under my heaviest 2 years ago, but I want 69 pounds gone, I want to be below 200 lbs. At a reasonable-but-difficult 2 pounds per week average, giving me 8 lbs per month, it will take me 9 months to get to my goal weight.
July is month 1.
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