POINTS^® Tracker entries


Wednesday, January 14, 2009

POINTS^® Tracker entries


Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Yes, it’s already day 12 of my 2nd year plan. So far as of this morning, I’ve lost 6lbs since I’ve resumed the diet. Not too shabby, though there was a lot that was regained in my 2 month haitus. 3 more pounds, and I’ll be back to where I left off. This year, I’m going to change the format and formula a bit. Instead of counting calories, this year I’m jumping on with Weight Watchers. I’ll be using the points to count up my daily intake, so that should be an interesting new spin. Also, just to save time and my sanity, I won’t be reviewing every single meal. If I do something interesting, or have something I want to rave about, I’ll write an article about that meal specifically. Instead, I’ll be posting my Weight Watchers journal entries once per day. The one from yesterday should now be visible. These will be posted after the day has been completed, so there probably won’t be updates throughout the day as before. Also, no pictures. Yes, I know. This was the primary way of keeping me in line. However, I just don’t have the time to dedicate to taking photos, uploading them, getting them formatted properly, etc. So, there’s a lot going away from the site, but I’m by NO means giving up. In order to keep it going as well as keeping my sanity, I needed tools to help organize as well as some streamlining to be done to make things much more simplified. If anyone has any comments, feel free to leave them. Your voices will be heard.

So, here I am… day 12 of year 2…. 286.3lbs this morning. I started on the 1st at 293.8lbs.. so progress is definitely being made. 3.3 more pounds to lose before I get back to my lowest weight of 283… or 40lbs total lost.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Well, here we are… right at the cusp of a brand new year. Some of the goals I set for this point weren’t met, mostly due to just not having the time to dedicate to myself. All in all, it’s my own fault for not meeting the goals I set for myself. But alas, it’s a new year, and a new beginning. When I originally set off on this journey, it was going to evolve around my birthday. It’s when I started the journey, so why shouldn’t that be the point to come back to. I’m going to do something a little different now though. I’m going to start year two on January 1, 2009. That will make it much easier to track what day it is as well as getting me a new starting point to begin with. My goals for the coming year is to get fit in 3 areas… mentally, financially, and healthy. This blog will cover the last of those three. I might discuss some of my plans for the other ones or what’s going on in the other points of my life, but overall, the entire thing needs to some major work to be done.

As for fitness, it will be more of the same as before. Eating right.. getting some exercise in… I might even try out some of the “fad diets” and see what kind of progress I can make with those from time to time. I’ve dropped 40 lbs in 6 months time…. that’s no easy feat. It’s great progress no matter which way I look at it. I’ve rebounded a bit, but I’m still very deep in my journey. It’s time to pick up that ball and run with it once again! Over the next few days, I’ll post some updates and discuss some of the recent events. Regular posts will commence on 1/1/2009. I look forward to getting back to the journey and look forward to making 2009 my most financially, physically, and mentally fit year ever!!

You might have noticed, but the format for the posts have changed slightly. I’m starting to go with a single “Journal Entry” per day… I’m not sure if I’m going to stick with it or not, but so far, it’s made updating a bit easier. One thing I might do is start the post in the morning and continuously “edit” it through the day. As I said, I’m still not sure if I’m happy with it. Let me know what you all think in the comments…

I’m going to be upgrading the site to the newest version of Wordpress.   Please let me know if you spot any problems or issues.   I’ll post an update when it has been completed.

Update completed:  Please let me know if you notice anything “strange”.  I am using beta software, so there might be issues.

Awesome gym visit this evening.  I started off the night using the “Abdominal” machine.  I started at 70lbs and did 3 sets of 15 each.  I didn’t want to push things, so I then moved onto the Back Extension machine.  I decided to give it a try at it’s starting weight, 130lbs, and found I was able to get 10 reps in.  I did another 2 sets at that weight, but decided not to push further.   Finally, I moved on to the Torso Rotation machine.  I’d been looking forward to using it because it seemed to be pretty fun to use.  It was actually a lot more difficult than I originally thought.   I completed 2 sets for the left, and 2 sets for the right, each with 20 reps at 30lbs.

When I was done with the weight lifting, I moved onto my cardio.  Instead of the elliptical or the treadmill, I hit the one place I’d been looking forward to most… the pool!   I’m not sure how many laps I did in total, but I swam actively for about 30 minutes.  Every so often, I would hang at the side of the pool and just kick and wave my arms through the water as quickly as possible for a minute or two.  I figured that was a great way to get the blood flowing a little harder than normal.  Overall, I felt great after getting out of the pool, and it was a great time overall!

Warmup – 10 minutes – Treadmill – 60 calories

Weight Training – 30 minutes – 226 calories
Abdominal – 15/70, 15/70, 15/70
Back Extension – 10/130, 10/130, 10/130
Torso Rotation – Right – 20/30, 20/30
Torso Rotation – Left – 20/30, 20/30

Cardio – 30 minutes – Swimming Moderate – 400 calories

I used the Calories Burned Calculator to determine the calories burned.  Overall, great workout.  It looks like I’ll be going out with friends tomorrow night, so I’m not sure how that’ll work with my planned workout, though I might just go afterwards.  Same goes with Friday evening… I hope that doesn’t hamper my progress.

This is probably the first week that I’ve really ramped up and pushed myself at the gym.  I’m actually starting to wonder if I might be pushing myself too much.   Yesterday, the day after I did my upper body exercise, I was aching, but not too bad.  Today, I can barely lift my arm to shoulder level, and going higher than that is almost excruciating.   Nothing I did Monday seemed to be all that difficult to pull off, so I’m really wondering why I’m now feeling the real burn.  I’m also wondering if my legs are going to break out into pain tomorrow.  I really don’t want to reduce the levels that I’m currently working, but at the same time, I don’t want to be in pain for days afterwards.  I feel the weights I’m working with are just about right for what I need to work.  Perhaps after a few trips, I’ll be doing much better….   I’m also wondering if using my arms with the elliptical last night might have not allowed them to fully rest.   By that idea, I wonder if doing a treadmill after a leg workout is just as bad!?  Tonight, I was planning to work my torso, aiming for the abs and back…  instead, I might just jump into the pool with some water weights and do that for an hour.