http://www.abodyforlifeblog.com/rss.php?w=new New Blogs in A Body For Life Blog. en-us Sun, 20 May 2012 02:58:57 -0500 A Body For Life Blog RSS email@site.com http://www.abodyforlifeblog.com/blog.php?bid=39 http://www.abodyforlifeblog.com/blog.php?bid=39 2008 is over and we welcome in 2009. 2008 was a memeorable year, a year I will never forget.  2008 has its highlights as well as its dissapointments.  Read trhe newspaper or watch TV - no need for me to talk about what you already know.  But there were some really positive moments that happened in my life. The biggest improvement or bright spot in my life has been my renewed committment to not only working out, but working out consistently and with a definite plan.  Certain days of the week are set aside for cardio, certain days for upper body workouts and other days for lower body workouts.  I pretty much followed my plan with working out.  Yeah there were some days when I had a really great worlout and others that weren't as good.  But even those bad days in the gym were still grewat days because it kept me following a plan and being physically ready to have that great workout that you just need now and then.  so I'll take a bad day in the gym versus no day in the gym. One thing I'm happy about is that for a good part of the year I was able to control my weight really well.  I was looking as lean as I have been in years.  This last 4 weeks with the holidays and being with alot of friends I gained 6 pounds. It was tough to not eat.  In years past I would gain more than this, so maybe that is a good thing.  But I know I can drop the weight in a month- easy.  The good thing about it is I feel as though I am in the best shape I have been in in over 6 years, so the weight will drop. I know 2009 will be a great year. I have a great outlook about how I feel both physically and mentally.  The economy seems to be getting its feet under itself.  I'll have so much more energy and nothing but good things will happen.  I wish all of you a great 2009.  Make some written plans for your self for 2009 and work it and you will be surprised by what happens.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.abodyforlifeblog.com/blog.php?bid=38 http://www.abodyforlifeblog.com/blog.php?bid=38 Yesterday was a lower body workout day.  It was a day that kind of took me off guard and now looking back I laugh at it.  But I go to a great LA Fitness Gym where they have all the equipment you could imagine.  I went through my 50 minute workout doing the typical exercises I do.  I thought that I should do an extra 10 minutes on a leg machine that they have that works the inner thigh as well as your outer thigh. It was like I said the end of my workout and between sets I went to talk to someone and this meathead guy maybe 15 years younger and pretty buff, comes over, gets on the machine - raises the weight two more plates (pins) and cranks out 10 reps, looks at me and walks away. I felt dissed so I go back to the machine and raise the weight another 2 plates and crank out another 10 reps.  Ha you meathead - try that - and I'm probably 15 years older than you. It felt good and really boosted my pride. I try to stay away from free weight because that is a young guys game,  So the machines work well for me and keep me injury free. Well that was yesterday and today I'm just a bit sore, but its a goooooooodddddd sore. I like it.  I guess I needed that push. Hopefully I will get to know him, I'm a regular at the gym and this was the first time I ran across this character. I try to make a point of getting to know the regulars as well as all the trainers. Its like my home away from home. Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.abodyforlifeblog.com/blog.php?bid=37 http://www.abodyforlifeblog.com/blog.php?bid=37 After today's LBW at my LA gym, I sat down and talked with the head trainer/manager about my progress since starting the program to get some insight from how he has seen me progress. I don't use a trainer when working out, but they do keep their eyes open and watch. When I first started out with my BFL exercise routine, 10 weeks ago, I kept my workout journal and he noticed it right away and asked how things were working out. I guess the journal pages have a LOOK and trainers have an EYE for those type of things.  Also he could tell by watching me workout that I was doing the BFL workout. It is that obvious. A set of 12, increase weight, 10, increase weight, 8,increase weight,  6, increase weight, jump right away on another machine and burn the same muscles. Then finish it off with 1 more set reaching for that 10. I told him in the last 10 weeks I have lost 15 pounds.  His remark was, "there are only 2 basic things that are important. 1) Do you feel like you are in good shape? and 2) What is your body fat?"  I told him my body fat is 22% down from almost 29% using my weight scale /impedance thingamagig. He said that body fat percentage for someone your age is just a bit better than good and would be excellent if you got near 20%. Now concerning do I feel like I am in good shape, I commented that I feel like I am about 75% of where I should be. I have really good cardio workouts but I would like to be able to run for 30 minutes on the road without stopping.  A treadmill and elliptical machine is so different then running outside.  "He stated that there are thin people who are in bad shape, and just being thin doesn't make you healthy or look like you are in shape. Conversely there are heavy people who are in great shape." Well I feel like I am in pretty good shape. Based on body fat scales which also consider age as a factor, if I shed 2% more of body fat or 4 pounds I would be considered in excellent shape.  I have found that these last couple pounds are tough to lose. But I will lose them. It is helpful when you have people that see you, and bring a different perspective to the table give you some feedback as to how you are progressing.  I feel better than I have in years. It shows in how I look and how I act, especially how I train, everyday, every morning. Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.abodyforlifeblog.com/blog.php?bid=36 http://www.abodyforlifeblog.com/blog.php?bid=36 As I progress through this transformation I am experiencing changes in my life that I never had before. Just last night I had a dream, a dream that was very strange, surreal, vivid, a dream that I will remember for a long time.  I don't know why I had this dream, because I never had one like this before, and I probably won't have another again like it, but I hope I would. In the dream I was having a tug of war, one on one against someone else.  It was almost like a gladiator type dream.  All that I had on was something wrapped around my loin area, not a bathing suit or gym shorts but something like a cloth. I don't remember who I was competing against either.  But what was so vivid was the shape my body was in.  I had not just a six pack but an eight pack.  My whole body was pulling on the rope totally flexed.  I saw definition in all body parts.  My legs, thighs, stomach, arms, and forearms were chiseled body parts that were not overly big but nicely porportioned, very toned and very much stirated.  My skin color was my own. In my dream I knew it was me because I was in this body pulling the rope, seeing the rope and myself from my eyes, from the vantage part of pulling the rope. This was a strange dream.  We talk about visualizing what we want to look like as we progress with our transformation, and now I have a vivid picture of what I want to look like. I blogged before about how I look different this time around as compare to 1999.  Well, this is a look that I like and one that I will aspire to as I train and do my cardio.  This will give me a bit of an edge because maybe, just maybe I saw a glimpse of the future. A future that I like and want to be.  The body I had a dream about is real and it is attainable. All that is now needed is a plan of action, a good diet, a good workout program, and encouragement from by peers(you).  Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.abodyforlifeblog.com/blog.php?bid=35 http://www.abodyforlifeblog.com/blog.php?bid=35 This week my family took a small 4 day vacation to Niagara Falls. I thought that spending 4 days out vacationing might not be the best thing in following a BFL plan. But I tried to eat right, get my workouts in and try to keep to a good regimen.  Glad to say that when I came home there was a small reduction in weight about .2 pound loss and after I worked out this morning I weighed in at 185.8, a loss of 2.4 pounds from last week. I reached my goal!!! This was tough but I'll talk about some of the things I did to keep my progress going.  First, I brought my blender with plenty of shake mixes. We always ate two big meals. First was breakfast (all you can eat buffet) I would typically have scrambled eggs, hash browns, 4 slices of bacon and mixed fruit. (maybe some frwnch toast)  We would eat about 10 in the morning. After breakfast we would spend the next 3-4 hours on various tours walking everywhere.  The Falls is beautiful, it was the first time I was there. We did the maiden of the mist tour, a great leg workout in itself. We saw the falls from underneath or behind.  We went to the live butterfly exhibit and botanical gardens.  30,000 butterflys of all different types in one large place. The garden with all the flowers was breathtaking.  We would get back to the hotel in the afternoon and I would get a workout in while my wife was getting ready for the evening. The workout facilities at Tthe Hilton were pitiful, but I improvised and got in great workouts in.  They had a four position ancient all in one workout machine.  My first workout was legs.  The machine had a station that you could do leg curls and extentions, so that was ok.  For leg presses I used the bench station, laid on my back and pushed up on the bar for a chest press to do my leg presses.(pretty impressive adaptation)  This hit the legs at an angle that I ususlly don't get at the LA Fitness I go to, so I really got to work out my legs as good as I could.  For calves there was nothing except for a raised base of the machine, so I did calf raises three ways (straight, toes in and toes out) until I could do no more.  I probably did 200 calf raises total, but I did get a great burn and all inn all it was a great leg workout. Situps could be done anywhere and so I ended the workout with ab crunches. Two days later I did upper body, and even though the machine was well worn, I got in an acceptable upper body workout. Nothing earth shattereing but enough to get the muscles fatigued. After my workout I would make a shake in my room and the get ready for the evening. We would then maybe go shopping or go to the casino before dinner.  Prior to dinner I would have another shake. We would all meet for a late dinner and typically I would have a steak, baked potato and vegatables.  I had a shared dessert one evening (apple pie with a smmmallll scoop of ice cream).  Anyway, I thought that I would come home with a weight gain like I always do when I go on vacation (always). But this time was different.  I got my workouts in, even though they were not first thing in the morning.  I ate as right as I could ( two big meals and two shakes a day),and when it was over and I was home my weight was surprisingly where I didn't think it would be.  This is probably the first vacation I took where I didn't gain weight and I ate well.  So everyone out there it can be done, just plan it and follow your plan and hopefully you will do as well as I have done.  Vacations will not bother me in the future because I know now that I can conquer this mindset of with a vaction come a gain in weight.  And I won this time. Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.abodyforlifeblog.com/blog.php?bid=34 http://www.abodyforlifeblog.com/blog.php?bid=34 Today marked the halfway point.  Over the last 5 weeks I lost a hair over 2 pounds per week.  This week was tough and my weekend weight was 188.2 pounds with a body fat of 23.5%  I had a great week with both cardio and weights,  and my food intake was normal, but I couldn't just get to where I wanted to be.  Maybe because as I am losing more weight it naturally will be harder to keep consistent 2 pound losses. At T-com, I have been told a realistic weight loss for someone my size is 1 .5 pounds a week.  Well 2 pounds is a bit more especially over 6 weeks.  To date I have lost 11.8 pounds in 6 weeks. That is something to be proud of.  I lost an additional 12 pounds prior to dedicating myself to the BFL program. So since I hit my altime high weight, I lost almost 24 pounds. I look different, feel different and act different. Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.abodyforlifeblog.com/blog.php?bid=33 http://www.abodyforlifeblog.com/blog.php?bid=33 Everyone has some sort of stress in their life. It could come from work, social issues, family, financial, health and all different areas I may not have touched on. But we all have some stress in our lives, some more than others. Plus we all deal with stress in a different manner.Working out, either a cardio or weight lifting reduces stress a lot. My question is, when you work out knowing there is stress in your life, do you use it as a focal point in order to get rid of the stress or do you just focus on the workout itself so that you forget about the stress.I have done both depending on the situation. Sometimes I am mad and take my workout on this issue and I get a super intense workout. Other situations make me totally forget what I am stressed about and working out gives me a sense of calm. Let me know how you deal with this issue of stress and your workout. Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.abodyforlifeblog.com/blog.php?bid=32 http://www.abodyforlifeblog.com/blog.php?bid=32 Today marked the end of week 5. I had a great week with everything, food, exercise, mentally, and spiritually. My low weight was 189.8 with bodyfat at 23.6% I am really happy with the progress so far. So that means from day 1 till now I have lost 10 pounds and lost almost 7% body fat. I hope to continue with the progress made and have a new photo for this coming weekend which would be the end of my 6th week. I want to learn how to paste all three photos together to make one photo. It would be so much easier. I ran the other night at a slow steady pace. That was a new experience- running! I have been to heavy (aka FAT) to run, all I could do in the past was walk fast, but being the weight that I am now makes a big difference.  I'm not ready for any marathon but it did feel good. A treadmill is easy- running down a road or trail is whole bit different.  Again I would like to thank everyone for their support and encouragement that you have shared with me. Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.abodyforlifeblog.com/blog.php?bid=30 http://www.abodyforlifeblog.com/blog.php?bid=30 Week 4 did not start off well considering how my off day on Sunday went.  By Wednesday I still wasn't progressing like I should have.  But some of the things I did during the week helped out tremendously.  First I drank water all day. I always had my container of water on hand wherever I went.  Even right after I would drink a protein shake I would have water.  I still worked out hard and kept to my schedule, but for the last two nights I added a little bit something else. I have a training partner who helped me at night.  I would spend about 50 extra minutes about 45 minutes after dinner going for a brisk walk with Cora, my dog.  She is the best, she loves to walk and walk and walk, and during the summer heat she only does well at night once it cools off.  It helped maybe burn off some calories and water weight. But this morning I weighed 191 pounds with my body fat at 24.9%.  Now the body fat fluctuates sometimes up to 4% a day, so I am just going to focus on weight.  I surpassed my 4 week goal by 1 pound and I will have the photos posted shortly. Good luck to all of you in your quest for a body for life.Here are my Week 4 pictures:Note to the Readers: The comments page is now working again (it was down for a week).  Sorry about the down time. Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.abodyforlifeblog.com/blog.php?bid=29 http://www.abodyforlifeblog.com/blog.php?bid=29 Well, this weekend I will have reached week 4 of my 12 week program.  The first 3 weeks everything was going great.  Ate well, worked out well and was losing the weight I wanted.  Sunday was my free day for eating, and I happened to have baseball tickets for a suite at our local Triple A baseball team.  I ate and ate- two hotdogs with chili, some meatballs, perogies,one beer.  Maybe this was a bit too much. I have been struggling all week with my weight and with the rest of my busy schedule I am finding it hard to get my weight down to my 4 week goal of 192 pounds. I am a little dissapointed about that, but I won't give up.  Something really neat happened this week. Today was my upper body workout at 6 am and I had the whole workout planned.  What time I was getting up - the weight amounts - the reps for each set. By the time the forth set came around I was increasing my weight for that exercise by 10-15 pounds.  That was a big jump in weight for me. I increased weight in my bench press, pulldowns, and tricept extensions.  My shoulders and bicepts were as planned.  I added in an exercise in the end for forearms just to hit the arms and bicepts a little harder.  So with all that said it was a good week.  Will I reach my weight goal by the weekend?  I will try my hardest.  One thing I won't do is skip a meal.  I will eat right, take my supplements, and drink my protein drinks.  I know one thing, I won't be piggish this Sunday.  I will just have one special treat to reward myself for the hard work put in this week and get ready for week 5.  Good luck to all of you and leave me a note.  It is appreciated. So maybe I can conclude that I had a great week.  Everything will not always go as planned, but there are areas where I made significant improvement. Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0500