Progress and challenges Monday, March 8, 2010

Several weeks ago, I flew out to Washington to see Amanda. I made it a goal of mine to get down to 340 before I got out there. It just seemed like a good place to be, even if it required some extra work.

Good news: The day I flew out, I was down to 340.
Bad news: Contrary to my predetermined goal to continue working out while I was out there, I only worked out one day. I didn't find the fitness center at Amanda's apartment complex one that I could use very easily.
Bad news: I also ate a lot while I was out there, including a lot of sushi. It's soooo good and cheap.
Good news: Despite all of this, I put on around a pound while I was out there. I think I was about 341 when I got back. I expected it to be a lot more.
Bad news: It took me another week after getting back to get back into the routine.
Good news: I got back in the routine last week and continued to make progress.
Best news: I got under 340 as of this morning, as I'm sitting at 339. It's the first time I've been there in about two years.

As you can see, I still face a lot of challenges when I'm away from my comfort zone. Working out regularly is a big one. I need to find things I can do, even if I don't have the same equipment at my disposal that I do here. Even if walking doesn't get the same result as my normal routine, it's still better than nothing.

Eating well away from home is also a challenge, though I think it's one I'm getting better at in certain situations. I still need to get better. I'll also consider it a small victory that I was able to get back into a routine after stopping for a couple of weeks. It's usually that first time I stop that I find myself in trouble. I've luckily gotten over that hump.

I've also made changes to my routine to, hopefully, prevent from hitting that plateau when it comes to weight loss. The new routine consists of:

35-45 minutes of carido, typically consisting of biking about 10 miles at a level 5 resistance on the stationary bike.

20 minutes of weight exercises, alternating daily between upper body and lower body workouts. Upper body workouts consist of dumbbell rows, shoulder presses, tricep curls, bicep curls, pulldowns, and seated rows. Lower body workouts consist of dumbbell squats, lunges, leg curls, leg presses, leg extensions, and crunches. I'm also making sure to up the weight every week and switching up the order.

I'm hoping this helps. I like the results so far.

I've also taken another challenge during this whole thing: eliminating caffeine from my routine. My day typically consisted of diet soda...A LOT of diet soda. Technically, it's not bad in the sense that it's not a lot of calories. But diet soda isn't exactly good for you in mass quantities. Plus I don't want to have to depend on caffeine for energy.

I made the big mistake of trying to completely eliminate it at once. That didn't last very long. Caffeine withdrawal is a horrible feeling. The crash is not easy to handle, and the headaches are almost crippling. Now I'm in the process of tapering off, just the way I should have done it from the start. Each day last week, I had a 20 oz. soda that consisted of half caffeinated soda and half caffeine-free. Ten ounces of caffeine seemed to work just fine, with the exception of one day, so this week it's down to five ounces. If all goes well, I'll try to stop after the weekend, or taper down even more at the worst.

That's all for now!

Today's weight: 339.3 pounds.