How 2 Fitness

Sick and definately not out.

2011-02-01T23:31:00.000-08:00

As I have been sick for the last week, I have been to the gym only a few times. I have not been slacking, I have just simply been sick. Not to worry. I want to get back to it right away. I guess that I need to get into the gym more name that I am not sick.

I did it with Honours!!!

2011-01-30T11:23:00.000-08:00

OK, remember my goal to lose 2.x lbs in one week to get me down to a real low 289 lbs (ok the lowest I've been in 8 years or so.)? Well, I'm a day soon and I am amazed at the results!! 286. That's like 6 lbs in a week. Even if the body fluctuates and I come up 3 lbs, I still win.

Now, how did this happen? I mean, why am I dropping weight like this when for years, I didn't? I will explain:
-No fast food (except subway, right Jarred?)
-Very little cheese.
-No cookies (cookies are my fav and can eat them big, big)
-But most of all ALWAYS EAT. "...Be a winner Eat to get slimmer, Zooropa..."

ALWAYS EAT - meaning have breakfast lunch and dinner and snacks and never be hungry, never let the blood sugar down, Your weight will fall off the map if you are over weight and start to eat healthy and often. I have a feeling that even without the exercise, if be dropping weight.

EXERCIZE - While maintaining a healthy eating program, I have been working out 4 days a week (should be 6) and burning avg 600 cal. per session. Also, I am building a muscle core to turn up the metabolism.

So. All in all, I am happy and not just a little pumped about my situation. Keep it up

Almost there already!

2011-01-27T11:09:00.000-08:00

Wow! Its only been about 3 days or so since my tiny goal of 2 lbs in a week. I was at 292 and want to be 289. Well, Happy to say that as of this morning, I was 290. Almost there...

By the time Monday rolls around, I will definitely be 289 or less. I'm happy because I don't believe I have been less than that in quite a while. Maybe 4 years?

2 lbs in a week!

2011-01-24T08:50:00.000-08:00

Im going strong at the gym. Every day I am going and every day I am loosing more weight. 292 lbs right now. 62 lbs to go till I am at my healthy weight. I need to do another body test to see if my Body Fat Percentage is lowered from Pre-Christmas. I think it will be a bit lower.

I want to go a bit harder on the healthy eating side. I'm still not as committed to that as I was before Christmas. That has to be a major goal for me. I know how to do it. I just need to keep logging my calorie intake every time. I will start today by logging my intake for the morning. Every time I eat I have to log it.

Logging calorie intake will tell me where I am going wrong. If I want to get to the 280's in a week, I will have to work harder and go stronger at the gym and eat way less calories than I am now. That is the only way. Lets make it happen! 2+ lbs in a week. Then keep it going.

289 by next Monday... Thats the goal... How to do it?

Gym Workout every day
Eat less food more often and log the intake.
Extra workouts (walk the dog) in the evenings to add extra deficit
Find something to do in the evenings besides movies.
Go to bed at 10:00

If I follow these steps, everything will work out great. I will reach the 280's in one week.

Group Therepy

2011-01-13T09:06:00.000-08:00

Today was my first group session. I got to the gym at 5:45am and was ready for action. With my new workout outfit and shoes, I had lots of confidence going in and introducing myself to Pat who runs the Group Ride session. It has been since grade 6 that I have participated in a group workout! And it was fun.

Pat showed me the 3 positions that are used in Group Ride. Riding, Racing and Hill Climbing. She also told me about some ways to keep from hurting joints and where to position myself into it. There were 6 others in the class 5 of whom were experienced.

As it started I thought I had made a mistake! It was really hard! I Tried to keep the resistance up and found myself at a slower pace than the rest of the class. No matter though, Pat said that the first few rides will be like that as my form gets used to it.

Endurance wasn't really an issue. I saved some energy for myself because I didn't know what to expect. I figure next time I can push a little harder and feel the burn a bit more at the end. All in all though, it was new and fun. I think I'll go again.

I'm going to be fit. I am going to have endurance. I am going to be ripped! After the Group Ride class, I went by the trainer's desk wondering to myself if I should work out. Nadine was there and she asked me If Im doing a workout. I said I was thinking of it and she replied "Yea you're gonna!" So I did.

After 45 minutes of group cardio, I did another 25 minutes of weight lifting! Yee Haw! I feel great! Its a winning combination.

New Outfit!

2011-01-13T08:56:00.000-08:00

Now that I am fully committed to working out again, I sealed the deal with a new workout outfit. Yay! I feel like I maybe fit in a bit :) OK, well, thats not true, but I do feel a bit more professional! I look like I know what I'm doing now.

The kicker is (forgive the pun) I bought new shoes! The feel great and they are not all ripped up and embarrassing. They are Dr. Schols leather gym shoes! They fit great at 11W and performed fantastic.

I feel like I turned a corner. I really went for it and bought an outfit that works great.

Going Through the Motions

2011-01-12T11:36:00.000-08:00

I have beat this subject to death of late so here goes one last entry on the subject.

No that I have been back at the gym 3 times in a row, I am starting to feel the same as I did at the end of November. I feel that there is some drive again. I have heard people talk about how impressed they are with my dedication, or how inspired they are with my work effort. That feels good and drives the confidence up.

This proves that going through the motions works. The first 4 or 5 times coming back was a struggle. So from here on in, no more breaks. If I'm injured, At least come in for something! A hot tub, a walk, anything! Just keep the momentum up and keep going.

I did the tasks even though my head wasn't in it. My spirit was flat but each time I struggled through the workout and came out a bit happier. Now that I have went through the motions, I feel that I am back into it. Wanting to go back. to get the charge of energy that I needed.

So if you are feeling bad about going back to it, Just make your body do the work, the mind will follow.

Time Passes and So Does Life

2011-01-07T09:32:00.000-08:00

If I decide to not go to the gym on a given day There will be many other repercussions. Some of which is lack of motivation at work, loss of energy at home with the family, downgrading my self esteem, loss of muscle, gaining of fat.

So that should be enough to get me there twice a day, eh? That is why I am headed to the gym today to get my workouts going strong. I am willing and ready and need to push myself to get there. The more days that pass, the harder it becomes.

Weaver joined yesterday and is pumped up. I helped pump him to get there so I have a major responsibility to continue in a big way. I love it there. I love the feeling of working hard, of pushing myself to burn the fat, to gain the muscle. I will become the energized man and let this last half a month be a memory!

Mobile fitness blog

2011-01-07T09:23:00.001-08:00

Fitness should be mobile, that's why I am starting to blog with the blackberry

Great new Routine for me!

2011-01-05T15:35:00.000-08:00

Wow, Ok! Here's another turn in the Jimmy Fitness Saga. I went to the gym to see that they took good care of Richie and to work out a bit on my sore back. After seeing Rich off, I went to see the Apollo Athletic Club training manager Don. I asked him what kind of change in routine I should do considering that I hurt my back 11 days ago.

We was quite concerned ant asked me a bunch of questions regarding my injury, what I was lifting and the kind of routine I was into. He brought out a new paper and wrote a whole new routine for strengthening the back and stomach to get me back into the swing of things.

I thought that I would take this paper and run through it, but it turns out that her spent the next 45 minutes explaining all the exercises and how to do each one. He went into the kinetics of each exercise and why they were important for my situation. Don also took the time to adjust every exercize for maximum efficiency so I am not lifting more weight than I have to! All his in an unscheduled, off the books session just so I could continue with confidence.

Holiday Ouch!

2011-01-04T13:57:00.000-08:00

OK Holidays came and it was the triumphant start to the new 6-week exercise program. Christmas Eve. I had a few hours in the morning to go meet with the trainer Patrick. He did a great job doing the body measurements and getting a new program worked out...

But I went too hard on my first go! Ouch... put out my back big time. Christmas eve till after new years, my back was very sore. It still aches and is very stiff in the morning. but I am going back to get better and start this second week over again.

Today, I will take some time to exercise lightly and talk to a trainer about how to get back to work. Nothing heavy at first... maybe swimming? low impact anyway.

Now lets talk about Holiday eating from a laid-up guy. I did not eat the best foods, lets just start there. I did not stick to eating every 2 hours and writing down my calorie intake. I am glad because that would be horrific to see. I did not over-do meals, but rather, I snacked on too much junky junk food. Lots of crackers chips and chocolate.

Don't get me wrong! I'm not upset about it. I just want to say that I am back to it as of today and going with it all the way. I will really have to watch what I eat for the next week or so because the Calorie Levels that I burn will come down considerably due to lack of exercise intensity.

So I will need to eat lots of veggies and healthy stuff this week as I get back from the back injury.

2010-12-24T13:07:00.000-08:00

All right. I finished my six weeks. Whew! I have not worked so hard at anything in my life. I have been self motivated to become uncomfortable during my work out. To be working until exhaustion.

I have just finished my Level 2 training session with Patrick from Apollo. He created a workout that kicked my ass into the ground. He abandoned all the weight machines and created a workout that used free weights and natural body/gravity resistance.

I gotta say that the pistol squats were too much for me and hurt my back a bit. I had him change them to something that will allow me to train towards doing them. The Assisted Pull-ups also are impossible to complete. I am doing those anyway because I promised that I would be able to do them by the end of six weeks.

I did the body test today too I found that I have 29.6% fat. I am 291.6 lbs. My new goal is 19% body fat which will put me in the high side of optimal (8%-19%). I do not know how long this is going to take, but I will find out because I was given permission to do this test every week with whatever trainer is on duty. I will be able to track and see how fast I can burn fat.

I am so sore. I have been kicked in the ass today. Thanks Patrick!

2010-12-15T18:04:00.000-08:00

Today is Day 30 of my fitness experience.

Total Calorie Deficit: -1030

Weight: 296.5 lbs

Total weight loss: 12.5 lbs

OVERVIEW

It is all consuming. Its taking over my head space! Where there used to be thoughts of music and business and abstract thinking, there is an overwhelming need to get moving and out to the gym. Like today, for example, it was supposed to be a rest day and I did not fill my gym bag. I drove back to work after dinner and instead of going straight to work I drove up to the gym... This sounds like me now. Gym obsessed. Don't tell the wife though! She'll think I weird. I ended up leaving there with no shirt on under my jacket. In fact, I'm writing this blog post with no shirt and just a jacket... Shirt is drying on the INSIGNO heater.

WORKOUT

Todays impromptu workout was a doosie! I did Intervals on the elptical machine. People definitely look at my funny because I shake the whole machine when going at 230 RPM for 35 seconds every 25 seconds. the sweat is pouring off me like a waterfall, I'm pouring water on me to cool off and huffing like a steam train. Then the little girl beside me is walking and trying to read a magazine.

On the TV in front of us is a OLN show about places to get the biggest burger ever! Yuk! I couldn't eat that. These things are the size of a small roast turkey and filled with heart clogging hamburger, ham, bacon, cheese, cheese, cheese, and hot sauce galore! So it made me kind of work a little harder today.

FOOD CHOICES

Making great meal choices is easy now. I have decided that making a giant salad and adding boiled egg was a great lunch. I also cut up a ton of veggies for snacking all day. I eat very little bread now! I would really like to cut it out completely but I am still fighting with how to eat peanut butter without bread. Crackers?

I continue to eat oatmeal every morning. It is supposed to be really good for a lot of stuff, bu I cant seem to ever remember what! Something about soluble fiber... anyway, Its great to eat in the morning because my brain starts right out of the gate. Just slamming for the rest of the morning. I make sure I eat things like apples and veggies for the rest of the day to keep from spiking my blood sugar. This helps avoid the 3:00 nappy-naps. I haven't seen them in a while...

SLEEP

The 8-hour-day-challenge is working out great. No matter what time I go to bed, I wake up 8 hours later. This works too good. After being up late (12:15) I woke up at 7:00 and said, "nope! I'm sleeping till 8:15." So I lay there dozing for another hour or so. I could have got up, but I am keeping to my word these days. My alertness level is right now. I see how successful people do it. Healthy eating, Healthy exercise, Healthy sleeping...

2010-12-14T09:39:00.000-08:00

Today is the last day of the 5th week of fitness for me. A totally great workout that took me to the limit of my endurance. I am building muscle and keeping the hear rate up. Being motivated by the staff of Apollo Gym in Abbotsford and motivating everyone with my hard work.

I was especially happy to throw up a big number towards my weight loss goal of 208 lbs. I started out at a whopping and life long record of 308.5 lbs. Thats a lot for a 6' guy. I am in danger of getting heard disease, diabetes, cancer and a slew of other disease that go along with being so heavy. That is why on Nov 7, 2010, I decided to get going with fitness

After 5 weeks of this I am at 296.5. 12 lbs in 5 weeks is great! and it is all because of hard work. There is no fad here, no "special diet" Just counting calories and going to the gym every day. This slow incremental loss of fat and gain of muscle will leave a lasting legacy of fitness for me and my body.

Today, I have noticed that my wedding ring is kinda loose on my finger... I am hoping its because I haven't finished replenishing my fluid levels and I have become dehydrated. I would hate to have my ring resized so soon..