My Weight Loss Diary

Well this post is about 24 hours late - my wife and I are selling our house so we’ve been very busy.  I weighed in at 275 lbs, no change from the last weigh in.  However, I am noticing progress in my work outs.

Today I was able to do two sets of 10 reps and one set of 5 reps for push-ups.  I kept the sit-ups the same.  I am also scaling back my workout frequency from every day to every other day.

The reason for this is that on Saturday I fell and strained my lower abdominal muscle (it had been sore every since Thursday) so on Sunday I couldn’t work out.  This morning when I did my work-out there wasn’t one bit of soreness.

As much as I’d like to keep working out daily I think doing that would only lead to injury.  I am going to cut back at least until I hit around 200 lbs then I might do an intense work-out one day and follow-up the next day with a light cardio workout.

Well, that’s all I got so see you in a week (or sooner if the inspiration strikes me).

Last night I did my first weigh-in and workout.  My weight was 275 pounds, which was no change from my last weigh in.  So it’s good that I am not gaining any additional weight.  I hadn’t really done anything to lose weight between my initial weigh in and last night so I didn’t expect the number to be any lower.

I also learned that my work out plan was too ambitious.  I was only able to do 3 sets of 5 push-ups each and 3 sets of 10 sit-ups each.  However even this moderate amount of exercise will allow me to start toning my muscles so that I can do more.

I still need to get a decent pair of tennis shoes for cardio work-outs.  Does any one have any recommendations on what brands seem to work best?  I am shopping on a budget so although a $500 pair of shoes may be the best ever I won’t be buying them so if you could keep your recommendations to under $80 per pair I would really appreciate that.

I also did a work-out this morning (same as last night) and boy am I feeling those two work-outs now.  My arms and wrists are especially sore from the push-ups.  My form may need some work.

I looked at the exercise tracker here at BuddySlim but it seems to be really cumbersome.  They want you to track the time you spend on an exercise and not the sets/reps.  I prefer to use the sets/reps method so I can keep track in my head how much I have done and how much I have yet to do.  Does anyone else find this tracker to be hard to use or am I the only one?

Well if you read my first post then you know why this blog exists so I won’t bore you with the details a second time. If you haven’t read the first post yet then I suggest you go read it here. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Ok, you’re back. So you know that my goal is 165lbs in one year. That is, to lose 110 lbs by August 13, 2009. I’m not going to be successful in this challenge by doing what I’ve been doing (which is nothing) that’s for sure.

But there is one small problem - I don’t have the money to join a gym or buy any home work out gear.  The last time I lifted weights I was in school so I had access to the school’s gym.  Not anymore.

So I did some research and stumbled upon a thought paradigm called the minimalist workout.  This workout uses nothing but your body weight for resistance.  Believe me, I’ve got plenty of resistance.

The only downfall is that once you reach a certain point in your getting fit journey your body weight is no longer enough to give you a good workout.  This is because of two reasons:  first, you’ve lost a lot of weight as you trimmed down fat and second, you’ve gotten a lot stronger as you toned your muscles.

However it takes a few months to get to this stage.  Once you do reach that stage though you can up your work-out by adding a few cheap dumbbells and a weight belt to add more resistance. By doing that, you can extend the minimalist workout from a few months to quite a long time.

I don’t plan on staying with the minimalist workout forever.   Next summer, probably for the last month or two of my One Year Weight Loss Challenge I will either get a used BowFlex or a gym membership to power up my work out.

Now that I have rambled on enough about my work out plan it’s time to actually publish the plan.  Before I do that however I want to share a link with you to an article on the Zen Habits blog that I used to design this work out.  The article is called “Minimalist Fitness: How to Get In Lean Shape With Little or No Equipment” .

My Work-Out Plan

My daily work out will consist of the following exercises: (For a detailed description of thee exercises, please see the above article)

• Push Ups (3 sets of 10)
• Sit Ups (3 sets of 10)
• Diamond Push ups (3 sets of 10)
• Bicycle Crunches (3 sets of 10)
• Planks (3 sets of 10)
• Push Ups  (3 sets of 10)

Once I get a decent pair of tennis shoes I will be adding 15  minutes of cardio to my work out (running, basketball, etc…) every day as well.

Well I got one more post coming tonight and that’s my first weigh-in before my work-out.  Today’s work-out is going to be a night work-out, but starting tomorrow I am going to be doing morning work-outs.  I’ve never done a morning work-out before and I’m not sure how well it will work but any work out is better than no work out.

Hello. My name is Jesse, and I weigh 275lbs. I have a hard time walking upstairs and I get tired easily. I have to sit down to put on socks and shoes. I can’t bend over for longer than a few seconds without running out of breath.

This blog is my story to a target weight of 165lbs. I plan on reaching that weight in one year. This blog will serve as the official record of that journey, with my thoughts and feelings records as well as food logs, exercise logs and weight measurements.

I used to be a fit person. I used to lift weights and run. I used to be able to play sports without feeling like I was going to die. I decided to lose weight and get in shape because I want to be able to do these things again.

So here are the rules I am going to play by for this one year weight loss challenge:

1. I will not use any man-made products to lose weight. No fat burners or artificial suppressants.
2. I will not use tobacco products to control my appetite. I have done this in the past but that is just jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.
3. I will weigh in every Sunday and post the results.
4. I will blog on a regular basis about what I am doing to lose weight as well as any other related topics.
5. I will not resort to surgery to reach my target weight.

After completing this challenge I hope to experience these results:

• A healthy weight of 165lbs
• A well toned body
• The ability to play sports such as basketball or football without becoming winded
• A longer life span

My approach to this challenge is going to resume the active lifestyle I used to live.  When I was working out on a regular basis I could eat whatever I wanted and how ever much I wanted.  I may incorporate some form of counting calories into my plan but I doubt it.

Three years ago was when I was in shape and fit.  I know that my metabolism hasn’t changed that much - I just went from being active to being inactive.

This is going to be just a quick mini-post.  I just wrote and posted two bigger posts here and in the time it took me to write and post those two articles I had 4 comments on my first article - all encouraging.

Now I’ve been a blogger for about a year now and no where else have I received four positive comments to anything I’ve written.  This community of people are so great and supportive that if you have a hard time staying motivated to lose weight and you are an active participant in this community then you seriously need to have your head looked at.

I’ve tried to lose weight and get in shape before but I’ve always done it without telling the whole world about it.  Now that I’m actually blogging about it it seems like it is much more attainable now than before.  Honestly, I feel a lot more accountable for how I do this now that I know people are watching.

Even when I started this blog I figured that no one would read it.  But the 4 - wait, I just got a new email…. - make that five comments tells me that people are reading and liking what I write.

Cue “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor, please…

So talk to me people… what are some motivational tips that you want to share with the community?

Comment below…