Category: Inspiration


This is my entry for #gethawt #4.  I’ll cop to it… I missed my update last week.  But there wasn’t a ton of progress to report.  I’m down 4 pounds.  I still have 18.5 pounds (of fat) to take off.  I’m making forward progress, but it’s slow going.

That’s why I’m happy to say I got back to the gym for the first time in a couple months.  Not only that, but a good friend of mine, Jason, also joined with me.  We’ve only gone once this week, but we’re meeting tonight (yesterday by the time this posts) to hit it again.

We’re working from the four hour body, like Jen is.  We’ll be using slow repetitions to really shred the muscles.  My personal goal is to put on muscle, so my base calorie requirements will go up.  It’ll also change my shape without really changing my weight.

And honestly, changing the shape is what #gethawt is about, right?

I suppose the real lesson for this week is this.  If you have time to make an excuse to miss the gym (or do something positive towards your goals), then you had time to put effort towards the goal.

You wasted it.

Plain and simple, if you aren’t putting your effort toward your goals, you’re wasting a commodity you can never get back.

Stop wasting time, and get out there and do it!

April Update

So another month and for the first time in a while I have a negative update. I know this is not the way I should start off considering how positive I am usually but I guess a little frustration has set in since there is no one to blame but myself for my weight. So as for my update I gained 1 LB this month and by my own personal BF% Device gained .04% BF, I know some of you are probably like what is he upset about it is only a pound but when you are as heavy as I am and you have been this way what seems like all your life it can drive you NUTS!!!!!! knowing the for a whole month ou do not lose a pound but gained one. So I ended up showing this gain due to the fact that I drank about 60 oz of water a few hours before my weigh in I was trying to make sure that I was hydrated so the DR could read my BF% but AGAIN we were unable to get a reading this makes it 2 times now in a row with no reading and what do I have to show for it an extra pound, of course since my DR visit I have lost that pound but my BF is still not under 38% this is due in part to some very unhealthy eating in the month of April.

So this month on the 8th I celebrated my Birthday I turned 29, my ultimate goal and dream is to lose the rest of my weight before I am 30 and not just the weight but also have my surgery to tighten up my skin. I want to be able to go to the beach and take my shirt off with confidence, it has been something I have wanted to do for a long time I am always the guy in my group that had a shirt on at the beach because I was to embarrased to take it off. So the fustration comes from gaining 1 pound and knowing for me to reach my goal I have to drop about 90 LBS by December and then have sugery and recover before 4/8/2012. It is going to be tough and  I am going to have to step up my weight loss but it will be worth it in the end. I have a good group of friends that help keep me on track, as well as anyone who reads this, I want to always have positive post on this site in hopes that it helps out my readers. As you can see from my last update to now it has been over 4 weeks this was do to me having to process the negative impact I had this month. All in all it could have been worse. So here is my chart as of 4/11

Beginning of Month   End of Month   Gain/Loss
Item Measurement Item Measurement
Weight 288 LBS Weight 289 LBS + 1 LBS
Body Fat % (DR) N/A% Body Fat % (DR) N/A% N/A%
Body Fat % (ME) 38.0% Body Fat % (ME) 38.4% + 0.4%
Right Bicep 18.5 in Right Bicep 18.75 in + 0.25 in
Left Bicep 17.5 in Left Bicep 17.75 in + 0.25 in
Right Thigh 28.75 in Right Thigh 29.0 in + 0.25 in
Left Thigh 28.75 in Left Thigh 28.75 in 0 in
Chest 52.75 in Chest 52.0 in - 0.75 in
Waist 53.25 in Waist 53.0 in - 0.25 in
Hips 52.5 in Hips 53 in + 0.5 in

As you can see there were gains in a few areas where there are usually losses and lossess where there are normally gains. Like I said an off month, I am noticing a trend my I am gaining less muscle each month I went from an increase of 2in in some areas to now an increase of a .25in, I know I am not going to see dramitic increases every month espically if I do not stick to the diet 100% but to workout as hard as I do it is just disappointing.  The workout I do is tough even thought you get a 3 min break in between excercises it is a total body workout so it is killer on the whole body. I work out with a close friend of mine who I have known for over 11 years, he was a tiny guy when met hime what I mean by that is he was 6ft tall and had the width of a string bean. Fast forward to now still 6ft tall but 180 LBS of muscle with a BF% of 15. so when we workout I have someone that helps push me to my limit since I am always trying to keep up with him and even trying to surpass him but he is like Bruce Willis in the movie Unbreakable, evey week when we are working out he seems to increase his lift in at least one excercise by 10 LBS. I have increased my lift is a few excercises but considering we started out lifting the same weight and now he is 50 LBS ahead of me when it comes to rows, one of the machines we use can only hold a max of 200 LBS and I finally move to 160 in my dead lift after 2 months but my friend has been on 200 LBS for the past 3 weeks, like I said Unbreakable, and for anyone who has not seen this movie, there is a scene where no matter how much weight was put on to the weight Bruce Willis was able to pick it up, so now you can understand the reference as well :) . OK I have to go but I am going to try and make this my final negative post. I hate being negative espacially when it comes to talking about myself so I will make an improvements allowing me to stay motivated. Until May, keep up the good work and if you have not strated yet, start today at lunch do some air squats before you eat, just for 1 minute that still leaves you a minimun of 29 minutes for lunch or 59 if you get an hour and if you can’t spare that one minute then spare 30 seconds.

I’d like to thank Jen McCown (of MidnightDBA fame) for starting the new hashtag #GetHawt (Get Hawt Friday) on twitter. You can check out the official startup post on her personal blog here. The idea was to come together and hold a weekly blog party focusing on our fitness and weight loss goals.  Sounds familiar, right?  Yeah, without realizing it, I had let me blogging here slip.

Even worse, after stepping on the scales for the first time in more than a few weeks I realized I had slipped in my weight loss too!  I’d put 15 pounds back on my body.  I refuse to let it take a doctor noting in my records that I’m morbidly obese before doing something about the extra weight.

I’m getting back on the wagon!

Jen suggested the topic of “be accountable.”  I like it.  I wanted to share the technology I‘ve used in the past to be accountable.  I’m using Lose It again to track the food I eat and the exercise I do every day to be healthy.

The reason I started using Lose It was they had an iPhone app.  With that app I had no reason I couldn’t record what I was eating, and as a result being faced with the decisions I was making during the day.  When I would cheat, I had to enter it.  Then, I’d see how that affected how much fat I’d eaten during the day, or how much sugar I’d eaten that day.

By entering my exercise I could easily see the days I had done something, anything, to burn calories, and more importantly, those days I had made something else a higher priority than my health.

But there were positives too, I could see my weight loss on a curve.  Every day I could see on that line where I was, even when I couldn’t see the results in the mirror.

And since I‘ve been slack on using the app, I’ve found that they’ve opened it up to the web.  So as long as you have a web browser with you, you could join in on the action (android users).  You can keep track from your desk. 

They’ve even integrated some social ideas into the system.  You can now join with your friends to see their progress.  You can help cheer them on when they make it to a milestone.  You can help them stay honest on their diet (if they share the details with you).  Once you set up who your friends are online, you can work with them to stay on track. 

I’m inviting every one of you to join.  It’s free!

I can be there to cheer you on…so long as you’re there to cheer me on when I need it!

And now for my S.M.A.R.T goals.

I’m going to make it a priority to go to the gym two days per week.  I’m going to put in 20 minutes of Cardio, and I’ll finish with some weights.  I would like to maintain the muscle gains I made the last time I was going.

My primary goal is fat loss, I have been able to get to 20.7% body fat.  My long term goal is 15%.  Over the next month I’m going to drop 8 lbs, with an additional 8 the following month, that should put me back to where I was when I stopped being so strict on myself.

I plan to hold myself accountable through Lose It!  I’ll share my data with anyone who reads this blog and joins me on the journey.  That’s accountability!

Hrm, 2 months to take off 8 months of being slack.  Maybe that wasn’t so horrible after all!

So…what are your goals?  How are you going to hold yourself accountable?

March Update

So I has my appointment today and things were good but the one thing I was looking forward to did not get to happen. I was unable to get my Body Fat% tested, the machine would not register. So I am going to have to wait for my results on the BF%. But I did lose another 1.2 LBS. Hopefully my measurements make up for what went on to only lose 1 LB. So in my last post I used a regular tape measure, and I mentioned that I would be using a new measuring device to do my measurements this month it is called the OrbiTape by Sequoia. So here is the breakdown the measurements will reflect the last 4 weeks Feb 21st – March 14th.

Beginning of Month   End of Month   Gain/Loss
Item Measurement Item Measurement
Weight 289 LBS Weight 288 LBS - 1 LBS
Body Fat % 40.2% Body Fat % N/A% N/A%
Right Bicep 17.25 in Right Bicep 18.5 in + 1.25 in
Left Bicep 17 in Left Bicep 17.5 in + 0.5 in
Right Thigh 28.5 in Right Thigh 28.75 in + 0.25 in
Left Thigh 28.5 in Left Thigh 28.75 in + 0.25 in
Chest 51 in Chest 52.75 in + 1.75 in
Waist 54 in Waist 53.25 in - 0.75 in
Hips 53 in Hips 52.5 in - 0.5 in

So as you can see this month was not as impressive but it is still a positive month every pound counts and I am happy to have lost one pound instead of gained one pound. I really wish I could have gotten my BF% but no problem. To add to my measuring tools I will also begin tracking my BF% using my own device (Omron HBF-306C)as well as my doctors meter. So in 4 weeks I will post new results and I am shooting to be one BIG loser…………in weight that is. Until next time good luck on your own weight loss adventure.

OK so as promised I am posting roughly 1 month after my last post. So where do I stand after last month? Lets recap the Chart and I will add the new info as well.

Previous Month   Current Month   Gain/Loss
Item Measurement Item Measurement
Weight 293 LBS Weight 289 LBS - 4 LBS
Body Fat % 42.8% Body Fat % 40.2% - 2.6%
Right Bicep 16.5 in Right Bicep 18 in + 1.5 in
Left Bicep 16 in Left Bicep 17.5 in + 1.5 in
Right Thigh 26.5 in Right Thigh 28.5 in + 2 in
Left Thigh 27.5 in Left Thigh 28.5 in + 1 in
Waist 55 in Waist 53.25 in - 1.75 in
Hips 55 in Hips 54.5 in - .5 in

So as you can see the last month has been good to me. I am sure you are wondering how can a shift like this occur in four weeks to gain 2 inches in my leg remove almost 2 inches from my waist and add 1.5 inches in my arms……..well this is due to my new diet and exercise. I actually do a modified version of the actual diet & exercise plan (the only reason I modified it is because I want to lose more fat before putting on more muscle) it is similar in every way of the original plan except I am not using as many supplements as required. So what is this plan you may ask and how can you do it? I have to tell you I owe this success to a Man by the name of Tim Ferris, a good friend of mine bought his book “4 hour body” which can be purchased on Amazon.com. I will give you a run down but I do not want to give away Mr. Ferris’s reasearch for free that would not be fair to him, take it from me one more month with success similar to this and I will be buying my brother a copy of this book as well. The book is under $20.00 and has been a New York Best Seller.  Enough on that, what am I doing you ask; I started eating a little differently it is actually more strict than how I was eating before except for one crazy thing I can eat anything I want every Saturday. As for working out I have cut my workout in half I workout twice a week 30 minutes each work. If you Google Tim Ferris geek to freak you can get a much better idea of what I am doing now his results are amazing and makes my results look like nothing but keep in mind I modified mine to work better for me since I want to lose more weight before I go all in to packing on the muscle. Let me tell you I have had some crazy cheat Saturdays that consist of pizza and pastries and many unhealthy items that I dare not post since they are bad for you.

I want everyone who reads this post to understand one thing I only changed up my diet to try something different to see if it would work my old diet was working fine and I did not plateau and if this diet would not have worked I would have switched back to my old diet but since I received good results I will stick to the new plan for now. It truly makes me feel like my goal first goal of 20% is more than reasonable. I will be posting new starting results by Friday, all measurements above were taken at home by my wife using a good ole measuring tape, my body fat was taken by my doctor. I will begin the new measuring with a product called the OrbiTape as well as calculating my body fat using 2 different devices as well as getting the info from my doctor. I just want to find a device that is consistent as well as accurate for at home use so I can not only keep myself in check but recommend an affordable device that anyone can use. I can tell you using the new items mentioned above my measurements will be different from what I posted before but I want be accurate and the old fashion measuring tape is not accurate because tension is being controlled by a human so depending on how tight or how loose they are when measuring your numbers can vary greatly, if my numbers change from what I have posted here it is because the numbers will have better accuracy than the information above. I believe my new measurements will be smaller in all body parts just because of tension used during measurements. What is a good thing about using the same devices all the time is your numbers can be way off but as long as they are way off consistently the your Gains&Losses will be correct every time. Example: if I weigh 300 LBS on my scale and 290 LBS on another, it would not work to use my scale to get my starting weight and the other to get my ending weight since they vary, but if I use only one of the scales it does not matter which one I use since I will lose the same weight. Now if want to know what my actual weight is then I would need to find out which one is accurate. So I am cutting this post short since I have other things I need to do before work tomorrow and it is getting late, I just wanted to share my good news and hold true to my promise of a minimum of one post a month. As well as shed a little light on a good book that can make a big difference. So to recap new measurement by Monday and I will also give you some background info on how good this book actually is. Here is something to think about when it comes to this book it is the first book I have picked up and kept reading after the first 5 pages in over 10 years!! GOOD NIGHT!

Here we are before the run

This past Saturday, my friend Brandy and I did something neither of us had done before. We ran a 5k.

Now, let me be honest, running is stretch. We finished in 42:04. Faster than my previous run which was right at 45 minutes. But we made a commitment to do it, and we followed through. That’s the hardest part of making a change. Commitment.

It’s much easier to make an excuse as to why you can’t run a 5k than running one. But what do you get from an excuse.

Nothing.

Right before the finish line

Right before the finish line

What did we get from running the 5k?  Check out the last picture in this post.  What do you see?  I can tell you what I see.

I see a sense of accomplishment.

I see a sense of pride.

I see two people who took a step to better their health, and have committed to following through.

Finished!

Finished!

Would you see any of that if we had not followed through?

I doubt it.

What’s holding you back from making the same change in your life?  Add them to the comments below.  I want to know what excuses people are making as to why they can’t be healthier.  I want to try to talk to those reasons…. I want to help you overcome them.

Together, we can be healthy.  Let’s do that together!

By the way…I just signed up for another 5k… This one is much more interesting!

New Year Update

Hello Readers! I hope the new year has been treating you well as for me I am down…..ON MY WEIGHT!!! My last post was the beginning of November so since then I have we have Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Years. So my weight was 302 the day I last blogged and today I am 293! I did not get my goal of 276 but I am under 300 and I do not plan to see that number anytime soon. I lost a total of 83 LBS in one year. So how much do you think it would cost to lose the amount of weight I lost……….about $125 a month, I tell you this because I want you all to know that my effort is my own but I am being guided, I see my doctor every month the average you see there is the cost for all my blood work medication and doctors visits, almost anyone can do the diet I am doing and as log as you follow it you should lose weight as well. Up until now I have just been giving you my total weight loss I don’t remember telling you my Body Fat %. This number is not my BMI it is my body fat what percent of my body is FAT. When I started my Body Fat % was 53% and after everything I have done so far I am down to 42.8% that is right around 10% fat reduction. So as my buddy Shannon stated in a previous post New Year New Resolution, to recap my goal last year was to lose weight I did not define an exact amount but after a month I did and it was 100 LBS which I feel I came pretty close to, just because I failed does not mean I should give up, I am high and I always will, I make a big goal and add milestones to get there that way if I fail I can still see my progress and understand what happened and why it happened. If I would have set my goal to 50 LBS which is still an impressive amount of weight I would have short changed myself considering I lost 33 LBS more than that. OK now for my resolution. My new goal for the new year is to lose 32.8% of my body fat! I am no longer going to set a weight loss goal due to my new work out and diet plan my weight will no longer be accurate, this all also have me blogging more since I will be posting my results every month, even if I am getting on just to post my stats it will happen every month I promise, I know you are probably thinking to yourself “I will believe it when I see it,” but I am excited about my goal and I will post every month stay tuned.

I usually try to have some type of advice and/or something personal so here is what I have it is a combination of the 2, do not let stress cost you the ability to lose weight, I use to eat when I was stressed and I also use to blame not exercising on everything under the sun I am stressed, I want to hang out, I am tired, I just got off work, I work to hard……etc I am sure if I took 5 minutes I could have come up with a minimum of 50 more excuses they may not  make any sense but no excuse makes sense except for a few (example: a serious injury). I told you that to tell you this My dad has been in and out of the hospital since 11/1/2010 and 1/13/2011 in this time period my dad has had 2 surgeries, the first time was here in NC where I live I traveled from Charlotte to Winston-Salem several times during the month of November then the last time he was in the hospital it was in FL and it was on New Years Day I was not able to make it to FL until the following weekend which was 1/8/2011 he was released on 1/13/2011 after having surgery again, then yesterday 1/18/2011 @ 7:45 I get a phone call from my sister that my parents were involved in a car accident, they were hit in the back panel on the driver side causing them to 360. My parents are not old but they are not young they are both in there 60′s, they are doing  OK my mom is in pain but she is walking around, as for my dad he is still in the hos[ital they have him on a heart monitor I spoke to him yesterday and just like any dad would he said he is OK. After being out of the hospital for 5 days he is back in there again, my dad has spent 14 of 19 days in January in the hospital. As much emotional stress I am feeling and lack of sleep and driving that I have done since November I have still managed to lose 9 LBS in 2 1/2 months. So there really is almost no excuse to say ”I can’t lose weight.” Alright enough of my sad note I will now post my beginning stats.

Item Measurement
Weight 293 LBS
Body Fat % 42.8%
Right Bicep 16.5 in
Left Bicep 16 in
Right Thigh 26.5 in
Left Thigh 27.5 in
Waist 55 in
Hips 55 in

I know the same number was put for Waist and Hips but I have no shape I am like a ruler the only curves I have are fat ones. Well like I said I will post my results in a month so we can see how much I have changed. Here’s to you and your family and to my new weight loss strategy. See you in 4 weeks Cheers!!!

On January 29th, there’s going to be an event in Salisbury I’d like to invite you all to participate in.  It’s the Winter Flight 8K Run and 5K Walk.

Before you even think, “I can’t do that” or “I don’t run.” Notice there are multiple events here. Just getting out and being active is a great step towards getting fit. Come out and join us!

If you still need a reason to come out, then know this: all proceeds go to Rowan Helping Ministries. Penny and I have worked with this group before through Help Bags. They try to help by providing basic human needs to those in Rowan County.

Help them out , and get fit at the same time.  It’s win-win!

Followup to RUN!

I just wanted to followup on my earlier post.  I ran the 5k.  I finished in just under 45 minutes.  Not great, not bad.

I want to get down to 29 minutes.  That would be passing for the USMC PT exam.  That’s what I’m aiming for.

I’m always pushing myself to be better, stronger, faster.  I truly believe that’s how I was able to put off the weight.  That drive to be better.  It’s not something I can just give you.

Unfortunately you’ve got to find that for yourself.  When you do… we’ll be here for you.  We can cheer you on to your goals.

Are you ready?

RUN!

Today after work, I’ll be headed to the treadmill.  Nothing exciting, but i’m keeping myNew Year’s Resolution.  I’m doing everything I can to get ready for my year of runs.   I’ve always read that if you want to keep your resolutions you have to take the abstract goals, and make smaller concrete goals out of them.

So here goes:  I’m going to run 5k today and write down my time…here for the world to see.  I’m going to give it 100%, no holding back.  I want to see what my best time is right now.

No chickening out.

In one month, I’m going to beat that time.  It’s a small goal, but it’s one I can keep. In order to beat my time, I’m going to have to run and run regularly.  All of this works to prepare me for my first 5k.

What’s your resolution?  What’s your next step?  Share your goals with us and we’ll make it happen.