Over the past year I have focused on my own health and fitness making a hard pressed effort to change. Not a quick fix but a lifestyle change, an integration into my own daily routine. I can say today I have succeeded. There is still room to go and the challenge of maintenance but how far I have come I know the rest will not be as big of a challenge as it was when I started.
Let's go back a year, early March of 2012. I switched companies and that life changing event was a good point to put the stake in the ground to mark it as Day 1. One year ago, March 3, 2012 I tipped the scales at 245lbs. Whoa. Years of neglect, mainly working in a career that has very little movement sitting behind monitors and servers. That excuse is no more for me.
I began mountain biking on a regular basis, posting my trips using the iOS app MapMyRide. Being an IT freak, social media is in my blood, so I thought it would be a good motivator to post all my workouts. Turns out that was a good motivator. It was also a huge help to track every workout because over time I could see physical progress as I was going farther distances, faster. I was also shedding weight.
Over the year I started going back to the gym and integrating running and some weights. Running then, and still is, my most hated exercise. Mainly I never really did it before and it killed me when I tried. But I worked on it and over time 1 mile turned into 2 then to 3 and last week I ran for 5 miles straight inside an hour. Not bad for not being a runner.
I am also able to get 20 miles on the stationary bike inside an hour as well.
Like most I got stagnant with my workouts and wasn't losing the obvious fat I was still hanging on to. Then the holidays hit and didn't fight it and let the workout schedule lapse a bit. 2013 came around and I got frustrated with myself and accepted that if I wanted to get where I needed to be I needed assistance. So I hired a Personal Trainer for 3 months to get me over the hump.
The first day I started he put me through an assessment that consisted of a full body scan and a series of exercises to baseline my performance. Then once a month we re-did the assessment and here is the data from Feb 12, 2013 to April 18, 2013.
Feb. 12, 2013
Body Fat: 22.5%
Weight: 214.9 lbs.
Waist: 36.5 in.
Hip: 43.6 in
Exercises - 1 minute to see how many reps can be done
Standing Cable Squat Rows: 45 reps with 47.5 lbs.
Chest Pushups: 23 reps
Ab Crunches: 25 reps
Body Squats: 34 reps
Lat Pulldowns: 20 reps with 80 lbs.
Back Extensions: 25
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March 13, 2013
Body Fat: 20%
Weight: 206 lbs.
Waist: 34.5 in.
Hip: 43.1 in.
Exercises - 1 minute to see how many reps can be done
Standing Cable Squat Rows: 47 reps with 47.5 lbs.
Chest Pushups: 33 repsAb Crunches: 36 reps
Body Squats: 44 reps
Lat Pulldowns: 22 reps with 80 lbs.
Back Extensions: 46
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April 18, 2013
Body Fat: 17.5%
Weight: 201 lbs.
Waist: 33.5 in.
Hip: 43 in.
Exercises - 1 minute to see how many reps can be done
Standing Cable Squat Rows: 51 reps with 57.5 lbs. (added 10 pounds)
Chest Pushups: 40 repsAb Crunches: 60 reps
Body Squats: 28 reps (added two 30 lb. Dbells in each hand)
Lat Pulldowns: 30 reps with 80 lbs.
Back Extensions: 47 (added 25 lb. plate)
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The data doesn't lie. Progress was made. Success was had and value was fully received. Now you may say I cheated by hiring a PT. But 1 hour a week training session did not do this. It educated me to be more focused about how I work out, all the muscles not just the legs, diet, habits, snacks, proteins, water intake. Slowly but surely my lifestyle changed not in a diet mode but as an adoption mode to weave these as a regular part of my life.
It worked. I have reaped many other benefits medically, physically, mentally, and every other positive outcome from this personal achievement. At the end of the day I proved to myself it could be done.
I am going to round up but losing 45 pounds feel pretty, pretty good. When I can say I lost 55, that will feel a little better.
People change for one of two reasons:
1) They are motivated
2) They are desperate
When it comes to your health and well being, don't change because of #2.
End of Line.
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Binary Blogger
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