DeathsApprentice's Blog

Re-start…… again

P90X - The Final Hurdle — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:47:20 +0000

Right, so im trying to get back on track with my getting fit. The last while has been terrible, eating shit and not excercising! Theres a couple of reasons for that one being that i hurt my chest/ribs at the end of Januaury and i couldnt do any excercise properly. Without the excercises along with going out at the weekends, my diet soon went to the trash. So Ive realised if I do the excercises every morning the diet will follow. Physcologically Ill know its not worth excercising if Im not eating properly!

Anyway Ive decided to the P90X fitness program. This involves a fitness and nutrition plan which alters after 4 weeks! The menu plan starts off with 50% protein, 30% Carbs and 20% Fats, then swithches to 40:40:20 and finally 30:50:20. The Fitness plan involves the use of a technique called “Muscle Confusion” which changes up the routine so as to avoid a plateau. After 3 weeks of bodyweight training there is a week of recovery which involves less intensity. This is done a total of 3 times over a course of 13 weeks! I dont know if the technique has been proven to work but the results that people have got from the program show that the program does work if you try your hardest.

The workouts are done 6 days a week with a stretch or rest on the final day. The routine is as follows:

Day1:Chest & Back,Ab.Ripper Day2:Plyometrics Day3:Shoulders & Arms,Ab.Ripper Day4:Yoga Day5:Legs & Back,Ab.Ripper Day6:Kenpo Day7:Rest or Stretch

Recovery Week Day1:Yoga Day2:Core Synergistics Day3:Kenpo Day4:Stretch Day5:Core Synergistics Day6:Yoga Day7:Rest or Stretch

As of today Im nearing 14 stone (196) which feels absolutely terrible. All my hard work gone down the drain. Im going to Australia soon and want to have lost the weight. I want to get down to maybe 12 or 12 1/2 stone. I dont want to be ripped or anything but want the belly gone! I want new clothes and to feel good in my own skin, to be able to move quicker and more flexible! All the usual reasons but mostly to feel good with myself and proud of my body. Its annoying not being in control of myself so here goes from now on. Its my life! Anyway, no more of this waffle!

Everyday I want to post with a few things on my mind.

1) Diet: The menu plan for the day and whether I stuck to it, if not how. 2) Supplements taken for the day 3) Mood before, during and after the workout 4) Workout: How it went and any details I feel like mentioning

Ill also post my Fit Test results.

Laterz

Good Afternoon

P90X - The Final Hurdle — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 11:08:44 +0000

Just joined BodyBuilders.com. Ive always thought the site was for competeros in those professional body buliding competitions but Ive been breazing over the site for about 2 weeks now and I have to say its pretty great. Alot of motivation from other people, even the people I would generally have thought were ****heads. Book.. Cover anyone.

Anyway Ive set up my bodyspace and will be starting my journal once I get my thesis in next week. Theres alot of good information on the site too so I should be able to get myself sorted once and for all. along with the BellyOff! and menshealth forums.

Im going to shave the goatee doon aswell :O

Laters

Im back!

P90X - The Final Hurdle — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:12:28 +0000

Alright so I have to get back onto the frame of mind to lose this weight. Ive basically put up most of the weight I lost there a couple of months ago. Im pretty upset with myself and feel fat again. I need to lose this weight for ever abd keep it off if ever Im going to be happy!

My new goal is to lose 12-14lbs for the 18th of October. Thats just about 12 weeks! thats 1lb a week. It can be done.

I need to do this now, I feel horrible in myself and have done for a good while now. Mostly Im thinking of how I look.

Its a matter of being happy in myself.

Starting again

P90X - The Final Hurdle — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:19:29 +0000

I knd of failed on the 8 week program. I got about 5 weeks of good working out and lost about 8lbs, and the 8 weeks was pretty clean eating. But I need to start again this Monday and lose another 8lbs or so. Ive to tine myself up so that I dont feel shitty anymore. I feel fat and flabby and I need to motivate myself to do this! So Im doing the weeks shopping tommorow and getting what I need to plan my weeeks worth of meals. College is preventing me from doing the proper routine so Ill have to work around that. I have to plan every week in advance and stick to it. This has to be done, I just want to feel good fit and healthy. Ive come this far and people have noticed the change. Another 8 weeks and I can make a bigger change.

But Ive to motivate myself to do it! I think Im lazy and when I think about the workouts I dont want to do them. So Ill just have to not think about it and just do them! The food is ok but needs to be sharpened. Im not planning each meal ahead of time! Lets do this shit!

8 weeks done

P90X - The Final Hurdle — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:50:38 +0000

So the 8 weeks are over, but they didnt go too well. I didnt stick to the workout, think I got bored of them again. I did them consistently for about 5 and a half weeks and then kept missing workouts. Theres a few reasons behind it the main one being the loss of motivation aswell as being in college most of the time. I also got a bit lazy so I have to get that out of my system. The scales are giving me mixed messages. I was around 180lbs on sat, 12st12lbs, and I weighed myself this evening and I was back up to 188, 13st 5lbs. That seems a bit unlikely as I have been sticking quite stricly to clean eating with a couple of days here and there off such as Slane, I kindof forgot to eat untill my stomach gave out.

Plus the drinking has to slow down. Im doing a bit too much lately, due to the good weather and everyone being out. I enjoy being out with the lads so Im not gonna stop that but I will moderate it more than I have been.

Im starting a new 8 week stint on monday, with my own eating plan set up with about 2000 – 2200 cals a day and the proper macronutrient ratios. I will do my friday workout this friday just to get my mind onto it. I HAVE TO DO THIS. Im still not happy, even though everyone has been commenting on how well I look. There is another 8 weeks or so left of summer so I will look twice as good by that time if I stick to this. I just have to get my mind to it and motivate myself. Im sick of feeling FAT!

Laters

Wrote this today…

P90X - The Final Hurdle — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:03:04 +0000

10:00 Oatmeal porridge with two tbsp peanut butter and 1 scoop vitalinea yoghurt

2 boiled eggs

Coffee with a drop of slimline milk

12:00 Banana

1oz Hazelnuts

1 Babybel cheese

2:00 Whole-wheat Tortilla wrap with 3 turkey slices, ~2iceberg lettuce leaves, ½ small onion and a scrape of wholegrain mustard or light mayonnaise

1 vitalinea yoghurt

5:00 John West tinned Tuna with low sodium soy sauce

8:00 Two chicken breasts cooked with a tomato and basil sauce, broccoli or sugar snaps and a small baked potato. (other veggies such as mushrooms, onions and peppers with the tomato sauce)

10- 11 Usually if I’m hungry I’ll have a bowl of bran flakes with avanmore slimline

milk.

About 4 tea and coffees throughout the day (usually 1 coffee and 3 teas)

And 1 nutrisport 90 + protein shake after my workout (times change for when I do the workouts.)

Doing the MensHealth BellyOff! 8 week program. The workout I am doing is the BodyWeight II which entails 3 different workouts a week composed of bodyweight exercises, 1 or 2 interval sessions which I try do 10 rounds on a stationary bike and the Power of 10 challenges on Saturdays. I’m also going to incorporate other activities such as swimming on a Thursday.

I’m 24, about 5’6 and 183lbs.

My goals are to firstly drop to maybe 170 – 175 lbs, and lose the fat around my midsection. To become generally fitter and more agile. I regard myself as pretty healthy apart from a few spouts once every couple of weekends when I go out with friends and enjoy myself. ( I enjoy socialising a lot so I’m not going to drop it, its part of my life, but I do try keep the drinking to a moderate amount, most of the time, moderate being 3 or 4 lagers).

I don’t know what my body fat % is at the moment but Id say its around mid 20’s, I will get this measured as soon as I find out where I can get it done.

I have been to a gym before so I do know what it looks like, I went pretty regularly the last year of college. But I hadn’t got my eating under control and only lately have I realized upon reading a little that the diet is 80 % of the journey with only 20% going for the exercise. I have joined a gym near home, about 20 mins drive, buts its only a small gym as part of a GAA ( gaeilc) football club, so they don’t have the facilities associated with the mainstream gyms like PTs or BF% measurements, or classes and the like. It has the basic gym equipment such as resistance machines, free weights, a pull-up bar and CV machines. Its all you need really. I started just after Christmas, lasting about 4 weeks into Chris Ryans SAS training routines. It wasn’t for me and I hadn’t found out about the nutrition. It was a n alright routine but I don’t think it was for the fat loss I was aiming for. It was a good start to get me back into the fitness. Now over the past few years I have lost a good bit a weight and fat, very slowly I might add, basically by cutting out refined sugars and simple carbs such as pasta and generally stopping eating shit foods. I was at my highest about 16st or maybe more. That’s ~ 224. I’m just at that last hurdle of 15 – 20 lbs. I can then focus on getting lean.

I have lost 8lbs in the 5 &1/2 weeks on my current program and am going to stick with it until I am happy with my body compostion. I will need to up the excercises and add some weights to it but I’m not going to do that yet.

Week 6

P90X - The Final Hurdle — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:22:31 +0000

Well Ive gotten this far which is great. Last week and the week before were pretty hard to get through. I didnt think Id get through them. My motivation was everything but gone because I cant really see any difference in my body composition. The parents said that I have lost a good bit. I just feel smaller than I did. Im still the same shape.

Anyway Im gonna keep at it untill I get to where I want to be. It might take two or three rounds of BO! but I will get there. Ive lost 8lbs in 5 weeks which is very good. Thats just over a lb a week. I dont want to be losing more than that to remain healthy. I cant wait till I look and feel good in myself. It might be christmas befor I can get anywhere near a 6 pack but thats a long way out of my head at this stage. I just want to lose the flab and the belly. Im learning alot about fitness and nutrition and Im enjoying this journey.

I have to cut down on the alcohol intake at the weekend if Im serious about this fat loss. But going out is a major part of my life. I dont think Id survive if I couldnt go out with everyone at the weekend. I look forward to going up to Jacks every week. But I will cut down. To be realistic Im not gonna be cutting it out alltogether but I can keep a hold on the amount that I drink.

Oasis in 2 weeks, lookin forward to that.

Laters.

So back on track.

P90X - The Final Hurdle — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:18:11 +0000

As I said I had a bit if a set back the weekend. Sunday wasnt much better as I went to a BBQ and drank a bit again. Anyway Im back on track and once again feeling good about the program. I had a couple of days where my heart was really not in it and all my motivation was out the window. But I got straight back on the BellyOff! froum and seen a few success stories and refound my MOJO. Im looking forward to loosing this belly, and to reach my goals.

Goal Recap:

170-175lbs, 34″ waist, I dont know my body fat % or measurements yet, lose the excess fat, detox.

Motivation:

New clothes, feeling fit and healthy, no belly at last, Karens wedding ( I want to look real good for that – 1st August) and bringing Kate to that. Just overall happiness in myself really, and confidence.

Week 4 Set Back

P90X - The Final Hurdle — Sun, 31 May 2009 16:35:12 +0000

So week four has become a bit of a failure. Had a bit of a set back on friday. I started my project, was up at 7am which I way wasnt used to. I wasnt home ’till bout half 7 or 8 and I was completerly wrecked. Couldnt get into the house cos I had no key and the parents had left and closed the door. So had to cook dinner in Vincies, ended up going out for drinks with them and had about 5 pints and a couple of whiskeys in the Vibe. I didnt get to do Workout C, and Saturday was a waste aswell so didnt do the Power of 10. So ill be kinda starting week 4 again, but seeing as its not gonna stop just at 8 weeks ( its a lifestyle change). Anyway these setbacks will happen and Im not gonna let it take me down. Im gonna stay on track and get to my goals, no matter how long it takes. I havnt been doing my interval training so I have to really get into it now. Ill start swimming aswell, maybe do some corses. I have a busy few weeks infront of me.

Laters,

Workout B Week 4

P90X - The Final Hurdle — Wed, 27 May 2009 23:22:41 +0000

So did todays workout, got my ass handed to me once again. 5×50 pretty finished me. I had to do the last 8 pushups sissy style with my knees on the ground. But got superset 3 done in 8mins 30 which is an improvement of nearly 4 mins from last week. I think Im also getting better at the shoulder press pushups, my form is improving. Im not sure about the resting periods though. Resting between supersets for 1 min is alrtight because I need it. But for the Flexibility round I dont need the 30 secs between excercises and definately dont need the 1 min between rounds, I can usually go right through the 2 rounds straight. But Im not sure if the resting periods are compulsory for a recovery period. The full workout was done in 50mins 30secs. Havnt compared to last weeks so I dont know if its an improvement, I dont think it is. I dont think my caloric intake was sufficient cos shortky after the workout while I was cooking I nearly got sick and had to sit down for a bit. I counted my calories for te day and they came to lower than 1500, thats too low even for extreme fat loss. So Im not sure, Im worried about loosing muscle ,ass aswell and I dont want that because it would be too hard to build it back up if i want to bulk up in the future. (I wont be getting huge or anything, but would like some definition). % lbs last week seems a bit high and would generally indicate either an incorrect reading or unhealthy loss of muscle mass. I didnt do any interval training last week and definately wasnt focused on the BO program due to exams. I ate proper healthy food and did the workouts but thats it. I cant see how 5lbs were lost.

Anyway, Laters.