Super

Will this madness called May never end? I absolutely hate and love this month at the same time. It's great, it has Mother's Day in it, and my wonderful wife's birthday, and my little brother's birthday, and we even get a holiday. It also contains lots of school things going on, performances, and lots and lots of baseball games, soccer games and the like. It is a very, very busy month. To add on top of that, I'm a guy who can't say no. Can you ref 5 soccer games this week? Sure! Can you get this major construction project done? And my project, and my project, oh, and mine too? All to which I gladly say YES! AM I NUTS???? No, just sleep deprived.

So, I managed 1 day of working out last week. It was with a trainer, and it was great. I was sore for 2 days - and that was only the result of doing an introductory workout with him for 15-20 min. (Yes, I've got a long way to go). But, did I mention that I Ref'd 5 games last week. A double header on Wednesday, a double header on Thursday and a single game on Saturday. I also ran the Deak's Run for Hope 5k on Saturday (more about that in another post). I spent Sunday trying to recover.

Anyway, I ended up being down 2lbs on Friday's weigh in, and I'm heading in the right direction again. I decided to sign up for 6 sessions with the trainer at my gym. So, starting this morning, I'll be working with him once a week for 6 weeks. I think this is what I need to kick my butt into gear and keep going. He had me doing chest/shoulder super-sets this morning. It was killer. My arms and shoulders feel like jelly today. Good workout though. I'm a little embarrassed about how weak I am, but I can't get stronger unless I put the work in. And he pushes me in a way that I won't push myself. I will almost never lift to failure on my own, but when he is working with me, I can do that and gain the benefit of pushing my muscles to the limit. Now I just have to keep going. These last 2-3 weeks of May look killer busy on the schedule. I still have to find time for me, and to work out, and to eat right.

I'm no superman yet, but I'm working on it.

Don't short change yourself

This is the battle I have every morning at the gym. It begins with the battle to wake up on time, and not hit the snooze button (which I inevitably do - at least twice). Then it's get dressed and off to the gym. Once at the gym, I am fully aware of the time, and I know what time I have to leave to be to work on time. You see, 3 years ago when I lost all my weight, my employer at the time had 'flex time', which meant that I could come in as late as 10am if I wanted to, as long as I got my work done, and as long as I got at least 40 hours in for the week. Now, I work at a place that is not as flexible, and I HAVE to be there by 8am. Hence, the workout is done by 7:15 sharp, so I can shower, dress and commute. So, what does this long winded explanation mean? It means that I often end up short changing myself in the gym - timewise - workout wise, maybe only getting in about 30 min of exercise.

I read somewhere last week that Jillian Michaels had said that you need at least 45 min of continuous exercise to make the workout 'worth it'. So, worth it how? Well, while any amount of exercise is a good thing, getting up to or past that 45 minute mark is where your body starts have the afterburn - which is your body kicking up your metabolism post workout. I've read this in other places too, and I believe it to be true. While my results have been decent this time around, there are not what I was getting 3 years ago. In 2008, I was getting in 45min to 1 hr workouts at the gym, sometimes more - and I was seeing much higher weight loss numbers each week.
So, the shortchanging part comes into play, of making the decision to get up earlier, get to bed earlier, eating right. I mean, I'm getting to the gym, so I may as well get the maximum effect out of it.

Anyway - this weeks #'s.

Down 3 lbs. 20lbs total in 4 weeks.
Bodyfat % remained the same.

I'm excited that my daughter does not have an indoor soccer game tomorrow at freaking 7am - yeah! this means I can go to the gym!