Rick Santorum

It has been very difficult to decide on a Republican this year. I am really hoping Santorum can do well, I would love to vote for him in November.

Fitness Update – Week 1

It has been exactly one week since I started my fitness program. As I said in a previous post, I am attempting to lose 30 pounds in 39 days. This seems like a lot, but when you have as much extra weight to lose as me, it really isn’t. I could probably lose 50 pounds and still look healthy.

So, as of today I had dropped 11.5 pounds. that is an average of 1.5 pounds per day. Pretty good. Even better, I have lost close to an inch off my waist. It is extremely motivating to see the weight come off so quickly. I have been working pretty hard in the gym, trying to burn at least 600 calories per session. I made it to the gym 5 out of 7 days last week, and was there today. Today I calculated a calorie burn of about 750. I hope to increase by calories burnt in the gym each week. I would like to get 1,000 calories burnt per session.

I am currently eating between 800 and 1200 calories per day. Most of this is vegetable and protein. I have almost completely cut out carbs, except for a morning cup of yogurt and an occasional rice cake. Anyway, it seems to be working, and I haven’t had cravings too bad.

That’s the weekly fitness update.

New Year 2012!

After neglecting this blog for so long it doesn’t really make sense to even have it. I just can’t bring myself to get rid of it though. Instead I think I will actually start posting regularly this year. I guess the main reason I have neglected it so much is that I wasn’t motivated to write great articles of interest to people. However, that really isn’t the point. The reason I started it was just to record my thoughts on things as I go through life. I don’t expect it to change the world. I don’t expect people to want to read it. I don’t care if people read it or not. I just want to put my thoughts out there. So, this year, I will begin to do just that. Write little posts about things. Sometimes about events in my life, or career. Sometimes about sports, or my workout goals. Sometimes about topics I find interesting. Maybe about politics or things that bother me. This blog doesn’t exist for any reason other than that I want it to. So, I begin 2012 with this post.

Working out and losing weight!

Every new year people make resolutions to get in shape. I did the same thing last year. I started in December 2010, and went strong for about 6 months. My goal wasn’t to lose weight but to build muscle. Years ago I was really in to weight lifting. I had a personal best Bench Press of over 400 lbs. I loved being in the gym. Then I just quit. I put on a lot of bulk from that time I lifted heavy, even though I hadn’t worked out for over ten years, I still had much of the muscle mass I did back then. So, when I started lifting again, I made gains really quickly. Within a few months I was doing 8 -10 reps of 305. I was well on my way to benching 400 again. Then I just stopped.

Last week I started back in the gym. As tempted as I am to go heavy and try to put on massive muscle, I am focusing this time on losing weight. It is almost impossible to lose weight and put on mass at the same time. Your calorie count must be more than  you actually use, unless you have it down to an exact science. I don’t, so I would just eat all the time and consume massive amounts of protein. This allows my muscles to recover and grow, but also allows my waist to grow.

So, I am focusing on lots of cardio, some weight lifting, and eating just enough calories to get me by. This will force my body to burn fat quickly.

I started Monday the 24th at 244 pounds. By Saturday I am at 235. That is 9 pounds in 6 days. My goal is 30 pounds, in 39 days. So, at this rate I will easily reach that goal, but I know that my weight loss will slow down. Also, at least 5 pounds of that is water weight, so I have really only lost about 5 pounds, but that is still a good enough pace to reach my goal of 30 pounds.

My workout consists of burning about 600 calories in a workout. I do this through 20 minutes of running, 30 minutes of weight training, and usually about 20 minutes of swimming. I finish it off with a good sweat in the sauna. I try and make it to the gym at least 5 times a week, which means I burn 3,000 calories a week from exercise.

My diet goal is to take in less than 1250 calories a day. Along with the exercise this creates a calorie deficit of about 1500 calories a day. They say 3,500 calories lost equals a pound of fat. So, at this rate I should lose close to a pound of fat every two days. Or 3.5 pounds per week. In 6 weeks, that is only about 21 lbs., which is 9 lbs. short of my goal. So I may have to increase the cardio. We will see.

At the end of the thirty nine days, I am going to reward myself with a seven day cruise where I will eat myself into a coma. I can’t wait. Anyway, for motivation I will blog my progress.

Goodbye 2011!!!

After not making a single post for an entire year, I think I should say goodbye to the worst year of my life.

2011 started rough, got a little better, and then went downhill fast. I have never had my faith challenged like I did this year. Thankfully, God brought me through it. Things aren’t where I want them to be, but they are getting better. Hopefully, this time next year, I will be saying goodbye to the best year of my life.

Thinking back about who I am now, I can honestly say I am a better person. I am not what I used to think I wanted to be. I am thankful for that. Five years ago, I would never have thought I would become who I am now. But, I truly believe, I am better.

So, 2011, thanks for that, and goodbye!!!