Post: #1

I need to get my shit together on this front. I'm in my mid-30s and have been off-track with workouts for the last two years.

It's not been so bad, but hypertension runs in the family and I know my conditioning isn't where I'd like it to be. I've also started getting some trap pain with fishhook headaches from being sedentary at my desk, and know I need to work on my posterior chain, shoulders, and upper back to fight that. Worse, I'm starting to get a little weight around the abdomen. Shutting that down is what got me started lifting in the first place, and that needs to stop today. With winter coming on and my summer travels and home projects winding down, I'm going to focus on putting in the work and burning off some fat immediately.

Diet is OK, but not great. Carbs have crept back in over time, but not to excess. I did stop tracking calories and supplementing. Used to do full body workouts three times a week, but with my current schedule, I can't alternate on and off days and count on myself to get to the gym and get it done. This is a bad formula for me. Lifting on Monday and taking Tuesday to rest too often means blowing off Wednesday to deal with a crisis, and that just compounds the stress because lifting calms me down, so I feel like I need to rest again on Thursday. End up lifting twice a week.

Instead, to get me started again, I've worked out a push/pull split that should let me lift most days with my home equipment and rest whenever I just can't get to it. The plan is to alternate 25 kettlebell swings with dumbbell lifts to keep my heart rate up and toughen up my posterior chain.

Also going to cut down on caffeine intake and increase fat/protein, start tracking calories and micronutrients again, and resume supplementing ZMA as well as D to start, then creatine again once I've got a baseline on my nutrition. Need to check the expiration date on my whey and greens powder. Setting my alarm half an hour earlier to make sure I can do this at dawn.

This thread is mainly for accountability to make sure I actually get any of this done. Hit my first pull day today, took it easy on myself to ease back into it, and it was as bad as I expected. Used to swing a 70 pound kettlebell between sets and would just keep going until I couldn't see through my own sweat, then get back on the bench without stopping. Today, just getting the combined 100 swings in with the 35 pounder I keep in my office and some lightweight suitcase deadlifts left my hamstrings stiff and one adductor sore. Had to pace around for a minute before my third set, and it was a junk set.

At least I didn't feel winded, I guess. That would be upsetting. I'll get there.

Post: #2

Back on calorie tracking today, with tonight's dinner added in. I actually came in low on total calories yesterday, but my overall diet was awful. Today? Not too bad, now that I'm paying attention. Right on the money with total calories and 100 grams of carbs, the maximum on my IIFYM-style diet plan is 200, a little higher on fats than I aim for but it's not something I'm going to sweat. Also had a strong day keeping my caffeine intake under control, since I tend to end up drinking 4-6 cups of coffee. This morning, I had a double espresso, and a few glasses of iced tea throughout the day. No other caffeine.

Woke up with stiff legs but I'm ready to go knock out my first push workout in a while, then go out for a steak, a cocktail, and, unfortunately, a few boneless wings. (If it weren't for the fried chicken, my fats and sodium would actually be right on target. I might rethink that.)

Post: #3

Still on track. Will hit another pull day today, harder. Diet is looking good, it's easy to get my numbers where I want them when I'm actually paying attention. sleeping better and getting up earlier.

Post: #4

So what are you goals? Lose some weight and improve your posture?

Post: #5

(09-26-2017 10:02 AM)General Stalin Wrote:  So what are you goals? Lose some weight and improve your posture?

The overall goal is simply to be proactive about fitness again and restore my old habits. I'm not a stranger to the gym and I know what I need to do, but I've developed some bad/lazy habits again. The thread is mainly to force me to check in periodically and own it if I haven't been doing what I said I'd do.

A primary motivation here is to ward off hypertension. I've been in the 'borderline' blood pressure range since I was a teenager, but managed to clean it up for two years straight when I was paying attention. Now it's back where it used to be. The posture-related headaches from trap tightness are another practical issue I want to address, and that's pretty easy to work through with pulling exercises.

In terms of measurables:

- Get my blood pressure to drop back out of the borderline range.
- Get back up to comfortably doing 100+ 70lb kettlebell swings.
- Lose 10-15 pounds on a 500 calorie deficit by the end of the year.
- Build it back on with as much overall muscle as possible on a 250 calorie surplus.

Steps that I'm taking:

- Dialing in a higher protein, higher fat diet.
- Increased fiber intake, especially as greens and crucifers.
- Reduced caffeine intake, by about half.
- Reduced sugars and ratio of saturated fats to unsaturated fats.
- Everything goes into Cronometer so I can't kid myself.
- Lifting circuit-style 4x/week on a push/pull split to get myself back into the habit, get my heart rate up, and help preserve existing muscle.
- I'm going to use this winter to learn to cross-country ski. I hike regularly in the summer and need to get out more during the freeze.

These are modest goals and I'm in a good starting place for my age, not significantly overweight and with no major physical problems. After the New Year, I'll move back to heavy full-body workouts 3x/week and focus on new progression.

Post: #6

To keep this up to date, I'm down 6 pounds. Have 10 to go to hit my target weight for this phase. Some of that is going to be water from cleaning up the diet, but that's fine. What's important to me is that I'm on track toward my goal numbers and my lifts are stable. Diet is on-target five or six out of seven days a week, and I think I've got my reported numbers dialed in pretty well based on observed weight loss.

A key good and simple habit has been starting my morning shake again. Whey, milk, greens powder, and psyllium husk with a cup of frozen fruit. Championship dumps, helps immensely with vitamin A/C/K, and it settles my appetite until lunch. The psyllium is new for me and I'm generally pretty regular as far as that goes, but in general it's in line with my goals of keeping blood pressure and blood sugar low and will see if I want to continue with it in the longer term.

One of the things I'm having trouble fitting into my diet from whole food is vitamin E. I love to eat nuts and seeds if I'm eating freely, but when I'm trying to keep my total calories down, those add up.

Post: #7

8 pounds down, 8 to go. Lifting was spotty over the last week due to some other obligations that came up, managed to get in Friday before going out of town and then only once early this week, but still on track and feeling good about it. Jumping back into the workouts over lunch today.

Post: #8

General good news: down 10 pounds and 1 belt notch since I started this thread.

Had a routine dental appointment this morning about a mile away, so I decided to put on some AC/DC and make a slow jog out of it, despite it snowing a little. I'm not a conditioned jogger at all, so that was brisk as shit.

I know it's a one-off, but happy to say that for the first time since I was old enough to realize that I should pay attention, my diastolic blood pressure was below 80.

This is good news, because they just changed all the guidelines and the readings I've had for my entire adult life would now be classified as stage 1 hypertension instead of borderline/prehypertension. Had the same hygienist who was giving me a hard time about it last time, and she couldn't resist pointing that out.

Post: #9

Been a while since I updated this, there weren't many updates to give. Hit a plateau with weight loss around the holidays, not because I went off the plan but I think because I just hit what my current plan can achieve. Since it was close enough to my goal, since I have hit the limits of what I can do with my home equipment, and since it's well within the weight range I wanted to stay in, I got back into the gym last week.

I joined a buddy's gym downtown so that it's a good 30 minute walk each way. Will take advantage when the weather is good an do some audiobooks. First few heavy workouts were brutal, a lot more sweat and a much higher heart rate, but it feels good to be back.