"TLFC" exercise and accountability support!

Wednesday - Cardio day 1 mile, stretched and the abs… Great day

Thursday back to the grind. Upper body - chest, back and arms

Next week starting a new block of upper body and lower body…

Analysis of the Past: Five solid months (146 days) of eating according to plan every day, no bingeing. These days protein bars are my candy bars; Doc Pops are my Dr. Peppers. A limit of one each / day is easier when the treats aren't very sugary. What a difference adding the MFP app to my phone has made in terms of ease of tracking. The computer is great for posts like this, but I never had a streak this long before.

I just read an inspiring comment on another thread about celebrating the difficulty of the (dialing in the nutrition for fat loss) process. So yay me. The hardest part was the beginning when I was still sugar-addicted. And then I lost 3 pounds in one week and did it again and again and again, while adding a modest weight lifting routine a few days a week to try to limit muscle loss. I was also worried that I'd have problems on my week of travel in May, but I stayed consistent and made good choices at restaurants, or stopped at a grocery store and bought healthy items to eat while visiting two national parks in my rental car.

I'm down 42 pounds since early October. I have not lost weight in the past two weeks but I'm not too worried. I kept putting off a maintenance phase in April-May and now it seems to have found me. I've scaled back my workouts this past week because of a sore, possibly strained quad muscle. Also— on a special trip to an out-of-town Whole Foods Saturday, I hit up their olive bar, leading to water retention for several days (as long as the olives lasted). And two nights ago I made a big pan of chicken enchiladas with El Paso green sauce, also high in sodium.

Plan for the Future: I've got a trip to the UK towards the end of July through early August, and dropping 10 pounds between now and then would be excellent. That's about 6.5 weeks away, so my weight loss pace would need to be about 1.5 lbs / week. To do that my daily workouts will need to keep being in the range of 500+ calories burned. Today's burn was about 250 cal, per my Coros watch.

My current TDEE is 2133 calories (at a "moderate" rate of exercise, which I exceed when I'm not injured). Eating 1633 calories daily to lose a pound / week = doable. For a pound and a half rate of fat loss, I'd need to get down to 1433, and that is hard, day after day, week after week, especially after the kind of weight loss I've experienced this spring. So I'll see how the next seven days go in terms of pain in my leg muscles, the actual calories I can eat vs. burn, and just general wellness.

Another factor: my sleep has not been good for awhile (not quite 6 hours last night, for ex.). I go to bed around 11 pm, thinking every time I'll sleep until 6:30 or 7, but then wake up at 5, 5:30, or 6 am. My hip joints have been hurting quite a bit at night lately. I recalled someone from working saying years ago to sleep with a pillow between the knees to help, so I tried that last night and slept better (and without ibuprophen).

If you read this and have a comment, let me know! If no one reads this, that's also fine. I use this thread like an open journal. The little "notes" section MFP gives for daily food and exercise is just too small.

Strength: Leg Day

Squat 4x10
BB RDL 3x10
Hack Squat 3x10
Machine Hip Thrust 3x10
Seated Calf Raises 2x10, 2x20
Leg Extensions 2x12
Seated Leg Curl 2x12
Cable Side Crunches 2x10 «superset» Side Plank 2x30s
Stretching 10 minutes

Food: This week I have been absolutely pigging out, first with my son's birthday on Tuesday (all-you-can-eat buffet, with a salad and 3 plates of food), then Pizza Hut last night for my birthday (5 slices to my usual 2-3), and another large meal tonight to celebrate my son before he heads back to his life in the Army.

Strength: Full Body 

Hex Bar Deadlift 5x5
DB Bench Press «superset» DB Row 4x10
DB Shrugs 3x10
Arnold Press 3x10
Cable Rope Hammer Curl «superset» Cable Rope Overhead Extension 3x12
Machine Lower Back Extend «superset» Machine Weighted Crunch 2x15

Food: Dinner was both empanadas and taquitos

Excellent, @DiscusTank5 ! Progress is progress! If I could have an EIGHT-FOLD INCREASE in a fitness metric, that would be amazing!

Man where to begin… Great job on the losing the weight, truly your dedication and discipline is paying off. Great job again. Keep doing what your doing, bc its working. Dont sweat the small stuff, keep grinding away. I know you mentioned traveling, seems your mindset was spot on, keep trying to find those avenues to eat right, but still enjoy the trip.

Quad, dont forget to ice, dont forget Ibuprofen (for the strain) and once ur good 70-80%, stretch. Also, look up some hip flexor stretches, tight quads (i know you mentioned biking, very quad dominant) can lead to a strain; your quads run right up into you hips. the one i do, is called a wall stretch. I hate/love doing it. Its a really really good stretch but one you have to ease into. Start slow and then go deeper… (i cant do the below all the way, but what i do really helps)

https://youtu.be/gUUWeZtRklY?si=e87jV6pQ1ppCyAcz

Im a side sleeper so i definitely use a body pillow to sleep. In the past my hips would roll forward as i would sleep, waking up with with some low back pain. And speaking of sleep i use magnesium glycinate for sleep. It knock out like a light and gets me into my deep sleep very quickly for a more restful night. I definitely recommend that supplement.

Keep at it and let me know your thoughts… LETS GO!!!!!

No sleepin on a Monday…. Crushed it at the gym. New block, new exercises, i was sweating like a *kitten* in church…… Drenched……..

Leg day- Squats, Romanian DL, BB split squats, leg extension and threw in some calves for kicks…. lol jk….

BBq sammie for lunch, Pickle pop and Liquid IV for my salt intake, now time to drink some water for the rest of the day….

Strength: Push Day

Bench Press 5x5
Incline DB Press 10x10 EMOM
Machine Decline Press 4x10
Smith Seated OHP 3x10 «superset» DB Lateral Raise 3x10 (2s up, 2s down)
Cable Pushdown 4x10, 15, 20, 25
Cable Woodchoppers 2x10 «superset» Pallof Press 2x10s

Cardio: Pulling weeds 30 min, walking 30 min

Food: Dinner last night was chili

Strength: Pull Day

BB Row 5x5
Cable Row 4x10
Pulldown 4x10 (wide grip, narrow, reverse, neutral)
BB Shrug 3x10 «superset» Face Pull 3x10 (3s pause)
Preacher Curl 4x10, 15, 20, 25
Hanging Knee Raises 2x25 «superset» Plank 2x90s

Cardio: Pulling weeds 60 min, walking 30 min

Food: Last night was homemade orange chicken and rice

Thanks Tim. I posted on another thread more specific info. That pool is the local aquatic center, so my time there was recreational.

That wall quad stretch was a new one for me! I'll have to try it out soon. I do some other stretches I got from a PT last year, but icing the muscle has helped me the most these last couple of weeks.

Strength: Leg Day

Squat 4x10
BB RDL 3x10
Hack Squat 3x20
Machine Hip Thrust 3x10
Seated Calf Raises 2x10, 2x20
Leg Extensions 2x12
Seated Leg Curl 2x12
Cable Side Crunches 2x10 «superset» Side Plank 2x30s
Stretching 10 minutes

Cardio: Pulling weeds 60 min, walking 30 min

Food: Last night was chicken fajitas

Workout: Cardio - Incline treadmill walk - 1hr (785 calories) plus two mile walk from car to office and back

Food: Dinner last night was lasagna with side salad