Firehawk's Journal to Fitness

[Klinger]

Originally Posted by Firehawk

It is getting real hard to be able to get the dumbbells in position for Military press. I gotta wield them up with momentum and kinda duck under them LOL .

Glad I'm not the only one. I feel like an engineer trying to calculate just how hard and high to swing 'em. A little too much heft and POP goes a rotator cuff!

[Firehawk]

lol yeah..gotta be careful of that. If I had a workout partner I would have them hand me the dumbbells but I don't.

Good thing I am a bigger guy so that the 67's give way to my 285 lb body lol.

[kenyon21]

Originally Posted by Firehawk

lol yeah..gotta be careful of that. If I had a workout partner I would have them hand me the dumbbells but I don't.

Good thing I am a bigger guy so that the 67's give way to my 285 lb body lol.

do you do them seated or standing?

[Firehawk]

Seated against a 90 degree seat..my basement ceiling is not high enough for me to stand there and do them (I am 6'3).

[MrsRiley]

wow your stats are almost identical to my husband's...can I ask what your motivation was in the beginning to stick with it?? He is also TONS of muscle under the pudge so has no prob lifting heavy when he actually gets around to it..but saying no to the junk food gets him every time...any tips on sticking with it??? Looks like you've made some awesome progress!!

[Firehawk]

Thanks Mrs. Riley.

I had tried and tried and tried to lose fat from my body, and everytime i would gain more of it back. It was very frustrating. I got to be very depressed and miserable. A guy that I work with was big into fitness (got a nice build and is like me in that his body will put fat on very easy if he doesnt watch it) and he kinda showed me what I needed to do.

At that point I was so sick of trying fad diets and all that. At first I didnt' buy into his methods until I saw that it was really working for him, and then I started buying into it. The first 2 months or so were very tough for me to stick to eating healthy 6 of 7 days a week. But over time I was able to build up will power and stick with things. I have a big problem with eating tons of carbs. I like pizza, chocolate, cake, pies, all that stuff, and could eat 10000 calories of it in one day if i felt like it.

I sorta just sucked it up for a month and then i started to see the scale dropping. That really kept me motivated, and before i knew it i had lost 20 lbs. i didnt see it off my body but the scale said i had lost it. That really started to get me motivated, and to believe that I could actually change my body if i wanted, and that i was in full control, not the food.

So now I am 56 lbs lighter, still maintaining my muscle mass, and the lbs are just flying off right now. Once you get into a rhythm the fat just starts melting off (took me about 2 months before i really saw this happening, but since then it is almost non stop, about 2 1/2 - 3 lbs a week).

I would just tell him to take it a day at a time, if he eats a candy bar because he can't handle the urge, then stop at ONE and get right back on eating healthy (DON"T CALL IT A DIET, it is EATING HEALTHY!). If he is consistent enough, the changes WILL happen, they HAVE TO, it's physics.

One other thning that has really helped me stick with it, is that i allow myself a CHEAT DAY every week. I eat very clean for 6 days and on the 7th ill get whatever i want, and as much of it as i want. At first I was eating probably 2 pizzas, some ice cream, and another meal all in one day, probably around 7000 calories easily lol. But, as you stay with eating healthy, and get smaller, your stomach should shrink and make it much harder for you to eat that much food. I can't barely eat 1 pizza at a time anymore without feeling full, and i used to be able to eat 2 larges at once easily.

It all just takes time. You have to realize that. Set up weeks in increments, like 4 weeks at a time, then move to 8, then to 12, and evaluate progress at those points.

I made an excel file of my progress since March of this year, and have charted my body weight EVERY morning, and it is quite cool to see the progress I have made. That is another way to actually see you are shrinking. Beleive me, I really didnt see any changes in my physique until i hit the 40 lb mark lol. Since then, i seem to notice something else every week, whether it be a little more definition in my arms, in my face, belly shrinkin a bit (this will take the longest), etc.

I hope you can convince him .

Have him try to stick with it for 6 days and then cheat on the 7th, and then right back to it on the 8th day etc. It seems to work for me.

Oh another thing that helped, and still helps me, is that I talk to my buddy every day about what i did the prevoius day. It is sort of like a check and balance thing. He tells me what he did. If i get out of line, he jumps on my case about it. If he gets out of line, i jump on his case about it. Doing it with someone makes it a bit easier and helps you stay on track.

For instance, if you and your husband had a little friendly wage on who could lose X amount of lbs first, or whatever, that would be a good way to stick with it.

I bet my buddy 50 bucks i could lose 30 lbs before he lost 20. (I had a much higher bf% so it was easier for me to lose fat). I won :

[MrsRiley]

thanks for the detailed reply!! I'm gonna print it off for him! I think hearing it from someone who's been there will encourage him much more than I can! : Keep up the good work!

[Firehawk]

I kinda was writing as I was thinking lol...sorry for such a long read .

I still have about 40 lbs that I want to lose, so I am not done, but I am nearly 60% there and I can't wait until I achieve my ultimate goal of 100 lbs of fat loss. .

[kenyon21]

have you tried sitting on the chair\bench, putting the weights on your knees, and "kicking" your legs up one at a timeto get the weight up to the shoulders? i know that's how my and my buddy always do it.

[Firehawk]

I sorta tried that before but it didnt work to well. What knid of dumbbells are you using? I use olympic freeweight dummbbells, they look just like an olympic bar just much shorter.

I only tried it once or so but as I keep going up in weight im gonna have to probably start getting better at that technique, because swinging them up like I have been is probably bound to cause an injury to my shoulder at some point, and that is definitely not worth it.

[Klinger]

Originally Posted by Firehawk

I sorta tried that before but it didnt work to well. What knid of dumbbells are you using? I use olympic freeweight dummbbells, they look just like an olympic bar just much shorter.

I only tried it once or so but as I keep going up in weight im gonna have to probably start getting better at that technique, because swinging them up like I have been is probably bound to cause an injury to my shoulder at some point, and that is definitely not worth it.

Preface: I'm not selling these. Chances are you can find them cheaper.

I came across something called a power hook that lets you hook your DBs to a barbell. Would work greate for seated presses - just hook them on a BB at squat level:

http://www.fitbuy.com/pd/ps67250.html

[Firehawk]

That doesnt work for me because my seat is in front of the barbell area lol. My bench folds upward and away from the barbell. Ive thought about those already.

I could if I had to, just walk under the barbell at squat level and keep them above my shoulders while i go sit down, but that seems like a lot of trouble lol.

[Andrea]

Congrats on your weight loss so far. I love your motivation. Keep up the good work!!! :

[Firehawk]

Thanks Andrea...appreciate it. I can't wait to get unembarrassed enough to post some before and after pics LOL. Probably won't get unembarrassed enough tod o that until i am around 20%, im at 29 right now.

[Firehawk]

WARNING WARNING::: If you are a woman, please don't hate me after this post...

July 23, 2004 Friday -- Legs

Barbell Deep Squats

195 x 6 easy
195 x 6 easy
205 x 6 pretty easy

Stiff Leg Deadlifts

225 x 6
225 x 6
225 x 6

I am so frustrated right now. Perhaps this workout was so easy is because of what happened. First, ill just say, IM TIRED OF WOMEN. Some of you older guys might relate (25 and up). I was dating this chick, i had 2 other girls i was dating at the time, which i told that I wanted to be exclusive with this one. So now I am exclusive with this chickie. She and I had a great couple dates together, and things were progressing. Well, one day she just doesnt call me, and that is very weird of her because she always calls. So, i get worried a bit, but oh well, i expect a call the next day. NO CALL the next day either. Now im gettin worried. So, here it is, 1 1/2 weeks later, no calls, no returning my calls, no 2 way msg me (I had nextel phone), no nothing.

So i get home early today, she is on yahoo messenger (always on at work) but I dont' see it until i see that she logged off. LOL. So, all this time, ive been worrying that something happened to her, and she is just not calling me for some reason. LOL. Let me tell you how frustrated i am with women right now. I even took a 1 hour drive out to her house becasue i was worried about her. Her car was in driveway, i saw a light on in the house, but nobody answered when i knocked. I left a msg that siad i was worried and to call me on her door.

And no, I didnt say anything, or do anything that would have made her change her mind about me. Just the night before i talked to her last, she was very INTO me and wanted to become serious and all that. So, WTF is all i gotta say.

Heh, Ill tell you ladies, this is why guys don't ever want to commit. It is just not worth it. I started to care about this girl and she pulls something like this. You know, at least have the decency to call and say you don't wanna date anymore, or if something happened and they had to go out of town, then have the GD decency to call.

I swear to God. Im so sick of women.

Ladies, now you know why guys just want a piece and then say the hell with ya.

Sorry, I am just very frustrated right now. Not really that hurt about it, just angry and frustrated.