Keyser's journal -- going for drastic beginner gains (attempt #45)

[Keyser11]

This is day one into my training.
For some history -- I've been training off & on for the past year and half (mostly off though), and its time to make a serious effort. I'm hoping that by cataloging everything here, It'll force me to keep at it.

Here's my goal for the month of November -- lose a pound a day while gaining strength, endurance, speed, quickness. (I know I know, this is another thread from a crazy noob thinking they can do the impossible...And you might be right). Pound/day is my stretch goal, with a half pound/day being my 'i'd be happy with' goal.

The plan below is probably going overboard, but I'm going to try to keep at it for as long as possible (and if by chance I actually meet my november goal, I can ease it up in decemember to something more easily maintainable in the long run)

Motivating factors (for sudden improvement):
-In 3 weeks, I have an appointment with my doc, and he expects me to be down in weight, and I dont want to feel his wrath.
-In 4 weeks, I family wedding to go to, would like to avoid having to buy a new suit if I can squeeze into the ones I already have.

Motivating factors (for steady/non-urgent improvement):
-I used to be skinny. I enjoyed the fact that I looked better skinny than overweight. I don't want to be overweight anymore.
-I need to improve my roller hockey game. I play in a league, and a year ago I was making constant progress in my game. 9 months ago, I had confidence in my ability to beat the defender, to go end-to-end, to beat the goalie on a breakaway. Now, for the past 9 months I've been going downhill. It seems I've lost some speed, as I just can't skate around people anymore, I have to hold back alot in the first two periods to save energy for the third, I'm just not scoring like I used to, and I've completely lost confidence in my game. Playing the game was alot more fun when I was able to make the big plays (on both ends).

So a little about me.
-Currently weighing in at 185lbs, 5'7"
-At the beginner stage
-Spent more time reading about weight lifting/cardio in the past year than actually doing it (so I'd say I'm more learned than the average joe-blow but not better off physically).
-I eat like ****.

My diet up to today-
breakfast -- usually hot chocolate, sometimes a sausage/egg/cheese breakfast sandwich, sometimes 4 mcd's hash browns
lunch -- whatever I feel like -- pizza, sandwiches, etc. Usualy throw in a soda and some chips
dinner -- mostly healthy, home cooked food.
desert -- cookies, etc


My planned diet --
Breakfast -- tea/coffee (with fat-free-milk, splenda) and wheat bread; or a bowl of healthy cereal with fat-free milk
Lunch --turkey on wheat, or grilled chicken on wheat. With lettuce/tomatto/onions as toppings; Water, or a zero/low calorie drink.
Dinner -- some healthy home cooked food
Desert -- nothing
*Mix in alot of water in between, and fruits/veggies


PlannedWorkout Schedule --
saturday am -- hockey game
saturday pm -- follow Rippletoe's starting strength (http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=712752)

sunday am - 2 rounds circuit training (30 seconds on/30 seconds rest of bodyweight exercises -- squat jumps, push ups, lunges, sit ups, backward lunges, split squats, lying twists); followed by a 20 minute walk
sunday pm -- walk on treadmill for 50 minutes while watching tv, followed by 10 minutes of sprint/walk intervals

monday am - 2 rounds of circuit training (30 seconds on/30 seconds rest of scissor jumps, sit ups, mountain climbers, clap push ups, usas, pull ups, body squats, lying twists)
monday pm - follow Rippletoe's starting strength

tuesday am -- do the next workout from the couch to 5k plan (http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml)
tuesday pm -- walk on treadmill for 50 minutes while watching tv, followed by 10 minutes of sprint/walk intervals.

wednesday am - combine the monday/tuesday circuit trainings and do each once, then walk 20 minutes
wednesday pm- follow Rippletoe's starting strength

thursday am - next workout from the couch to 5k plan
thursday pm - next workout from the couch to 5k plan

friday am -- 50 minutes light rollerblading
friday pm - rest
*also add in a 'get off my ass and walk around the block' 3-4 times/day while at work

Any suggesions???

I'll catalogue my day-to-day activities and diet here, and hopefully that will help keep me on track...

[laura817]

Hey Keyser11 - Glad you jump on board with the journaling. It will keep you accountable and you will get a lot of supports and advices.

It looks like you have the determination and the will. However, your goals, seem a lot drastic with wanting to lose a pound a day. In my opinion, that is very unhealthy. Losing 1-2 pounds a week is a lot more realistic and healthier. Also, you might want to start reading the diet section. Your plan diet needs some tweak. Good luck!

[Keyser11]

thanks laura. I'll do some research on dieting. I agree in principle with everything you said. I'm certainly not willing to sacrifice health for weight loss. I'm going to try to eat lean & healthy (as opposed to excessive/unhealthy which my body craves), and upping the exercise to the max my body can take; and hopefully I'll get the 'beginner' results I'm looking for. I think the first 15-20 should be quick and easy -- my current weight needs little exercise and alot of calories to maintain -- i lost 15lbs last january in 4 weeks without even trying to while I was on vacation as I was eating healthier, eating less, and walking alot as I was sightseeing -- so I'm hoping that by actually trying to, I can repeat and surpass those results. After that initial drop, 1-2/week will suit me fine...

Saturday 11/4
Didnt keep diet in check at all
Saturday AM -- 54 min roller hockey game (half of which I was on the floor)
Saturday PM -- Bill star's 5x5 (future lifting will be using Rippletoe's program)
....squats - 140lb last set
....bench - 110lb last set
....bent-over-row - 110lb last set
Sunday 11/5
AM -- 1 round of circuit training (~8 min)
PM -- 5min interval sprints/walking
Didnt exercise today as much as I should've, although I did some manual labor around the house which makes up for some of it...
Calorie intake ~ 1200

[minime]

hi there and welcome to discuss fitness! its good that u have started a journal- its a great way to track your workouts and progress.

Firstly i dont think working out everyday is a good idea, for anybody! for you especially, if u have been pretty sedentary up til now u should ease into it. Doing too much at once will negatively affect you.

Secondly losing a pound a day is not possible, at least not healthily. As laura says 1-2lb a week is plenty.

1200 calories is not enough. Try 10x BW for weight loss and tweak it from there.

You are not hugely overweight by any means - at 5'7 and 185, how much do u want to lose? 20lbs?

[Lady C]

Jumping in with both feet can sometimes backfire. I would be careful and not try to fix "everything" all at once. Stick with the training for a few weeks then gradually change the diet.

[Keyser11]

Monday 11/6
Estimated calorie intake ~2000 (I cheated during lunch with a sub & soda. tommorrow I'll bring my own lunch so I can't cheat. had a good healthy breakfast & dinner though).

AM workout -- 1 round of circuit training, 5 min jog/walk on treadmill (13 min total excercising). Legs felt sore so I had to cut it shorter than I wanted
PM workout --
Bench Press....120x5,120x3,110x5,110x2
Back Squat.....150x5,150x5,150x5
Deadlift.......150x5
The bench was tough at 120, and thus I reduced it to 110. On wednesday I'll try for 3 sets at 115.
The squats & deadlift, I felt I could easily do more. I'll go for 160 on my next squat.

[Keyser11]

Originally Posted by minime

how much do u want to lose? 20lbs?

I'd say 150 is my goal (if I can get there in 3 months that would be great), with a near-term goal of 170. Also losing the weight is a higher priority than gaining muscle, but I'm hoping to do both.

[Keyser11]

didn't do any exercising yesterday. about 2000 cal intake yesterday & today each. Still have lots of places where I can improve on my fitness (free food at work is a killer...must try to avoid)

today's workout
back squat ................5x160,5x160, 5x160
standing military press....5x80,5x80,5x80
bent over row..............5x120,5x120,4.5x120

the press and row were both tough, so I'll try for 5lbs more next time and hopefully I can get thru it.
on the back squats, the legs easily handled it, but keeping the bar on my back with decent form was tough. I think I could bring it up another 10lbs next time without trouble, but I'm going to go for 5lbs more instead since I think getting my back accustomed to the weight is more important than pushing my legs all-out.

The reason why I choose Rippletoe's starting strength as my weight program is because it appears to have the largest following amongst beginners and appears to be the most recommended program for beginners on bodybuilding.com's forums. The effectiveness of only 3 exercises/training session (as compared to say your average 8-10 exercises/session program) seems counter-intiutive...But many of the people recommending it/following it have alot more knowledge/experience than I do, so I'm going to leave my predisposition to programs that have have 8-10 exercises/session aside for a while and give it a shot. At the very least, the fact that squats are part of the program 3 days a week appeals to me since I know they'll have a direct impact on my hockey game.

[Keyser11]

Originally Posted by Lady C

Jumping in with both feet can sometimes backfire. I would be careful and not try to fix "everything" all at once. Stick with the training for a few weeks then gradually change the diet.

I've taken your advice partly. I'm not going to try to kill myself with the diet, but I'm going to definitely follow the weight training, and try to get the most cardio as I have time-for (which so far, in the past 4 days hasn't followed the plan)

[Keyser11]

Didn't exercise much on thu/friday. Didn't count my calories either on thu/fri/sat so I'm not really sure if I was in a deficit or not.
I'm down 2lbs to 183 -- which isn't bad for a week in which I could've done alot more -- specifically in terms of cardio. This coming week I'm going to have to do alot more light cardio, and some heavy cardio.
Today's workout --
AM -- hockey game
PM --
bench press...3x5x115 (last rep was tough,shoot for 120 next time)
back squat....3x5x165 (same as last time -- the weight resting on my back seemed to be a bigger deal than actually squatting the weight...maybe I need to either add some back exercises to strengthen my back or go watch some film to see if my form is bad, go for 5lbs more next time)
deadlift......3x5x155 (I think I can easily do 10lbs more next time)

Going into this workout (and the previous 2) I keep saying -- I'm going to add like 4-5 supporting exercises at the end because I'll still have plenty of energy left over after 3. Whats interesting is that after these 3, I always reneg on the the supporting exercises -- not necessarily because I'm totally beat -- which I'm not, but because I'm sufficiently beat that there's no point (other than that they would burn a few more calories) in doing the supporting exercises at half steam. Maybe in a couple of months I'll have enough energy to do a few more at full speed, but for now these 3 compound exercises seem to be plenty for me.

[Keyser11]

So calorie intake today, about 1500-1800.

Exercise--
My body felt close to fully recovered from yesterdays workout, and I wanted to lift again, so I decided to do repeat yesterdays workout with low weight/high reps -- figured this would allow me to lift without impeding tommorrows workout. If tommorrow, I'm fully recovered for the high weight/low rep workout, then I think I might continue this pattern --
workout 1 high weight/low rep
workout 1 low weight/high rep
workout 2 high weight/low rep
workout 2 low weight/high rep
etc (for 6total/week)

Anyways, here's the workout for today (all in the same session)..
back squat.....3x15x110lb
bench..........3x15x70lb
deadlift.......3x15x80lb
20 minute walk (1 mile total, inclined)
1 minute jog (.1 mile total, inclined)

My body hasn't experienced any noticeable change yet, but the workout feels mentally good (knowing I'm atleast trying to do something), and also trying to beat my previous high every time is also a nice challenge to look forward to (squatting 200 by the end of the month would be awesome); unfortunately, resisting the urge to go out and eat a burger, order a pizza, stopping by qdoba is very challenging.

As always, I had some really high hopes/plans in my first post; which one week into it has not seen fruition (either with the results or the effort). Not a big deal though, as long as I make progress -- faster would be great, but slower is better than nothing.

[Keyser11]

calories in -- 1600

Morning
56 minutes, 2.8miles at incline on treadmill. Was a pretty easy/boring pace (lucky I had laptop with me and read some good threads/posts on this board).

Evening
barbell back squat...3x5x170 (+5lb-next-time)
military press.......3x5x85lb (+5lb-next-time;last rep was tough)
bent over row........3x5x125lb (+5lb-next-time;last rep was tough)
I was pretty tired this evening, and I had thoughts of skipping the workout (after all, its only one workout), but thankfully I dragged my ass off the couch, into the basement to workout, and made some progress on keeping the weight increases going.

[Keyser11]

Calories -- 1700

AM --
20 min on treadmill, walking, inclined, 1.04 miles

PM --
skipped (got lazy, no other excuse)

Originally Posted by Keyser11

skipped (got lazy, no other excuse)

I like an honest man.

[Keyser11]

Originally Posted by pierini

I like an honest man.

Thanks!

Calories --
2400 (cheated with mcd's today. If I consider this my cheat meal, and can stay 'clean' till saturday I'll be happy).

AM Workout
Skipped again (laziness & was in a rush to get out the door)

PM Workout
Back Squat...3x5x175lb -- I'm still making good progress on the squats. today for the first time ever, the bar on my back didn't feel like an obstacle. I guess that means either my back muscles are strengthening or I'm getting used to having the weight back there. +10lbs next time
Bench Press.....3x5x120lb -- Last set was significantly easier this time around then last time. +5lbs more next time.
Deadlift....3x5x170lb -- I need some kind of gloves. The bar was killing my hand on this lift. +5lbs next time.

I'd say this was my easiest low rep/high weight workout since I started -- not sure if it as because of having ample rest (36 hours worth), because i'm simply getting stronger, or both? Since my goal is weight loss as fast as possible, I'm hopefully not going to be able to test the ample rest theory.
Anyways, I real turnaround from the last workout where I was just tired & felt like sleeping during the workout.

oh ya, if anyone is actually reading this thread, and wondering why I've decided to note the +5/+10 its actually really only to remind myself what weight to use on the next workout that I have that lift.