Small victories.

Current Weight A.M.: 226.6

You got to love the scale when it goes your way.  I know I ate right yesterday and I am rewarded for losing a little bit this morning Again, I will be comfortable around 215. Hoping I can achieve that in a month or two. Good day, good goals, good eating!!

Weight Fluctuations.

Current Weight A.M.: 230.0

Does the scale ever get you down? One day your under your weight, the next  you gained 2 pounds. How can this be?  Weight fluctuates daily depending on your diet, sodium, glycogen, and many other factors.  I weigh myself every morning after I use the bathroom, this way I get an accurate and statistical read out of my weight through out the month.  I weigh myself to keep me in check on my weight and my eating habits.  I don't get down on myself when I weigh more because I know that I made poor food choices the day before. I understand if I have a good day of fasting and stick to a healthy diet, I will lose weight.  Eat what you want, just count and track your calories.

BE AWESOME!!

Eating Healthy.

Current Weight A.M.: 228.4

     I try to eat healthy, but it's difficult at times.  I have a sweet tooth, my favorite being ice-cream.  I don't have it everyday, but at least 3-4 times a week.  I try to eat within the season for veggies and fruits. My family and I go blueberry picking every summer, and love that tradition.  We frequent Farmers Markets or local food stands during the summer months, to get the freshest vegetables on our dinner plate.  Winters are a little more difficult though, but we try to stick with squash and other hardy stews and soups.  We limit going out to maybe once a month, not very often mostly home-cooked meals, it's healthier that way and saves on money.  

Leg day this morning was good, no issues, just felt strong.  Maintaining my muscle gains as I try to slim down this summer.  Have a beautiful weekend!!

BE AWESOME!! 

My Favorite Restaurant: Chipotle!!

3 eggs a day.

Current Weight A.M.: 230.2

I have been eating about 3 eggs a day for about month, and feel good about it.  I like my eggs over hard or scrambled, with some whole wheat bread for a sandwich or just as a side.  I enjoy my eggs with a little cheese, smoked paprika (which smells like bacon), salt and pepper.  They provide you with good protein for the day, and the meal makes me feel full with not a lot of calories.

Hope you find that one food that you can eat everyday that makes you feel healthy.

BE AWESOME!! 

Motivation and Workout routine.

Current Weight A.M.: 230.0

What motivates you? What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning, to go workout at the gym, to keep doing the beautiful things you do everyday?  For me its pretty simple: Family.  My family brings out the best in me. My kids laughing, my wife and best friend talking about her day, texting my mom, dad, brother, and sisters, and also watching my dog barking in his dreams, all of these things get me out of bed in the morning and I keep moving forward.  

It is hard to go to the gym sometimes, but I always feel better after I go.  I have gym membership down the street from my house and it's open 24 hours a day, so it is there waiting for me when I am ready to workout.  This morning was hard for me to get motivated, since I have had some injury issues with my knee and it was Leg day.  Leg day consists of leg extensions, seated leg curls, leg press, and calve raises.  No failure on these, just sets of 15, with high volume.

When I started lifting a couple months ago, I did squat, bench, and other exercises.  I gradually went up in weight, and by doing so I pushed myself too hard and got injured.  I can no longer squat because of my knee, and I can no longer bench because of my shoulder.  All these injuries are not that bad though, I don't hurt all day unless I walk a lot or do the benching motion.  I have learned to adapt to weight machines that isolate different muscles instead of doing squat and bench.  The fly machine is one of my favorites,  I can really feel my chest grow as I do it.  My arm exercises are tricep pull-downs and bicep curls.  My right bicep has some tendonitis issues, so when I do bicep curls, I need to be careful not to over strain the muscle. I don't go till failure anymore, I just maintain my muscles for now and that works for me.  Lat pull-downs are great, and shoulder fly's with little dumbbells.  I usually work each muscle at least twice a week and give my muscles a rest of 72 hours before working them again.  I haven't been taking supplements like creatine or whey protein like some lifters do, I only take my daily vitamins.  I try to write down my workouts, so I can look back to see how I have progressed. Have a great day!

BE AWESOME!!

Vacation and IF.

Current Weight AM: 231

My wife and I had a little weekend getaway with no kids for the Memorial Day Weekend.  We normally don't do this, so it was a really nice treat.  It is hard to keep on a "diet," plan when you are on vacation, but I did use Intermittent Fasting (IF), which I think helped some.  If you don't know what IF is, it's not a diet, its a tool that if done correctly with tracking your calories, can be an effective way to burn off fat and keep your lean muscle. Some experts have done research on different IF protocols such as 16/8, where you fast for 16 hours then eat your calories in 8 hours.  There is also 5:2 diet, where you eat normally for 5 days and fast for 2 non-consecutive days where you only ingest 500 calories for women and 600 calories for men.  I have tried both for about 3 months now, and at the moment I enjoy 16/8.  It is usually over 16 hours of fasting for me though, more like 18-20.  I push breakfast out till about 1:00pm, sometimes longer and eat a nice big lunch usually a 3 egg sandwich, which will keep me feeling full till dinner, than I will eat a nice big dinner and my eating window will close until 1pm the next day.  My weight loss has been slow, but I have seen some results in the mirror with this eating style.  I can go long stretches without eating and feel comfortable.  You must stay hydrated while on this fast, mostly nice clean filtered water, this will help hunger pains. Coffee helps me as well and suppresses my appetite till it is time to eat.  You must track your calories though, you cannot just eat anything and everything you want, it will not work!  I use a MyFitnessPal app on my phone to track everything I eat, so that helps a lot. www.Leangains.com  is a website I recommend and explains more about intermittent fasting as well. So far I am happy with how I look, building my muscles and feeling good strong with no injuries.  The thing about weight loss in my experience is that it's slow, with many ups and downs, and it's hard.  I put on this weight over years, so likewise it will take a long time to take it off.  A healthy way to lose weight is 1 to 2 pounds a week, anymore than that and you will lose muscle, which for me, I don't want to do.  I think I will end here:

BE AWESOME!!

My Fitness Journey.

HELLO!! Welcome to my fitness blog! I am excited to get started, and hope I can motivate you to be happy with fitness and your body.  This blog is for me as a diary to track my fitness goals and just share them with you, if you care to read.  Anyway, a little background of my fitness:  I am a happily married 41 year old Amer-Asian. I was a swimmer since the age of ten and swam through college on a Division 1 scholarship.  I have swam on a couple Masters Swimming teams after college for a couple years on and off.  I am currently weight lifting/bodybuilding 4 to 5 days a week and still swim off and on. I only started weight-lifting a couple months ago, and I want to continue lifting for the long-term.

Now that my fitness details are covered, lets dive into some measurements for tracking purposes.  I love statistics and measurable data, so as my own lab rat I will share with you some of my current stats.

Height: 6 foot 1 inch

Weight: 228.6

Waist size: 39.5 inches

Bicep size: 17 inches

Looking at these stats, I am happy with my body right now.  I look good in a size L shirt in the mirror and I feel good. Yet sometimes I feel insecure about my body, looking and comparing my body to other people who are completely different then me.  I think that's normal in today climate of selfies and social media, pictures are everywhere, and so is comparing.  I will not let this get me down though, confidence is key and I do want that beach body this summer or to be comfortable taking my shirt off in public.  Comparing yourself to other people is pointless and you will fail at your goals if you do this.  You can use others for motivation to keep on track, but compare yourself to the mirror you look into everyday, love yourself, and stay motivated to the body you want.

Now onto my goals for the year.

Goals:

#1: Lose 15 lbs. I want to be at 215 or lower.

#2: Workout 5-6 days a week either cardio or strength training.

#3: Be more present with my family.

Anyway, kind of a long first post, but I will blog frequently, so I can keep you in the loop of my goals:

BE AWESOME!!