March 2012

Coming back from vacation was tough
I was out of the habit of doing my daily greasing the groove

I did make it to the gym twice while on vacation
Wimpy globo gym but they did have some dumbbells
Got in a decent enough workout with those
My second workout was a brutal burnout of emotion
This was the first time I had really felt and used emotion in a workout
I don't like the way the emotions were generated but this was a major breakthrough for me

I worked harder to plan for my meals
I started going to Mazopiya for more stuff
Grass fed beef, farm eggs and organic veggies

I also changed out my vitamins
I had been taking generic vitamins and fish oil
I had read and heard from several health and fitness experts that using higher quality vitamins and supplements were worth the extra money for what you got from them
GNC 900mg fish oil with 900mg of Omega-3
Vitamin packs that were more rounded and better absorption
I take the heart health on non workout days and the sport one on workout days

I started a new gym membership at Anytime Fitness
Paid for some sessions with a trainer once a week
Since starting I have made it M/W/F each week
When I go I work HARD
I push myself until I can hardly lift my arms and my legs are wobbly and cramping
I found that using glutamine in a protein shake after working out helps tremendously with DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness)
I find that I can push each time I am there and be recovered by the next workout
I also have been getting stronger for sure
I am NOT doing cardio but sticking to Crossfit/HIIT concept and pushing weights at a high intensity with very little rest between sets

I took my pictures at the end of March
I looked at them and was highly disappointed because I didn't see much change
Then I took my Jan starting pic and put it in a picture with the one from March
I cried
I could see the change when I did that
Without those pics to really show me that I had improved I am not sure how much longer I would have kept going

Went to the doctor late March
My numbers were better
My A1c was down to 7.2
Need to figure what triggers sugar release in my system
My carb intake is fairly low and usually low glycemic index stuff like tomatoes
My triglycerides were still high but I dropped nearly 1200 pts off them
HDL and LDL were still low
Next doctor appointment mid May

My biggest piece of advice for anyone wanting to lose "weight" and get healthy
PUT THE DAMN SCALE IN THE CLOSET
Weighing yourself every day is discouraging

Do this:
Take measurements (get help if needed) and write them down
Get a fat percentage done (DO NOT USE BMI. BMI is used by insurance companies and lazy doctors)
Take pictures in your underwear (in a place you will take ALL pics to keep consistent)
Do a starting set of exercises as a starting baseline
Example:
AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible)
2 min of pushups
2 min of sit ups
2 min of air squats
2 min of curls with a light bar or light dumbbells
Write all of these down and keep it safe
Write down how you felt doing them
Write down the emotions and physical feelings

After going to the gym for a month do it again with the same exercises and weight
Did you improve?
Do it again each month or several months
Use that to check your improvement

Ways to know you have improved:
Your measurements have improved
Your fat percentage is down
You can see progress in your pictures
Your exercise baseline is better

Don't worry about the first month
You will probably see more after the second compared to your starting point