rdelaney44's keep me honest thread

[rdelaney44]

a few years ago , I had some success following a diet plan outlined by most muscular and working out really hard. As happens to many, life got in the way, I met a girl, got married and the gym and nutrition became a low priority. I intended on getting in shape for the wedding, but that never happened. I joked to many that I got as fat as I could for the day of my wedding because if I lost weight before, I'd hear about every pound I put on in the future, but this way, if I lose weight, my wife will see it as an added bonus. After looking at my wedding pics, though -- my joke wasn't very funny. I had ballooned to a pudgy 290 lbs and this time it wasn't because I was bulking and trying to bench press 500 lbs. I had no excuse -- so I am now old enough to legally post in the over 35 section so I thought I would try to keep a log of my progress. I joined the Y in late November and started working out again -- it didn't take me long to realize that the Y is not where I'm comfortable lifting, so Feb 15th is my last day there - I signed up at my old place "The Gym" - a stinky, hardcore gym with more weights than a person can handle -- I will go from the guy lifting the most at the Y, to the bottom of the food chain at "The Gym" -- this will be very motivating. I hired Shawn Myszka at Explosive Edge Athletics to help me with my diet and workout plan -- I hope to slowly and dramatically lose weight while retaining muscle -- I started his suggested workout and diet on Jan 28th - I'm still weak and often frustrated about what I let happen to me, but I'm starting to see some small changes and and I'm excited. I will need encouragement along the way, so I ask that people check in occasionally to check my progress and give me words of encouragement. Thanks - Rich

PS - if anybody is interested, here is my log from a few years ago

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=411874

[rdelaney44]

I thought I would record yesterday's workout and meals as my first official log:

Feb 12 2008
(all foods measured dry and uncooked)

6:30 AM - exercise bike 35 minutes

7:30 AM - multi vitamin, b-complex, glutamine, 2 Lipo 6x
1 cup oatmeal - 2 scoops ON 100% Whey
1 tbsp Flax Seed Oil
1 banana
40 oz water

10:00 AM - Zone Bar and 2 rice cakes
40 oz water

12:45 - 8 0z 96% ff ground beef - 1/2 c brown rice (a
little soy sauce for flavor) 2 Lipo6x
40 oz water

3:15 - large apple and 2 tablespoons natural Peanut Butter
40 oz water
4:00 - vitamin C and workout (see below)
lots of water
5:45 - vitamin C and 2 scoops ON 100% Whey, 40 g dextrose, 5 mg creatine

7:15 - 8 oz 99% FF ground Turkey, 1/2 c brown rice (2 cups cooked) - seasoned with some Franks Red Hot
water and diet pepsi

9:15 Zone Bar

[rdelaney44]

I don't recall all of the numbers on my workout from Feb 12th, but here goes:

Reverse grip pull down 10 x 190, 8 x 210, 6 x 230
one armed hammer strength ? x fail
Reverse grip bent over row 15 x 225, 8 x 275, 7 x 315
Dead lift 6 x 225, 6 x 315, 3 x 405 (grip gave out and couldn't recoup - very frustrating because the weight wasn't too bad - maybe I need wraps, but don't want to have to depend on them)
bent over db raise 10 x 30 8 x 35
seated cable pulls - ? x fail

[rdelaney44]

Wednesday Feb 13th 2008 is a non lifting day, so I went to the Y at 6 and walked the track for 45 minutes and came home and made myself the same breakfast as yesterday

[sawastea]

Rich, glad you're starting a journal. That's the first step to a good-looking body, and more self confidence.

What are you currently weighing, what are your goals/aspirations? I can't say I'm a huge fan of the Zone bar. I personally like VPX Zero Impact bars, or Designer Supplements bars. They are calorie dense, but they have good ingredients for a bar.

[rdelaney44]

Rich, glad you're starting a journal. That's the first step to a good-looking body, and more self confidence.

What are you currently weighing, what are your goals/aspirations? I can't say I'm a huge fan of the Zone bar. I personally like VPX Zero Impact bars, or Designer Supplements bars. They are calorie dense, but they have good ingredients for a bar.

I'm currently around 270 -- haven't lost a lot of weight yet, but my strength is slowly coming back and I am starting to see changes. My goal is to get back the muscle I had a few years ago while losing a bunch of fat - I really don't care what I weigh, but would like to shoot for under 225 for now -- but I've got plenty of time to do that -- I just want to build muscle while losing fat right now -- I'll check into those other bars -- thanks

I also have decided, now that I'm getting back into this to finally finish my ISSA certification, but I want to be able to walk the walk if I pursue that as a career change of some sort

[Most Muscular]

Rich, it's nice to see you back on track and with a goal in mind! Shawn will lead you there but you have to drink the water... be thirsty in your quest and you will do fine.

If you get a chance come and check out my show on April 5th. Shawn will be the emcee and we have a lot of exciting things happening... perhaps in the back of your mind you can place a long term goal like that out there... it doesn't hurt to dream.

nuff said...

[rdelaney44]

Rich, it's nice to see you back on track and with a goal in mind! Shawn will lead you there but you have to drink the water... be thirsty in your quest and you will do fine.

If you get a chance come and check out my show on April 5th. Shawn will be the emcee and we have a lot of exciting things happening... perhaps in the back of your mind you can place a long term goal like that out there... it doesn't hurt to dream.

nuff said...

Thanks Randy -- and you weren't kidding about being thirsty -- he's got me drinking 200 oz of water a day, I better be I know, it was a metaphor and I'm going to work very hard at this. Right now I struggle getting my intensity high enough to be done in such few sets, but it gets better each day and I really like it. Also, lots of rice and oatmeal, but I do feel very energized.

I'll be at the show for sure - I should be on around week 10 by then, and I plan on being well on my way

Check in and keep me on task once in awhile -- thanks

[rdelaney44]

Feb 14th --

I overslept this morning, so I was forced to walk for 35 minutes after my workout. My diet is pretty much the same every day, so I won't bore anybody with details. I am still waiting for some of this bloating to go away, but with all of this rice, I don't see it happening anytime too soon. I felt pretty good today:

smith machine shoulder press 10 x 225, 8 x 245, 5 x 255
Seated side raises 10 x 35's, 12 x 30's
Barbell Shrugs -- 15 x 225, 12 x 315, 10 x 405
Closed grip BB Bench Press 10 x 225, 8 x 245, 5 x 275
push downs 20 x ?, 15 x ?, 12 x 180(?)

Today was my last day at the Y, so tomorrow I'll have leg day at "The Gym" - the place I used to workout.

I started this on Jan 28th, I guess I thought I'd be down a few pounds by now, but instead I've gained some -- I'll stay on course for another week or two, but if I don't see any changes, I'll up my protein and lower my carbs, although I'm not sure how that would work if I'm eating the same calories

-Rich

[rdelaney44]

today was leg day - quiet day at the Gym since I was there in the afternoon -- I worked out alone today -- I need to figure out what weights I need to use, but I got a good workout, nonetheless:

many of the leg press/hack squat and hammer strength stuff only refers to the wight I put on the machines, not the machines themselves

seated leg extensions 12 x ?, 10 x ?, 8 x ?
Leg Press 20 x 200, 12 x 400, 10 x 600, 8 x 800
Hack Squat 10 x 200, 10 x 200
leg curls 12 x ?, 10 x ?, 10 x ?
got home and realized that I forgot straight leg deads today
calf raises - 4 sets of burnout - weight progressively heavier

I waddled out of there -- I'll have to concentrate to dial this in better and the workout I'm following does not include squatting and I'll have to add that into the mix also

[rdelaney44]

well after a weekend of a couple of cheat foods, I started up again exactly on my diet

first meal was my normal oatmeal/whey/banana meal and a tbs of flax seed oil

2nd meal was a zone bar

3rd meal - 8 oz 96% ff ground beef, 1 cup brown rice and some soy sauce

4th meal -- a zone bar and a small apple

worked out

5th meal -- standard post workout shake

6th meal -- 10 oz 99% ff ground turkey -- franks red hot and 1 tbs ff blue cheese dressing

7th meal -- 1 oz almonds and a zone bar

8th meal -- 1 cup ff cottage cheese and 1 tbs flax seed oil

I was a little over on my fat today and I know I need to find a replacement for so many zone bars, but I'm getting better -- decided to up my protein in an attempt to lean up -- all of that rice is a bit much for me
-------------------------------

workout was as follows:

flat bb bench 10 x 225, 8 x 275, 6 x 315

incline db press 10 x 100's, 8 x 110's, 5 x 120's

flat db flyes 8 x 45's, 10 x 40's

seated db curls 10 x 35's, 8 x 40's, 8 x 45's

standing preacher db curls 10 x 35's, 10 x 40's

feels weird getting in and out of there so quickly, but feels great at the same time -- I feel like my strength is starting to come back -- I just might see 400+ again some day on the bb bench -- thought that would never happen again

I think I need to keep the fruit -- the banana adds potassium and I when I work legs hard, I often get leg and calf cramps in the middle of the night and some have suggested that I ditch the beef for chicken -- I asked Shawn about this and he said he likes the beef because it helps increase my test levels

[rdelaney44]

Today was so-so in the gym -- I tweaked my back a bit on my last set of deads and finished with lighter weight -- not this again -- oh well, we'll see

Lifts went like this:

reverse grip pulldowns 10 x 100, 8 x 150, 8 x 190
bent over bb row 10 x 225, 8 x 275, 6 x 315
hammer strength one arm pulls fail x 115
deads 10 x 225, 6 x 315, 2 x 405 & 4 x 315
bent ove db shoulder raises 10 x 35's, 10 x 40's
lower back was pretty tweaked, so I skipped seated cable row today

------------------------------
I was swamped today and found myself not able to eat another meal prior to working out - I wish I could have gotten an apple or something
meals:

7:30 - 1 c oatmeal/2 scoops 100% whey/ 1 tbs flax seed oil/ 1 banana

10:00 - zone bar

12:30 - 1 lb 96% ff ground beef w/ 1 tbs bbq sauce

2:30 - 1 oz almonds

workout

5:30 - post workout shake

6:30 - 2 slices whole grain bread w/ 2 tbs natural peanut butter -- 1 can diet pepsi Jazz caramel cream (not too bad)

I plan to have 8 oz ff ground turkey at 8:00 and a cup of ff cottage cheese before bed

[rdelaney44]

today was an off day -- no cardio or lifting

no ground beef today

Diet looked like this :

7:30 flax seed oil/oatmeal/whey prot 100%/banana

10:00 zone bar

noon 8 oz 99% ff gr turkey - franks red hot and 1 tbs ff blue cheese dressing

2:00 - 1.5 oz almonds - zone bar

4:30 - 2 scoops why shake

6:30 - 2.5 baked chicken breast (didn't weigh - I'll guess) 8 oz

I'm thinking of eating some more chicken in a few minutes and at end the night with some fat free cottage chz -- I'm going to skip my night time flax seed oil because my fat is fine for the day -- I'm going to have a tough time meeting my caloric goals with the fat so low and lowering my carbs -- I know two zone bars is probably to much for the day - guess I'll need to add another meat meal or two in the future - I'm very hungry right now but am unsure what to eat besides chicken breast -- I'm having a tough night as far as cravings go -- Craving junk/fast food, but its hump-day -- I can wait until the weekend to cheat

[rdelaney44]

Yesterday - I woke up under 270, however, this morning I'm 275 again -- must not have drank enough water

yesterday's food was decent - pretty much the same as usual,, except for my dinner meal, I had a good meal - it was a salad made out of 14 oz gr 99% ff ground turkey with taco seasoning, lettuce, fresh cut salsa (tomotoes,onions, jalapenos, salt and lime juice), avacado, and a little bit ff shredded cheese

lifting went OK -- bought some new straps as well as those fancy hooker straps from this site -- word of warning -- my wrists are above average size, but these straps do not fit

DB Shoulder press 10 x 70's, 8 x 90's, 5 x 100's
standing side shoulder raises - 10 x 35's, 10 x 40's
BB Shrugs - 20 x 225, 12 x 315, 6 x 405 (damn grip), 15 x 315
close grip bench - 10 x 225, 8 x 245, 6 x 275
one arm db tri extensions -- 10 x 40's, fail x 45's
push downs 12 x ?, 12 x ?, fail x stack

[rdelaney44]

Another tough weekend on the diet - but started the week back on track

diet is a little light on calories today, but pretty clean

weights went well -- getting better each weak -- my strength is coming back and feels good

flat bb bench 10 x 225, 275 x 8, 335 x 5
slight incline db press 10 x 100's, 7 x 120's, 3 x 130's
flat db flyes 10 x 45's, 8 x 55's
seated db curls 10 x 45's, 8 x 50's, 7 x 50's
one arm standing preacher db curls 10 x 35, fail x 50, fail x 40

felt good when I walked out of there -- I'm a bit nervous about back day tomorrow -- my back still hurts a bit from last week -- I may skip the deads tomorrow and concentrate on bent over rows, T-bar rows, and a couple hammer strength angles

[rdelaney44]

Had to switch around yesterday and today -- so yesterday was just cardio and today I worked out alone - went light on deads because I tweaked my back last week, but it went well(see workout below)

Diet today was good - will end up with 8 meals -
around 3000 calories - 55% protein, 20% fat, and 25% carbs

7 - 1 cup Oatmeal/2 scoops ON 100% Whey/ 1tbs flax seed oil/banana

9 - 2 scoops Isopure 0 carbs Cookies and cream/1 cup milk

11 - zone bar

1 - 8 oz 96% ff ground beef 1/ low sodium soy sauce and a diet coke

3:30 - 10 oz 99% ff ground turkey breast / franks red hot / 1tbs ff blue cheese dressing

6 - post workout shake 2 scoops ON 100% whey/40g dextrose/5 mg creatine

7:15 - 14 naked chicken nuggets w/ franks red hot and a diet coke

9:30 - ff cottage cheese / 1 tbs flax seed oil
--------------------------------------

workout

reverse grip pull down 10 x 160, 8 x 200, 6 x 220
reverse grip bent over bb row 10 x 225, 10 x 275
seated cable rows fail x 200
Hammer strength 1 arm pull fail x 90 (+machine)
Dead lift 12 x 135, 10 x 225, 15 x 315
bent over db side raise 10 x 35's, 10 x 40's

decided to ditch the wraps altogether and will progress only as fast as my grip will allow me