A transformation story of health, body, and life!

[dmpeach]

Long read, but I think you all might enjoy it!

Well? Where to start?! In this journal I would like to give you all a perspective and show you my progress in the gym, and my progress in my life. I would like to put a twist on the normal journal, and almost make a short story out of it if you will. This WILL BE a transformation of my body and mind (I'm kicking my own butt into gear!). Ok, you may not care about my life or care to hear me bitch about all the **** Ive been through but there is a reason... The reason I have chosen to incorporate my personal life experiences into the journal is simple: many of my mistakes, bad decisions, laziness, and just plain ignorance in general has led me to this drive to better myself. As many choices in my life have lead me away from the gym and overall good health, I would like to share with you all the progress I have made in all aspects that have led me to this obsession to better myself (and hopefully someone can learn a thing or two from my mistakes). I guess first I'll give you a little background about myself. So please read if you wish, if not just feel free to skip on down to my workout/diet portion.




Background:
Well just for a quick intro: I'm 20 years old and in my third year in college (on my third major), I live by myself, rarely hang out with friends and have recently made drastic changes to improve my health and well-being.

Well I started lifting back in 8th grade during football and worked my ass off for the next two years. By my sophomore year in high school I was the strongest I had ever been, the biggest I had ever been (5'6" and about 210lbs), and in the best shape of my life. We had a great football team, I was lifting as much as the juniors and seniors, and life was good. Now was the beginning of my downfall. I started hanging out with the wrong crowd after football season, and lets just say got into a few more things than just social drinking on the weekends. I also started chewing tobacco (Skoal, Copenhagen) at and drinking a lot at the beginning of football season. That lasted about 8 months or so until our family moved out of state because of my Dad's job. My new school had NO lifting program in the off-season. Of course I have never been the self motivated type so I didn't work out at all besides during football and tennis seasons. I always ate well because my mom was an awesome cook and always made sure we ate healthy. Lost a ton of strength and size over my junior and senior years in high school. Then came college... o boy, college...

I decided not to play any sports in college so I would have extra time for studies (yeah, right...). Well I have always been a shy kid at first (unless I was drinking) so I didn't make many friends and just spent a lot of time in my dorm room playing video games. Well I finally got off my ass and joined rugby? Best/worst decision ever haha... Got me off the couch to do something, made some decent friends, but they (and I) drank SOOO much it wasn't even funny. Well after the fall rugby season of my freshman year I continued to be extremely lazy and eat like crap and drink a lot all the way through Christmas break. A few friends and I from rugby decided to quit, because it was a load of crap? We started going to the gym 4 or five days a week. Ate a little better, but it was hard being on the cafeteria plan at school. Stayed in decent shape, felt good, and looked decent. Well that only lasted until the end of the year when I had a terrible break-up with this girl I had been dating for a couple months. Hit me hard emotionally and totally broke me down. Did terrible on my finals, and headed back home in despair. Continued to be lazy and do some random chores for my parents till later in the summer moved back to my college town and started working on a ranch. Got back into good shape just from doing ranch work. then my second year started. I had a new girlfriend towards the end of the summer and we both drank, A LOT... it was ridiculous. Well anyways, we drank a lot, got in fights, yelled, walked out on each other, broke up so many times I can't even remember. BUT we continued to try and convince ourselves that we loved each other? This lasted over a period of about 10 months: on top off all the girlfriend crap I lost most of my friends (mostly because of this girl), got 2 MIPs (minor in possession of alcohol) and was arrested twice (both alcohol related).

So here I was about 4 months ago; 19 years old (almost 20), crushed from the most f-ed up relationship ever (didn't help that she would occasionally still text me), no friends (except for a few back home), not idea what I wanted to do inn school, no life, no purpose? or so I thought. Finally decided on a new major and got my old job back but this didn't seem to help. So I continued on with the drinking, mostly to try and drink my problems away. Only 3 of my buddies from back home came to my birthday party 3 hours away, nobody from my college 5min away came? I would get blacked out drunk most nights for no reason. Didn't really even have fun, and usually ended up making an ass of myself. This is the point when I seriously hit rock bottom. I was depressed, drinking, eating fast food once a day (that was usually ALL I ate the whole day) sitting on the couch with all the horrible memories constantly running through my head. I didn't know what to do, and just continued living in the remains of the past. I was sick for about two weeks strait and just could not take it anymore.



The new me!!!
So all this background and I've probably bored you to death, that is, if you've even read this far. So here is the reason for all of this, the drastic change!!!

This was the turning point, the point where I said enough was enough, the point where I put my foot down and made one of the best choices of my life. I was tired of getting in shape for a few months just to lose it all, tired of having a beer gut, tired of not remembering the nights events, tired of being treated like ****, tired of throwing my life away?

As of last week: I am now sober (both alcohol and tobacco), I have not talked to my ex, nor dwelled on the past events, I promised myself to not eat fast food, get more sleep, work harder on my studies, I have cleaned up my house, cleaned out my kitchen of the crappy foods, and devoted my time to figuring out a nutrition and workout plan. I went shopping on Saturday (healthy food!), and after only a weekend of good eats and good sleeps I feel about 1000x better!!!




Current stats:
Age: 20
Height: 5?7?
Weight: 185lbs
BF %: No idea

Short term goals:
Eat healthy and get a good diet plan established
Get my core strength back and get a suitable workout plan
Improve my overall well being and become more satisfied with everyday life (I think the two above goals will get this done, they have already started to!)

Long Term Goals:
Improve strength
Lose body fat



Diet:

Here is what I?m going to try to eat. It will be hard for me to follow a strict diet at the moment with my class load and work schedule, but I will do my best. Anything is better than Taco Bell once a day right?! I?ve taken in a lot of what this site has to offer and taken a few meal ideas from articles and other users (special thanks to the person that posted to tuna and corn idea, its my new favorite!! Don?t remember who it was but props to you if you read this!). As I progress more I will try to work out a more steady/strict diet plan. Any criticism or ideas are welcome!!!


1. Breakfast:

-Four scrambled eggs (2 whole and 2 whites)
- 3 Slices Turkey Bacon
- 1 cup coffee

2. Snack:

- 1 protein shake
- 1/2 cup oatmeal

3. Lunch:

- Lean turkey sandwich with wheat bread or Tuna in water

4. Snack:

-1 protein shake
- Rice cake with Nat PB/ Cottage Cheese/or Tuna and corn mix

5. Dinner:

-Chicken breast
- Brown rice
- Greens (green beans/broccoli/spinach)

6. Snack (if I'm still hungry)

- Rice cake with Nat PB/ Cottage Cheese/or Tuna and corn mix

Workout:
This is very loosely outlined right now. My main short term goal is to just get my core strength back before I get on a set program. This will give me time to get my overall strength back and give me time to find a program that works for me. Once again I took a lot of advice from articles and other members on this site and any and all criticism is welcome.

Monday: Chest and ABS
Tuesday: Legs
Wednesday: Cardio and ABS
Thursday: Back
Friday: Biceps, triceps, and ABS
Saturday: Cardio
Sunday: Rest

Well there you have it. My short (haha, short?!) story of the last 7 or so years of my life and my new plan? I'm sure I left out some thing I wanted to include, and I'm sure you all will have some advice for me.

I will try and keep updated and reply to you all as often as I can. Thanks for looking and wish me luck!!! Here's a few pics take October 15th, 2008. The current me...

[dmpeach]

FIRST workout was today at about 4pm. I have been feeling really good now that I'm off the alcohol and eating good again. My mind was right, and I was able to get into the sessions with good intensity. Just did a simple chest routine and finished up with some abs. I can't even remember the last time I lifted a weight so I took it nice and easy today. I'll try and add some more write-ups to my next entry, but it's already past my bedtime haha

Flat BB Bench Press:
10 x 135lbs
8 x 155lbs
6 x 155lbs
8 x 135lbs

Incline DB Press:
12 x 55lbs
10 x 60lbs
8 x 60lbs
8 x 55lbs

Wide Pushups:
2 sets of 25
2 sets of 20

AB routine taken from the P-90x system (I simplified it a lot). I'll list all the exercises when I have some more time.


Ate good again today...


1. Breakfast:

-Four scrambled eggs (2 whole and 2 whites)
- 3 Slices Turkey Bacon
- 1 cup coffee

2. Snack:

- 1 protein shake
- 1/2 cup oatmeal

3. Lunch:

- Leftover tuna and corn

Workout at 4pm

4. Snack:

-1 protein shake
- Rice cake with Nat PB

5. Dinner:

-Chicken breast
- Brown rice
- Broccoli and spinach

6. Snack (if I'm still hungry)

- No snack tonight

That's it for workout #1. Back for more tomorrow!

[dmpeach]

Wow, what a crazy week!!! I haven't had much free time at all since I first posted on Monday. Wish I could update more often, but being as busy as I am it's hard to do sometimes. I DID get all my workouts in this week so that was good. Felt amazing this week all around. I was super sore most of the week just from not lifting in quite a while. Finally feelin a little bit looser today, and should be ready to hit it hard tomorrow. Well here was my week. I am just going to leave out my diet for now, as I pretty much exactly followed my sample diet in my first post.

Biggest accomplishment for me over the last week is I lost 7 pounds!!! Feel great about it, and can already see those love handles going bye bye!!!

[dmpeach]

Tuesday (10-21-08)

Still can't believe how much better I feel now that I'm eating better. Such a HUGE difference. The chest is a bit sore from Mondays workout, but not too bad. School is getting pretty crazy with the semester already half way done with. This is the point where teachers are realizing how much we still need to get done before the end of the year and starting to speed up the pace. But overall I've been feeling awesome.

Squat
8 x 135lbs
6 x 205
6 x 225
5 x 245

Leg press
8 x 90
8 x 200
6 x 290
8 x 200

Calf raises
12 x 90
10 x 90
8 x 90

Leg Extensions:
45 x 10
90 x 8
100 x 6
90 x 6

[dmpeach]

Wednesday (10-22-08)

Today was just a cardio and AB session. Rode the stationary bike for 40 min and did my normal AB routine. Took it fairly easy on the bike, as my legs were pretty beat from Tuesday's workout. But I could definitely tell my stamina is terrible!!! I was winded after the first 15 min!!!

The diet for today is once again the same as listed in my first post. I definitely though I'd get bored of the same food after the first week, but I've actually been enjoying it a ton!!! It's amazing the different things you can make, and all the different flavors you can get out of such simple ingredients.

My mind is still good. A few little flash-backs here and there are still tough to get out of my head, but I'm managing to deal with them a lot better now. Just have to keep telling myself how much better off I am now.

[dmpeach]

Thursday (10-23-08)

Well, the bike ride helped loosen up my legs a bit so they aren't so sore any more. ABs feel great from yesterday's workout, and I feel a lot more energized today. Today was back workout, so here's how it went...

Chin-Ups (5 sets to fail) This shows how out of shape I really am...
Set 1 - 4
Set 2 - 3
Set 3 - 2
Set 4 - 2
Set 5 - 1

Bent over row
12 x 55
10 x 65
8 x 65
6 x 65

Pull-Downs
12 x 110
10 x 130
7 x 130
5 x 130

Rows
12 x 90
10 x 110
9 x 110
8 x 110

[Young_One]

Rugby seems fun

[dmpeach]

Friday (10-24-08)

What can I say about today? Worn out from lots of studying and really sore from my first week back at the weights!! Besides being sore, I felt good today. Really excited to go to the gym today, and had a great workout. Worked out with a few kids from class at school so that was a nice addition to the workout.

Today was biceps and triceps. I also added in delts, as I forgot to put them in my workout plan. So this week I will try and spend some MORE time researching and reading up on workout plans... See if I can get something that works for me and includes all the muscle groups... haha. Can't believe I almost forgot the shoulders?! Anyways, here it is:

Alternating DB Curls
12 x 30lbs
10 x 35lbs
6 x 40lbs
6 x 35lbs

BB Curls
8 x 65lbs
8 x 55lbs
6 x 55lbs

DB Tri Extensions
12 x 10lbs
12 x 15lbs
9 x 20 lbs
8 x 15lbs

Tri Cable Extensions (with rope)
12 x 90lbs
11 x 120lbs
8 x 150lbs
6 x 150lbs

Military BB press
12 x 95lbs
12 x 105lbs
10 x 105lbs
10 x 95lbs

Rear Delt Flys
12 x 10lbs
9 x 15lbs
7 x 15lbs
6 x 15lbs

DB Shrugs
15 x 50lbs
12 x 60lbs
10 x 70lbs
10 x 60lbs


I know this was a lot to do for one day, it really kicked my butt. I would have pushed the delts to Saturday, but I already had a trip planned so I tried to sneak em in Friday. Definitely try not to do that again.

[Stonecoldtruth]

The first post got me hooked. I'm subscribing and hope to catch up fully in the morning.

[dmpeach]

Saturday (10-25-08)

Saturday was great. Me and a couple buddies took a drive back in the mountains for a long bike ride!!! It was decently warm today and clear as could be. The beginning of the ride was about 2.5 miles all uphill. First gear the whole way on my mountain bike!!! Crazy stuff, and I am definitely out of shape... wow. A little while longer on the trail and it finally headed downhill. It was well worth the ass kicking going uphill, what an awesome drop back into the valley!!! Overall a great roadtrip and a great ride. Got back home and took a nap as soon as I got out of the shower!!! Felt awesome to day, hanging with the friends from school was another great uplift for the week.

[dmpeach]

Sunday - (10-26-08) Today!!!

Well Today was my rest day. Slept in until about noon, which kind of screwed up my eating schedule but I sure needed it after that last week. Worked from 5pm till 8pm and have mostly just been watching football and being lazy!!! I once again have to apologize for my lack of posts and lack of writing in my few posts. I'm sure you all were expecting a page of writing for every update after my first post, haha.


First week back in the gym was a huge kick in the butt (good and bad).

The good kick in the butt: made me realize how out of shape I really am, and has really given me even more incentive to keep on it and work harder!! Also was so awesome to feel good from eating healthy and taking care of myself. It not only made my stomach feel good, but helping tremendously with my mind as well. Like I said in a previous post, I have really been a lot more, right, if you will, in my head. All the crap I used to sit and get depressed about is slowly making it all the way out. Now instead of getting down on myself and sitting around wasting away, I just say hey, the past is the past and it's time to move on. Some of the stuff will still run through my head occasionally and there is still a piece of me wanting to fall apart. But the major change for me has been able to help me overcome this. This is probably the most amazing part of all this. Just a simple diet and exercise leading to an extraordinary cleansing of my mind and soul... I know sounds corny right? But it truly is incredible what this is doing for me for the better!!!

The bad kick in the butt:
I was already busy with school and work, so with the sudden intro of a new, more time consuming diet, and a 6 day per week workout program have come as a bit of a shock. It is definitely a lot to handle all at once, as I have never done this before. The only other time I went to the gym on a regular basis I was not working at all. But it's the first week, right? No need to panic here. Also a bit disappointed in how weak I am. Although I did take it fairly easy for my first week back, it was still ****ty to see how much I've lost. But that's about all for the bad!!


Hope I didn't leave out too much from having to catch up from almost all of last week. I think I mentioned in one of the posts I'm just following the diet listed in my first post, so that's why I have not been including that in my updates. Also, I believe a few of my set reps may be off by one or two. I didn't do a very good job of keeping my log book up to date so I just had to try and remember for a workout or two. I will definitely pay more attention to that for the coming weeks!!!





Thoughts for my first week back:
I LOST 7 POUNDS!!! (sorry, I'm a bit excited about that!!!)
WOW. That's about all there is to say. I feel so good, it's hard to even describe. To think that just a few weeks ago I was sitting on the couch wasting away my life and destroying my body. Just a big blob on the couch, depressed, feeling like **** from eating terrible, and gaining fat like never before. GROSS!!! Well not any more folks, I don't think I have been this inspired before. If I start to get down on myself I just think of how I was living, and how terrible it was, get a big smile on my face, then think about what I WILL BE!! Plus, on top of feeling amazing, I have made a bunch of new friends. I have been a lot more happy at school, therefore tend to talk to people a lot like I used to. Used to be a really talkative and friendly person, so it's nice to see that part of me again!!! A few people that I have class with also work out, so that is nice. Just a week into it and I'm already kickin ass.... awesome!!

Also one thing I failed to mention in my Intro post was music. Music has done amazing things for me as well. I listen to mostly rock, and have found so many inspirational songs that have played a huge part in overcoming my obstacles. It's hard for me to do much of anything without music anymore. Working out, driving, making dinner, homework, have music on almost all day long!!! If you're looking for that extra edge, or extra inspiration, seriously, LISTEN TO MUSIC.

Well that's all I can think of atm. I will try try try to keep up better this week. I would also like to get some pics at some point this week so you all can tell me if I look any better or not!!! Welp, off to bed for the night.

[dmpeach]

Rugby seems fun

Not going to lie, it was a blast. And at the time even the drinking aspect was fun. But this rugby team (well, most rugby teams) are drinking teams that just happen to play rugby. Seriously. If you can manage to get on a decent team that is a little more into the rugby portion, I'd say go for it.

The first post got me hooked. I'm subscribing and hope to catch up fully in the morning.

Thanks, glad to have you here... I was afraid I might have wrote too much at the beginning... Happy to see you enjoyed it

[dmpeach]

Hey anyone know what the deal is with special characters? I bunch of my double and single quotes and even periods have turned to questions marks

[dmpeach]

Monday (10-27-08)

Sooo tired... That's how I felt all day long. Not sure why though. Went to bed at a decent hour last night and slept ok. Woke up at 7:15 tired as a dog, I ushually wake up at 6:45. So I had to rush to get some breakfast real quick and get to class by 8am. Tired all day through school, and managed to get some energy up to go for a motorcycle ride with my buddy. Kinda just screwed off at home for a while, at some lunch, got some chores done around the house for a few hours then hit the gym at 6pm.

Was still a bit tired when I got to the gym, did a 10min warm up on the stationary bike and began the workout.

I switched up the routine a bit because I didn't like the order I had things in before. So we'll see how this one works out. The order of my lifts throughout the week pretty much follow Tony Searle's order (Thanks!!), as I liked the way he had it laid out, and it fits my schedule nicely. The only thing is I might have to incorporate biceps and triceps into another workout or two since the gym at my school is closed sporadically on some weekends.

So here's what I'm goin for this week. Hopefully this one works so I don't have to change it again!!!

Mon: Back and ABs
Tue: Chest and Triceps
Wed: Cario and ABs
Thur: Legs
Friday: Delts, Biceps and ABs (supposed to be biceps and triceps Friday, and delts Saturday, but as I said earlier I may have to squeeze it all into the weekdays)
Sat: Cardio

Let me know what you think of this... Not sure if it's the best way to do things, but I'm tryin to work with what I've got. So please, any suggestions are welcome!!!


Well, here is the workout today. Was finally not sore all over today, so I was able to do a bit more weight than last week. Added in deadlifts today, but my left hamstring started to tighten up so I had to cut em off a bit early. Hope it feels better by Thursday for leg day!!!



Chin-Ups (5 sets to fail) This shows how out of shape I really am...
Set 1 - 5
Set 2 - 4
Set 3 - 3
Set 4 - 3
Set 5 - 1

Deadlifts
12 x 135
10 x 205
8 x 255 (hamstring started to tighten up on my last two reps, couldn't get my last set in)

Bent over row
12 x 75
10 x 85
8 x 85
6 x 95

Pull-Downs (went with a little wider grip today and it felt a lot better, but lost a bit of the weight as a result)
12 x 100
8 x 110
6 x 120

Rows (Seated)
12 x 100
10 x 120
9 x 120
8 x 130

Normal AB routine