Sasquatch Lives.....

[DubfromGA]

2011 was an awesome year for me in so many ways. Many challenges presented themselves and I'm proud of how I faced them. That being said, 2012 is shaping up to be even better.

Cliffs from 2011:

*Taken off high blood pressure meds
*Taken off arthritis meds
*Taken off cholesterol meds
*Began the year weighing 465 lbs through February. Ended it at 346 lbs.
*Began weight training in May
*Found out about this website and have been inspired daily by the sucessful people here
*Traded chronic joint pain for near constant muscle soreness...most excellent trade


I navigated through mty weight loss while on a keto diet. The only thing I counted initially were net carbs. Later in the year I began keeping up with my protein intake, too. Aside from that I tracked nothing.



I firmly believe that what gets watched & measured gets fixed. I want to refine my methods and track results. I am eagerly hoping for input/advice/help.


My goals for this year:

*End the year at 285 lbs. This was my playing weight as a senior in High School. I was in the best shape of my life then...just before ACL surgery on my right knee. Enter college...parties...pizza....crappy diet.......

*Add significant muscle mass during this race to target weight.

*Avoid reinjury of ankle tendon repaired in Sep 2010 (3 months off work...can't ever go through that again!!!!).

*Train smartly. Painful knees don't have to mean weak legs. There is a way around every obstacle. The sucessful folks here know this well. I hope to learn and apply the knowledge gained.

*Track my calories and refine my macros as needed to reach my goal.

*Have as much fun with this process as I did last year. It's been a great ride.





Christmas 2010:





Nice 6X shirts


Christmas 2011:





loose fitting 3X shirts


2012 is going to be a great year. I have a lot of hard work and sweat ahead and looking forward to every aspect of the challege.

[Vytis]

Love the journal title...

Good on you with the weight loss - that's an awesome accomplishment, keep going...

[ChocoChick]

Love the journal title, but I am not sure it fits you any longer. Your progress is amazing! You look like a new person. Keep on keepin' on.

[-=FLEX=-]

Welcome to the journals.

[DubfromGA]

Once a Yeti....always a Yeti, or at least a guy who can understand Sasquatch psycology...and emphathize with it.



Slept great last night....for about 4 hours. Woke up crazy early this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. Oh well, hit the switch on the coffee pot and took the dog for 30 min walk. Didn't really need the coffee after the chilly pre-dawn air worked it's magic. Think it was in the high 30's.


Day off work today, took care of some much needed projects around the house and made it to the gym. Yesterday was back & biceps, Wednesday was chest & triceps. Today was a cardio day.


65 mins on the elliptical, 4.10 miles, level 5 setting. It flew by as I enjoyed a blast from the past:



Great stuff!!!!!


Once I have my casein shake before bed my food stats for the day:

*3,546 calories

*113g carbs (13%)

*222g fat (56%)

*276g protein (31%)


For the first time in my life, I accounted for every calorie. I wrote 'em down on a scratch pad in my pocket and transfered them into an iPad app a few minutes ago, myfitnesspal.

The final talley surprised me, not just the total amount of calories, but mainly the carb total. 27g of carbs from Splenda packs alone.....WOW.

Another surprising thing is that it showed my elliptical burned 1,569 calories. That's 600 more than the machine display showed. I'll use the actual machine calculation.

The measurement really does highlight some room for improvement. It drives an all-day long awareness that I'd not had quite like this prior.

Thanks to LBM for giving me the idea to run the journal. I can see where it will really help.

[TenThreeFive]

Awesome journal to follow. I think you can and will inspire a lot of people in your situation. You reminded me of this guy right away, so inspirational, sorry for posting it here and if you want to remove it please do.

[latebloomingmom]

well now...it's about d*mn time..

[DubfromGA]

Yup...I'm stubborn like that.


Some solutions take me a while to see, but once there.....I lock on and fight through with doglike determination. The accounting and progress tracking is a huge tool in this process. Hell, just into the second day and it's still becoming even more evident.

I really like myfitnesspal, too. Great suggestion. Thank you.

[HoustonTXMuscle]

Have to congratulate you for the weight loss, being taken off your meds and other accomplishments in 2011. Am sure that tracking your calories and refine the macros as needed, you'll achieve your 2012 goals.

[latebloomingmom]

uh are you actually gonna journal a workout in this workout journal???????
charting the macros makes you accountable for everything going in your mouth..
also, let's you see if you are coming close to hitting that 1 gram or so of protein per pound of body weight.
for me...helps me keep an eye on those carbs that I tend to overindulge in.




Dub this is a good start but I wanna know what you are lifting when you lift
reps
sets
lifts
weights

[Big_Sky_Guy]

Love it Dubs! I just flat out love a success story about determination, focus and drive.

[DubfromGA]

Awesome journal to follow. I think you can and will inspire a lot of people in your situation. You reminded me of this guy right away, so inspirational, sorry for posting it here and if you want to remove it please do.
]

The video link just showed up. I watched it a moment ago and was simply amazed. 9 months????!!!!! Crazy drive, motivation and health improvement demonstrated by that hombre.

Simply one of the best videos I've seen....ever. Thanks for posting it.

uh are you actually gonna journal a workout in this workout journal???????
charting the macros makes you accountable for everything going in your mouth..
also, let's you see if you are coming close to hitting that 1 gram or so of protein per pound of body weight.
for me...helps me keep an eye on those carbs that I tend to overindulge in.




Dub this is a good start but I wanna know what you are lifting when you lift
reps
sets
lifts
weights

It was in there. Yesterday was a rest day from weight training, but I still went to the gym for cardio:

65 mins on the elliptical, 4.10 miles, level 5 setting....900 calories burned.

Love it Dubs! I just flat out love a success story about determination, focus and drive.

Thanks.

Once thing is for sure, the journals on this website are full of them. I only need to spend five minutes online here to get motivated to kick my arse into gear.



Today:

Leg press:
300lbs x 25
405lbs x 7 for 4 sets

Leg extension:
135lbs x 25
155 x 7 for 4 sets

Leg curls:
130lbs x 25 for 2 sets
150lbs x 25 for 3 sets

Elliptical machine--47 minutes, 3.10 miles for 750 calories burned



Today's tunage to burn tonnage:







Total intake:

2,648 calories

77g carbs

115g fat

299g protein

Tonight's dinner after getting home from the gym:
571 calories, 34g carbs, 5g fat, 78g protein




One thing that became glaringly obvious...thanks to myfitnesspal, is my sodium intake. These past two days it's been way too high. I'd not seen that prior to tracking. The largest culprit was provolone cheese and pickles. Glad to have been awared of this!!!!!

[generetired]

Congrats on your progress over the past year and I totally agree with the "What's measured get's done" approach. Great goals for the year and I look forward to see you meet them.

[ChocoChick]

Dinner looks yummy. When you inviting us over?

[latebloomingmom]

what is that???? a mess a greens with malt vinegar???pfft..southerner..
a rest day?? well fine then..I guess we are allowed those now and again.

[DubfromGA]

Gave the old right wrist another day to mend. Damn thing has been messed up for the past five weeks. It'll get better for a couple of days only to go lame after any type of pull workout. It'll have time when I'm recovering from the hernia deal soon. Gotta keep it patched together until then.


Hit the elliptical again today: 44:18, level 8, 652 calories burned.
4 sets x 25 on ab crunch m/c
4 sets x 12 on decline board

Watched the Falcons get their arses pounded by the Giants during cardio. Not happy with those game results.



Food consumed today:
3,714 calories
89g carbs
266g fat
250g protein


Dinner tonight:




Tomorrow is chest & triceps w/ more abs & cardio. I'll be wearing that confounded wrist brace & my versagripps for as much support as possible. I may sub my normal DB flyes for the pec deck to further protect that wrist.

[flat6nut]

Good luck Dub! Great work so far.

[paolo59]

Brother, that indeed is some impressive weight loss! Encouragement to you with your diet, lifting goals, and continued weight loss.

[acrawlingchaos]

WOOT WOOT, nice to see you in here Dub. Awesome attention to detail with the counting, a task I find difficult and tedious. IN to watch the transformation. Are you running any particular strength program or something you created? What's the break down look like?

[backer]

Well done,stay strong

[timothynorton]

Are you freaking kidding me?? WOW, this forum is full of insanely inspirational success stories. Man, you look great! Awesome job.

You still have knee pain or got it better after you started to work out?

[DubfromGA]

WOOT WOOT, nice to see you in here Dub. Awesome attention to detail with the counting, a task I find difficult and tedious. IN to watch the transformation. Are you running any particular strength program or something you created? What's the break down look like?

Thanks!

I can't stress how sweet that myfitnesspal app is. It's going to be a tremendous aid.

Program is my own concoction....it has good, bad and ugly aspects. Raw ignorance and great enthusiasm with a lot of pain & injury thrown in. From the start I had to work around some pre-exhisting ankle and knee issues. Makes weight bearing lifts like squats & deadlifts tricky.

Are you freaking kidding me?? WOW, this forum is full of insanely inspirational success stories. Man, you look great! Awesome job.

You still have knee pain or got it better after you started to work out?

Thanks! Knee pain is much, much better than it's been a LOOOOOOONG time. Getting the initial weight (pressure) off and strengthening the legs has been a miraculous relief.






Today's work: done with right wrist still in brace, I'm not kidding ya. Look like a dude with neopreme fetishes or something.....

Start-to-finish & restarted:





wanted to run the elliptical afterwards, but time just didn't allow.



Total intake for the day:

*Total calories: 3,432

*total carbs: 72g

*total fat: 218g

*total protein: 302g



Chest and triceps feel great...pecs bounce when I reach for the water bottle.....right elbow is screaming......BUT......BUT....my right wrist is fairly decent...full range of motion without protesting unduly.



Where did I put that compression wrap for my elbow???? Skins burned on it from Tiger Balm and Icy Hot.....no pain / no gain as they say!!!!!

[cowboybiker]

In. And looking good man.

[Hibiscus09]

Wow -- you've made quite a transformation!! Nice work! I love the journal title also.

Happy 2012!!

[DubfromGA]

In. And looking good man.

Thanks, man. It is exaclty like your sig line....

Wow -- you've made quite a transformation!! Nice work! I love the journal title also.

Happy 2012!!

Thank you!!! It's been a lot of fun all along the way. Getting rid of those old clothes was cool. I've always hated "shopping". Now I know why...it wasn't a fun process. Much more fun now...I can buy stuff in most any store, providing the cut is long enough.

How did you like Clemson's bowl game results?

70pts?

Really, Dabo? Really?


mmmmmnn!

[mrbigdude]

in on this!!!

keeps me motivated

[DubfromGA]

Tuesday, Jan 10th:

3,279 calories
99g carbs
209g fat
249g protein

38 mins on the elliptical for 425 calories burned

[latebloomingmom]

Hi Dub...yes I too remember the good ole days of shopping in the fat lady stores...hate, hate, hated it. Still not really comfortable with the form fitting stuff but hopefully as the 'form' improves I will become more confident!

[SasaAndWendy]

Wow - fantastic work! I was definitely intrigued by your journal since we live in Sasquatch country out here in Oregon (although I am a born and bred Southerner!).

I have a question for you. You mentioned that your sodium intake was too high. We've been worried about ours as well. How do you calculate what is an acceptable amount?

[latebloomingmom]

Chest and triceps feel great...pecs bounce when I reach for the water bottle.....right elbow is screaming......BUT......BUT....my right wrist is fairly decent...full range of motion without protesting unduly.

hope your wrist and elbow feel better soon Dub
uhhh ya my chest has been bouncing a lot longer than yours has..
not sure how much of that is pec development though..