Week One Reactions

Well, it has been a week since the beginning of my project and it has already been full of triumphs and failures.

Going into this project I knew it would be a big test for me both mentally and physically and it definitely has not disappointed. This week has been a build up to my week two and three where my cardio training will be in top gear. This week I trained with weight four times; Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. I also have ramped up my cardio dramatically from my previous light cardio training. I managed morning one hour cardio workouts on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I also managed to get night cardio sessions Monday and Wednesday which really pushed me to a new level. During this time I found my new favorite cardio machine, the Nautilus Treadclimber. If you haven't tried this machine then you have to give it a try! it will kick your butt! Its like a hybrid stair climber/treadmill. What I like best of all is that I can get a high intensity cardio workout without hurting my knees like running or the stair climber have done for me in the past.

When it came to diet I definitely had a lot of mental demons to overcome. During the months before this project my diet was never horrible but I had a bad habit of eating too much good food. And no matter whether a meal is healthy or not if you take in more calories then you burn then you will gain weight over time. Clearly my previous diet was tipped the wrong way when it came to a caloric balance. In order to keep my diet manageable I decided to keep my meals simple. My week one arsenal included mass prepared brown rice, mass prepared chicken breasts, protein shakes, and protein bars that I used as treats. My goal was to get in a minimum of 4-5 meals per day to keep my metabolism peaked as well as keep myself from feeling like im starving. Even with the numerous meals, the combination of cardio plus limited diet on my huge frame created a large calorie deficit so if I ever went too long without a meal I would feel extremely weak and winded. Fortunately, after a few days my body learned to adjust to my new diet and training regiment and recovery times have improved. Time will only tell how i am able to adjust as i increase the intensity of my training and add a few surprises to my training regime over the next few weeks.

The good news of all this hard work has been dramatic results since my start. Since the day that I took pictures for my ad I have dropped 10 lbs already. I started at 336 lbs and on monday I weighed in at 326 lbs. This Tuesday I will be heading down to Los Angeles and getting body fat testing in a water tank (the most accurate body fat testing method available). I will also be testing my VO2 max as well as my resting metabolic weight. Once I return from the trip I will post my results and at the end of the twelve weeks I will return in order to get comparison results. I am very excited to see where I stand and then what kind of improvements I can make over the next 11 weeks!

At the beginning of my blog today I mentioned that this week has been full of triumps ans defeats. And there was a great defeat indeed, but it was not a failure with diet or training. It happened sunday in Green Bay when my Green Bay Packers lost by a field goal to the NY Giants in OT. It was a sad day in Packer Town to be sure. Rest in Peace GB.