Mike E.'s 12-week transformation diary

Day 1, Monday, May 14  —

The Fat Man

My before photo. Grisly, isn't it? Starting weight, 215 pounds. I was 50 pounds overweight then, back in 2009.

Before this new 12-week weight loss program begins, I'll post my new before photo.  In fact, I'll do it now.

Handles and gut

I decided to only take a picture of the problem areas, my love handles and my belly fat. Not good. But not out of control like it was 50 pounds ago. I'm guessing once I'm  15 pounds lighter I'll look all right.

And now I'll go weigh myself.

182. Thing is, I started three weeks ago myself,  so it's like I've spotted everybody three pounds (in fact, the picture above is my 185 weight, not that there's a whole hellofalot of difference).  I think I'll shoot for 165, which would be 18 pounds lost and 9 percent of my body weight.

I'll have to lose 1.5 pounds per week to pull it off. We'll see.

I'm using the calorie counter at livestrong.com. I won't be keeping a food diary per se, but I'm going to lay off meat and get my protein from fish, eggs and plant sources. I've never tried that before so I'm curious to see how I'll feel. And if I can do it.

I'm also going to do P90X. This will be my fourth time using that program. 

Good luck to everybody, but I gotta warn you—I'm gonna bring it.

Day Two, Tuesday, May 15 —

I might not blog every day. We'll see. I'm barely awake right now. Did P90X Plyometrics, which is very hard cardio, a lot of jumping. But I did it. And for dinner I had two ears of corn. Sushi for lunch. And tuna, tomato and tangello for a snack. And two scrambled eggs for breakfast. About 1800 calories altogether.

Tomorrow, I'm off work.  Thankfully.

Day 3, Wednesday, May 16 —

Got a day off so I get to workout early. Did the Arms & Shoulders routine for P90X. Will also mow the back lawn, which should expend some calories.

I really started about three weeks earlier than May 14th, so I'm looking at a 15-week ordeal. The first week was very tough. I had to take two extra breaks to get through the P90X Plyometrics jumping routine. I also lost zero weight the first week, one pound the second week and one pound the third week. So sometimes you can do all the work and eat well but the weight won't show.

Also, you never really know where your biorythm will be when you weigh in.  You could be retaining water that day for some reason. Oddly, the more you drink water, the more you expend and the less you retain. Wish I knew that when I was a collegiate wrestler. We'd all go without water to make weight. That might be good for the day before the weigh-in, but it's not good overall.

You will ache from time to time, you won't see results from time to time, you'll miss workouts, eat bad food, and get discouraged. Just keep getting up. If eat bad one day, try to eat right two days in a row to get back on track. If you miss a workout, don't try to do two the next day, just do one as well as you can the next two days.

One or two days does not make a pattern. Get back on the horse.

Day 4, Thursday, May 17—

Just had one of those days. Today is yoga day for P90X. But I'm too burned out and yoga is harder than you think. Tomorrow I'll try again. Tough day. My cat's been missing for four hours now, escaped out the back door.

Okay, it's now 9:30 p.m. and my cat came back. Whew. I used to have a pit bull, and I've got to tell you, the dog never gave me as much trouble as this cross-eyed cat. All is well. I'll get back on the stick tomorrow.

Day 5, Friday, May 18—

Got back on the stick. Did the Back & Legs routine of P90X and ate within calories, although I did have a big breakfast at the Oak Creek Grill. Did eat meat today (sausage with my eggs) but I'll lay off it tomorrow. It's Friday. I had a cheat meal. And then I worked out. Hard.

Works for me.

Day 5, Saturday, May 19—

Missed workout today. Got distracted by pressing personal stuff, namely my sister getting out of the hospital after her hip surgery. Had to put her couch on blocks so she could sit on it. Had to mount handles on her shower so she could get in and out.

I'll make time tomorrow for a 45-minute workout for sure.

Day 6, Sunday, May 20—

Did 30 minutes of elliptical and 20 minutes of treadmill for 50 minutes total. Fish for dinner, and omlette for breakfast and a protein shake for lunch. Good day.

Tomorrow is the first weigh-in day and I expect to be -2 pounds from last Monday.

Day 7, Monday, May 21—

Weigh-in day, and what do you know? I'm -2, 180. Good start.

Did P90X Chest & Back. Lots of pushups, and many pullups. Not as good at pullups as I am at pushups, but that's okay.

Ate well. But later that night, learned my boss at my other job—Austin City Limits Live—died over the weekend. Age 41. Life can be brutal.

Yep, I ate well. But I drank a little.

Day 8, Tuesday, May 22—

Did the P90X Plyometrics (jumping ) routine, but struggled. Had to take a couple of unscheduled breaks to get through. Last week, I got through it easily. Of course, last week I didn't work and today I stood for eight hours and lifted many tile boxes.

Whatever. I got through it. And this might be a good time to talk about modification. In one exercise in Plyometrics, I'm supposed to hop on one leg for 30 seconds. I can't do that. But I can hop on one leg for 15 seconds twice, so that's what I do.

Modify, modify, modify if you have to.

Day 9, Wednesday, May 23—

Another hard workout, P90X Arms and Shoulders. But I made it hard by pushing the weight. Felt good when I was through. Ate a vegetarian dinner tonight. Now I feel great.

Day 10, Thursday, May 24—

Ate well, but I did eat meat. Chicken and pork. Nothing intrinsically bad about that, but I really want to keep meat at a minimum for this 12-week challenge.

Also, I skipped my yoga workout. Again. Just got distracted by personal stuff, yada, yada, yada, no workout. I definitely want to workout 5 days per week at least, but I'd like to hit six or seven workouts per week a few times too.

Tomorrow, the P90X Back & Legs workout, always a challenge.

Day 11, Friday, May 25—

Did Back & Legs. Oddly, I felt great today, despite working all day long, and did 9 pullups twice. But I did have a cheat meal tonight, Spinach & Feta pizza at Domino's pizza. Pretty good stuff. I'm allowing myself one cheat meal per week, usually on the weekends but not always.

Day 12, Saturday, May 26—

Substituted P90X Kempo workout with 50 minutes of elliptical and 35 minutes of treadmill for a total caloric burn of 750 calories. That's about 650 more burned than if I had spent the 85 minutes watching TV.

Day 13, Sunday, May 27—

No workout and went to a dinner party in Wimberley, TX.  Oh, well, you've got to cut loose sometimes."

Day 14, Monday, May 28—

Memorial Day. Busy day at work. Marcus had me move some heavy poles from the garden to lumber, so that got me some calories burned. Good thing, because they served free food at the break room.  But I ate well. Chicken, broccoli, tomatoes, celery, cole slaw and a little dirty rice. Renee made that... yummy.

Still, my morning weigh-in didn't go well. Gained 1/2 pound.  Must bear down this week. I'm aiming to lose 2 pounds.

Day 19, Saturday, June 2—

Wow. Got derailed this week. Didn't work out  Thursday or Friday, but I did do my P90X Legs & Back workout today. That means I'll work out tomorrow to get my five days in this week.

Don't think I'm going to hit my weight goals. Went to a graduation party Friday night, drank beer and ate lasagna.  Not good. Are we done with the holiday parties for a while? I can be bad on July 4. I'm hoping to lead by example here, and so far I find myself lacking.

Must bear down. Even more.

Day 20, Sunday, June 3—

Did 30 minutes of elliptical and 30 of treadmill. Ate well, too. Tomorrow's the third weigh-in.  We'll see.

Day 23, Wednesday, June 6—

Did 30 minutes of elliptical on Monday, no workout on Tuesday, and an oddly long one today. Did 30 minutes of treadmill, ten minutes of Arc Trainer (it's hard) and another 30 minutes of staionary cycle for 500 calories. Ate well too, all vegetarian today.

Day 24, Thursday, June 7—

Ate well, but didn't get in any exercise. Already used up my two non-exercise days this week.

Day 25, Friday, June 8—

Did two 25-minute brisk walks on my way to work at Stubb's. That's downtown walking, across the bridge up Congress, right on Sixth, left on Red River until I get to 8th. Like the treadmill, but with fresh air. Ate well, too. Tomorrow, it looks like I'll have to do more walking, since the gym is closed after work and the roommate will likely be watching TV.

Day 26, Saturday, June 9—

Had a weird workday, 11 to 8. Too early to workout in the morning (I'm not a morning person), but the gym closed at 7 p.m. What to do, what to do?

I knew if I went straight home I'd likely crack open a beer and watch the Knicks vs. Heat game.  So after I got off work, I decided to walk laps around the building for 30 minutes. Turns out that's about six laps.

Good plan. Went home, drank vodka instead of beer, watched the Knicks game (they lost to the Heat) and went to bed.

Day 27, Sunday, June 10—

Badass workout today.  I spent 15 minutes on my newest cardio device, the evil Arc Trainer. Very tough. I burned 200 calories. That's 800 per hour. It's a tough machine, even tougher than the elliptical.

Spent 200 calories on the elliptical as well and 200 calories on the treadmill for a 50-minute total of 600 calories.

I rule!

Day 28, Monday, June 11—

After the first month, I'm down three pounds. I think I can do better, though.

Started the second phase of P90X, the Chest , Shoulders & Triceps routing. Tough workout.
 
Day 29, Tuesday, June 12—

Did Plyometrics from P90X, also called jump training. Very tough workout, but I made it through.

Day 30, Wednesday, June 13—

Did the Back & Biceps workout. Many pullups, many curls.

Day 31, Thursday, June 14—

Skipped yoga today.  It's easy to skip yoga day, but it's probably the one thing I should be doing more. I think I've skipped every yoga Thursday, but today I didn't even make up for it with other exercise.

Day 32,  Friday, June 15—

Did the Back & Legs routine for P90X. Tough day, but I got through it.

Day 33, Saturday, June 16—

Did nothing. That means I have to workout tomorrow before I go to work. Yikes!

Day 39, June 22—

Wow. I am way behind. On the blog part, not the doing part.  Yes, I did miss the Thursday Yoga day again. But I also missed the Monday. Not good. But no more than two days in a row missed.

Day 40, June 23 —

Did the Legs and Back routine for P90X.  Ate very well, nothing but lean meat, veggies and cherries.