Day 1. I'm 5'9" 188lbs. 23%bf

I started losing weight almost 2 years ago after reaching 215lbs(see pic). I'd stopped my workout habits about 10 years ago after I got very sick, and put on 55 lbs over those 10 years. So far, I've dropped 27 of those 55, but for the last 6 months I've been stuck @ 185-188. I decided to try this forum 1) for some motivation and tips and 2) so I'd connect with people doing the same thing. I'm not going to write too much more today since I want to get in my workout and read about HIIT. Just wanted to get on the board. :gl:

Read enough about HIIT to try first workout(4 min 30/30). I thought since I regularly do 45-60 minutes on an elliptical trainer at @155 BPM heart rate that the HIIT workout wouldn't be that hard. Wrong. Very wrong. By the 3rd minute I was walking my rest. I pushed an extra set into the workout to make up for walking the last 2 "jogs", but I obviously need to adjust things.

HIIT suggestions appreciated!

Left Pic is at 215LBs. At least the beach was nice!
Right Pic is at 188

Second HIIT day went better. Two adjustments I made - the first sprint interval was more controlled, and I just refused to walk the non-sprinting interval. Mentally, its o.k., but I'm conscious of being an overweight guy trying to sprint. I've decided to give HIIT 2 dedicated months and see what I get in terms of weight loss.

I've been doing pyramid weight lifting, but I'm willing to try Max-OT. I need to do a bit more reading. It seems some people like it and some people don't, which is what I'd expect from almost any exercise routine.

As for diet, I've developed a good low-fat diet where I get 1700-2000 calories a day. I don't have a carb/protein breakout yet, so I'll work on that after the Max-OT reading.

Scheduled Wed. as my off day, then got stuck at work Thurs & Fri., so I missed those workouts. I'm planning on 3-4 HIIT workouts a week, so I still managed 3 HIIT workouts this week. If anyone's new to HIIT (like me) one stretch I'd suggest prior to workouts is a front thigh stretch since the sprinting portion works that area a lot.

Later today I'll do my Max-OT arm workout. The more I read, the less magical Max-OT appears. Since I'm not supposed to count warmup sets as part of the workout, the 6-9 Max sets at 4-6 reps still means I'm lifting a significant number of heavy reps. These workouts are a shift from the way I've lifted before, but I'll it for 2 months and see what happens. I can't count this week as a Max-OT week since I only got two Max workouts done this week. (Legs & arms/abs)

Got my arms/abs workout in. Looking forward to more of these workouts. If nothing else, this approach is new to me, so the workouts are more interesting.

BTW, as for my goals, right now I'd like to shoot for 170 lbs., 15% bf.

Started the day with a pria bar, did some stretching, and moved onto my HIIT workout. Increased my workout 1 minute, so now it's a whopping 5 minutes. Still, I can tell you this workout exhausts me more than 55 minutes on an elliptical machine at 150-160 bpm, so I'll keep with the program.

Ate breakfast afterwards, which consisted of oatmeal(1 cup dry), 1 banana, and 4 strawberries. Plus 2 cups of coffee. It's a big meal for me, but I was heading off to lift Max-OT 1 hour later (shoulders/trapezius) and didn't want to be dragging.

Max-OT workout went well. I had an interesting comment from a friend yesterday who asked if I'd just come from the gym, since I "seemed to have a bit of zip". This comment came 7 hours after my lifting workout and 8 hours after my HIIT. Maybe its just a mental game, but I do feel like I have more energy on the days that I do these workouts.

Well, missed yesterday's workout because of an unplanned 19 hr workday. So, today was the Max-OT back day, followed by another 5 min HIIT workout. Not much of an HIIT workout for most people, but its what I can do. The HIIT document I read suggested adding a minute a week, though I hope to accelerate that a bit. Still, I'm looking to make a life change in my habits, so if it takes an extra month to get to the longer workouts I can accept it.

The Max-OT workouts are different. One change I've noticed is that I'm lifting a lot more weight, more than I would have guessed. Mentally its easier to lift for 4-6 reps.

As for food, I've stayed in the 1800-2000 calories range every day. I think I'll keep a food log - right now I just remember what I ate and total the calories.

Another really bad workday yesterday - 15hrs straight, so the gym was closed by the time I was done. But today, HIIT & Max-OT chest.
I'm changing my plan to shoot for HIIT 4-5 times a week instead of 3-4. I noticed John's workout showed HIIT 7 days a week, so I think the HIIT cardio may be key.

I'm at the bottom of my 185-188 plateau right now, so I'm excited to ramp up the workouts and see if I can break through to a lower weight. I don't know why I hit this plateau, but I have.

I continue to feel energized during the Max-OT workouts, so if nothing else I've changed my routine to make the gym visits more interesting.

As for food, I still have some more work to do, like tracking what I eat.

I hope to get a digital camera this weekend so I can post photo updates soon.

And finally, John, if you ever read my log, let this be the first time I thank you for creating this website.

food:
breakfast bialy (@150 cal), oatmeal(6 oz), banana. 3 coffees.

am snack 140 cal trail bar

lunch - salad w/ chicken. 2 cookies(oops)
decaf coffee
20 oz water


pm snack 140 cal trail bar
coffee
20 oz water

dinner - 6 oz pork loin, 4 oz mac& cheese, salad (w/dressing)
1 slice watermelon.
decaf coffee

late snack - goat cheese w/crackers(4) jam on crackers(3)
(oops again)

Did my Max-OT leg workout for the day, followed by another HIIT session. Not one of my favorite combinations.

Food as follows:
Breakfast:
1 1/2 cup Heart to Heart oat cereal w/ skim plus milk
Coffee

snack:Fresh Fruit shake (banana's, strawberries, 3 oz OJ, 1 tbsp peanut butter)
coffee


dinner: fish (8 oz), 1/2 baked potato, steamed vegetables(2 oz)
decaf coffee

PM snack: non-fat pudding, 1 cup raw baby carrots

At the bottom of my plateau at 185/186. I've been here before, but I never break through for more than a week. I hope this coming week I'll push through the 185 mark, and as my HIIT workouts get longer, I'll start to see the results.

Since I have more control over my schedule on the weekend, I plan to workout on Sat. & Sun. and have my off day during the week.
Today was Max-OT arms. I'm following the workouts as outlined in
http://www.ast-ss.com/max-ot/intro.asp. I've completed the 1 week plan and started the 2nd week yesterday.

Today was arms & abs. Unlike most of the workouts, I can't get out of the weight room in less than 1 hour with the arms & abs workout. Between setup, warmups, and the actual reps, this set of exercises takes longer. I'm very careful about warming up, since I think I can avoid some injuries if I'm diligent about this part.

I've done some of my HIIT on an ellipitical ski machine. Right now I warmup for about 3 min. to get my heart rate up to @150. Then I do 5 minutes of 30 sec hard, 30 sec regular. After this, I do another 3 min. to "cool down". Not much compared to my normal cardio workout, but as I've said before, I'll give HIIT a good 3/4 month trial and see what happens. I suspect I won't see any great results till my HIIT workout is at least 15 minutes.

I took a front & side shot today. Posted the front view next to my heaviest photo in my first journal entry. As I lose weight, I hope to update the pic in my first journal entry.

Taking these pics was very ...well, I don't think humbling does it justice. Depressing is more like it. I think I still had an illusion that I wasn't that out of shape. Oh boy. Not a pretty sight.

My only comfort is that John and others have posted similar pics before their "transformation".

Easter Sunday here, which meant I'd be pressed to get through my workout. Still, I managed to get into the gym and do both HIIT & Max-OT.

Max-OT shoulders & traps day. I'm working on a correct warmup for Max-OT. As I've read more on the AST site, they went into a detailed warm-up for week 2. One item I've noticed is that the warm-ups don't count as a set in their system. So the idea that I'm only doing 2 sets is a bit of a waffle. I only get to COUNT 2 sets - all the other lifting is just warm-up.

Bumped the HIIT to 6 minutes. I'm getting ready to "cheat" the week-a-minute system and just jump to 10 minutes soon. I just want to ensure that the quality of my high intensity portion doesn't drop too much.

Took the day off from weights, but pushed the HIIT workout to 8 minutes. My plan is to hit 10 Minutes by the end of the week. The minute-a-week increase seems too slow, and I believe I can push the level up quicker. An the other hand, I want to be sure I don't dilute the intensity of the "High" intervals.

At this point, I'm also going to start to focus on my food intake and I hope to keep a food journal.

Max-OT back day & pushed the HIIT to 10 minutes. I think the 10 minute mark is significant, because I feel different. Weight seems to be dropping, but I still haven't dropped below 185 lbs. But then again, its only 15 days since I started.

More than anything, I you ask me if I feel better since I started these workouts, the answer is yes.

Planned day off. No workout.

Max-OT chest. Did barbell bench press, inclined dumbells & parallel bar body lifts.

Followed this workout with HIIT. Started with a goal of 10 minutes HIIT, but added an extra minute because I felt good. BPM in the 160-170 range.

Post workout weight was 185.2 at the gym scale, which the low end of the range I've been stuck in. Hope the increased HIIT time will speed weight loss.

I have to say I hadn't realized just how out of shape I was till I did a profile photo. I'm glad I don't have a profile photo from when I was 215.

More HIIT today - pushed that workout to 13 minutes now. I'm doing it on an elliptical x-country machine because of a slight quad strain.

Unfortunately, it's also Max-OT leg day. When I have "leg day" I do the weights first, then HIIT. I find doing it this way reduces the amount of stiffness I feel the next day, so that's the combo/order that works.

Weight is at 185.

Well, day 21 of this new effort, so officially 3 weeks. Today I did Max-OT arms & abs, then bumped my HIIT to 15 minutes. My plan now is to move the HIIT a 1-2 minutes until I get to 23 min.


I think I need to work out a better stretching plan soon, since I'm feeling stiff when I wake up every morning.

Not much time tonight, so I did HIIT for 21 minutes, my longest time yet. Some shoulder stiffness, so I thought I'd take the night off from weights.

Tanita bf was 23.2%, with no muscle gain at all. I'm taking the reading as a guide, but it doesn't make sense. I've probably done more weightlifting over the last 3 weeks than I've done in months, so I'd had to believe there was some muscle gain. Probably time to break down and buy some bf calipers.

I stopped my journal for a while. No good reason, I've been working out with cardio still, but I had a shoulder problem(possible tendenitis), a pinched nerve in my back, and a knee problem. Safe to say I was a bit of a physical mess. My weight hasn't gone up much, but it definitely didn't go down either. So, back to this journal, and my hope is to get my workouts heading in the right way. I'm going to have to see a doctor about my shoulder - it's not too bad, but I can raise my arm over my head without feeling a burning pain.

My HIIT workout is now set - a 3 minute warmup, 22 minutes of HIIT, and a cooldown. This workout I like a lot.

I've got a good routine, but I got hit a plateau, so I tried the South Beach diet. Worked well, and helped break the plateau. I'm at 180 lbs now, and would really like to break the 180 mark, so it's time to ramp up and get serious. Ultimate goal = 170 lbs.

I'd wanted to break 180, and today I hit 179 lbs. I haven't weighted this low in at least the last 5 years, and maybe close to the last 10. Friday I ran , Sat. was weights(chest routine) and 40 min Cardio (23 min of HIIT).

Today I played handball for about 2 hours, which is a great workout. Sometimes we play for push-ups - losing side does 25, so adds to the workout.

I think I want to eventually get down to 170 lbs. At this point, I think I'll be lucky if I can drop 1 lb a week since I've already changed a lot of bad habits.

Keeping this journal helps.