I'll go ahead and apologize for the lame title. I couldn't come up with anything clever or even good for that matter.

Pretty much the whole reason for starting this journal is that I tend to increase my odds of accomplishing a goal is if it's in writing. Having it posted where others can see my success and failure is just that much more motivation.

I guess the best way to start things is to give some quick facts. I'm 23. I graduated from college in Dec. '06 and now I work full time. My job has motivational programs that anyone can participate in and they save you money on your health insurance, but at the same time someone pushes around a cart full of goodies while we sit at our desk. After college I tried to get in better shape. Everything went well for the first 4 months. I worked out on a semi-regular basis and ate healthy. I lost about 30 lbs in 4 months. After 6 months at my new job, most of it's back. Hopefully this will help me stay on track instead of the typical roller coaster.

Every day I try to get up at a reasonable time, but I just can't seem to do it. I don't have to be at work until 11am so day after day I find myself sleeping until 10. Sleeping that late makes it really hard to really get anything done. 8am is my goal. It's not a super early time to get up, and it almost seems lazy to sleep any later. I know I'm capable of getting up early b/c I've worked 7am-4pm before and I got to work on time or early every day. Either way I'm going to try to get up by 8am. I know John updates his site every day before a certain time so I'm going to try to follow suit and update my journal every day before 8am. Hopefully that will give me more time to do stuff and let me space meals better.

Well, this is day one of being awake at a decent hour. I think winter may be coming to Texas. It is super cold in my apartment this morning. Today is the first day back at work after a 4 day weekend. My job has a use it or lose it vacation policy and people with more tenure have already put in for the entire month of Nov. & Dec so I've been doing four day weeks for about a month, but I'm done with vacation for the rest of the year. BTW, I must have just cranked the A/C last night. The forecasted highs are in the 90s for the rest of the week.

I took measurements for the first time in in 3 months. I'm up 20lbs. That sucks. Not to mention that I slept about 2 hrs later than I wanted too, so I'm pretty annoyed with myself for that. Basically I'm down 5 lbs from when I started in January. I'm basically starting over. The good news is I' don't remember the last time I was this motivated personally and at work. I just got a pretty fat raise that I've been hoping would get approved. I actually want to go to work today for the first time in a month.

The whole waking up before 8am is going about as poorly as it possibly could. I've managed to do it once.

I really need to get to the grocery store today so I can pick up some healthy food. I'll probably do it this weekend. There is a SAMs club close by so maybe I can get some bulk stuff on the cheap. I'm in money saving mode right now. I just finished off paying my credit card bills, and hopefully I can start saving money for a house.

Man I can totally relate to the morning thing! I don't have to be to work until 10:30am and most of the time I sleep until about 9. The thing that has helped me is getting on a regular sleep schedule. If you want to get up by 8, hit they sack at midnight every night! When I did that now I frequently wake up before my alarm goes off. I'm like "great! another half hour!".

-Eric

I've made it the entire week without eating anything but my own cooking. I must say I am looking forward to something other than chicken this weekend. The best part about making my own food has to be the money I save. I haven't swiped my debit card since Sunday. Of course, that also means I've done nothing but go to work and home. I think I should have more of a social life at 23, but it is what is.

Man I can totally relate to the morning thing! I don't have to be to work until 10:30am and most of the time I sleep until about 9. The thing that has helped me is getting on a regular sleep schedule. If you want to get up by 8, hit they sack at midnight every night! When I did that now I frequently wake up before my alarm goes off. I'm like "great! another half hour!".

-Eric


Unfortunately I can't just will myself to go to sleep. I have to be tired, take sleeping pills, or just lay in bed for a long time. The only way that I have found that works for me is to have no choice. If I have to be somewhere at 7am everyday, I'll get there but I'll also run on 4 hours of sleep for the first week until I am exhausted and start going to sleep earlier.

I do love the weekend. I get to eat some good food, and I get to watch the UFC fight tonight. The scale says I'm down 4lbs since Monday. Of course, today I weighed first thing in the morning, and Monday I had already eaten. I'll do some measurements in the morning, so that should shed more light on the situation.

It almost seems like the UFC makes sure the fights are just good enough that I won't start hating it. I doubt anyone reads this anyway but I won't say anything specific about the fights, but there it seems like the 40 bucks was excessive for the show that was put on. I do love the weekend. I had some Hooter's wings and pretty much did nothing all day. Fun times.

I've decided to put off taking measurements until the end of the week. After the weekend I feel a lot fatter from the wings and pizza. Other than back to work and back to eating healthier I got nothing else going on.

I love eating pizza and other food that is terrible for me b/c it tastes good, but I don't fear near as well the next day. The food is good, and I don't know if I'm quite ready to give it up completely. Maybe I will try to cut down on the portion size.

I felt much better this morning than yesterday. Plus, the scale says I've lost 6 lbs in 24 hours. That seems more like where I wanna be. I'm almost out of cheese too, and I don't plan to buy anymore once it's gone. That will only help me clean up my diet even more.

I do at least some push ups every day of the week except Wednesday. It's not as good as what most people do but at least it's something. I'm glad I'm not doing any tomorrow because my right shoulder is killing me.

I've felt like crap the past few days, and I don't eat well when I don't feel well. Either way I ate bad the past couple of days, so I'm going to try to keep the weekend as clean as possible. Maybe I'll get some sushi or something that is fairly healthy. It's the weekend so I have that going for me, and I feel way better than I did the past couple of days.

I just started using ETS from AtLarge. It seems to work pretty good. I'm not near as sore now as I usual from squats. It usually is worse two days later than the next day, so the real test is still to come. Either way, I don't seem as sore as usual. I like being able to walk up stairs at a normal pace, but the DOMS pain is a good sign that what I actually did some work.

I'm probably going to have to start taking food with me to work. Or get up earlier or stay up later. Regardless, I'm not eating enough during the week. I counter calories today and it was about 1200. It was actually less, but I like to round up to make up for stuff like BBQ sauce or mustard that I don't bother to count.

I have alot of a free time to come up with random ideas. So, I watch alot of UFC and other MMA stuff and just about every guy is actually 25 pounds heavier than the "weigh-in" weight. After reading up on weight cutting online I realized the most basic way is to cut out all carbs a couple of days in advance while drinking an insane amount of water. Then 24 hours before weigh in, you completely cut out most food and all water. Of course, fighters also do a ton of cardio during this time to sweat as much as possible and come in completely dehydrated. I didn't really do the whole cardio thing, but I tried the food and water cutting thing. I imagine it'll be about 10-15 pounds of weight loss. It's all water weight and I'm way fatter than your typical fighter, but it was cool to see what happened.

I'm about to head over to Play it Again Sports and see what I can find in terms of an exercise bike and maybe some dumbbells.

I never went to Play It Again because it's about a 20 minute drive and Academy is about a mile away. I needed some jeans anyway and I like only having to go to one store to get everything I need. I ended up buying a recumbent bike that is now sitting in my living room. I gave it a test run earlier and it is much more comfortable than a typical upright bike. The only thing I don't like about it is the computer. Either the features are lacking or the owner's manual just isn't detailed enough. All in all though I'm pretty happy with it though.

I did some cardio after work tonight. I wish I was in better shape, but you have to start somewhere. My job is pretty bad about letting someone know about schedule changes. You usually get an email about 4:45 on a Friday that your schedule will be different on Monday. I had to go to a team function on Friday so I left work at 4pm and my manager told me to just show up at my usual time. Unfortunately, my previous "usual" time was 5 hours later than my new schedule so I was quite late. The good news is no one seemed to care and I now get to work 7-4 instead of 11-8 like the past two months. That basically means I need to get to bed real soon since I have to be up at 5:30 tomorrow morning.

Well, this is what my diet currently looks like. I may be under-eating a little. I usually come in right around 2000 cals per day, but I'll give it 6-8 weeks and see where I stand after that. After a year on JSF I managed to lose 30 lbs in 4 months, then gain 40 in the following 8 months. I have the knowledge I need because of this site. If only will power & determination could be taught I'd be set.


6:00 AM
3/4 c. Kashi cereal
1/2 c. FF milk
60g Nitrean
10g creatine

8:30 AM
1 can crushed pineapple

11:00 AM
1 serving lentils
4 oz chicken

2:00 PM
1 protein bar

5:00 PM
6 oz chicken
1/2 c. FF cottage cheese
2 c. vegetables
2 slice light wheat bread
1 TBSP olive oil

8:00 PM
60 g Nitrean
2 TBSP peanut butter

I did a 30 min cardio session today on my recumbent, then I was bored so I did another 30 mins a few hours later. My goal is to do 10 miles in 30 mins, then raise the bike level, then add time until I am doing 60 mins per LISS session while keeping my heart rate 150-160 bpm. That should be about 75% of max heart rate. At some point I plan to add in some HIIT, but I don't have the cardio for that right now. Right now I'm doing 4 days per week with cardio days being Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday.

I don't know if this is normal or not, but I always end up getting really hungry if I don't get enough fats. It might also have to do with the fact that I don't enough total calories per day. I have alot of work shit to do getting my resume together. I'm interviewing for another position tomorrow that I really need to focus on because it's a pretty good opportunity, but the most important part is the 20% raise that comes with it.

I've had this down in the Private Journals for a while, but I'm hoping moving it to the free section will help motivate me to post more. Not mention the new challenge (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=41464) I'm starting soon should be kick in the butt.

I'm actually looking forward to this weekend because I'm starting a month on the Veloctiy Diet. I tend to do better with more structure. I know I don't do well trying to eat semi healthy. It seems the more discipline it requires the better and this coming month should be a tough test.

I was planning to start the Velocity Diet on the first of March, but I decided to bump it up a week. I'm going to start this Friday. Going 1 day without food is not big deal, but day 2 & 3 are more difficult and I'd like to be at home over the weekend with my stomach gnawing. Now I just need to go pick up some flax meal, fish oil caps, and some fiber supplements. I have plenty of Nitrean right now, but I will probably use 3-4 tubs over the course of 5 weeks on Velocity. Hopefully at AtLarge has another sale in April.

Part of the Velocity Diet involves eating a good amount of milled flax seed. My brilliant idea was to just mix with the protein shakes and drink it down. That was a terrible idea. I was able to get down two swallows before nearly puking. I'm full blown in as of tomorrow morning so I'll have to figure out the best way to eat the stuff tomorrow. I'm probably just going to mix it with water to make a paste and see how that goes.

I figured out how to make the milled flax a little more palatable. Mixing it with protein powder is pretty gross, but making it into a paste with warm water makes something that can be eaten. Not good, but at least I can eat it.

Hooray Velocity Diet.

It's only the second day of the Velocity Diet, but I'm surprised that I haven't been hungry at all considering it basically an all liquid diet. I really need to carry my old TV to the trash today, but it's really heavy and carrying it downstairs will suck.

I made it about 24 hrs on VD. Maybe it had something to do with way too much flax messing with my stomach, but it was probably just me being weak. Either way I'm back on again and hopefully with going to work all day I will be less tempted to cheat. I guess fall off then get back on. I'm not officially starting my challenge until March 1st so I guess it's better to get it out of the way now.

I think I may need an addiction in my life. It seems like I've always been addicted to something. My go to thing when I can't have something I want. Unfortunately I think it's food at this time.

I think I may need an addiction in my life. It seems like I've always been addicted to something. My go to thing when I can't have something I want. Unfortunately I think it's food at this time.


You are thinking about the xbox thread downstairs, aren't you!

I'm starting to really dislike my job. I'm pretty good at what I do so I've gotten several meeting invites for promotions, but I guess I'm not good at interviewing. I just come off as too laid back and lacking passion for my job. The problem is I don't have a passion for my and I haven't figured out how to fake it.

I've been a little pissed off about my job lately. I don't know why it's just a big game. I don't know why I don't just play the game and do my best. Either way everything seems to have turned out pretty well. I got a job offer today that is for at least an extra 10k per year. There is potential for much more if I do well and hit my bonuses. I took it and the best part about it is that I didn't really have to chase the job. They came to me for it, and it feels good to be wanted.

Velocity diet has been way too much for me. I guess I just don't have the will power for it. This wouldn't be a huge issue if I were eating healthy, but I've been trying to convince myself everyday that I will do better tomorrow. Then after work I'm hungry and I've cleared out my entire house of food. Basically that means I end up ordering takeout and I'm eating pizza or some other shit food. I'm going back to a less extreme diet that should actually be healthier for me.

I hate the grocery store on Saturday. It's a jungle of weirdos.

I made it to the grocery store and stocked up on groceries. Now I'm off to a day of cooking.

You are thinking about the xbox thread downstairs, aren't you!

It's definitely in the running.

My diet has been spot on this week. I don't have any food made for lunch tomorrow so that's going to be a problem. I might opt for a salad at work, but even a salad isn't overly healthy the way I eat them. I do need to pick something at Wal-Mart so maybe I can go early in the morning before work. It's either that or I'll have to come home during lunch. I do have a package waiting at my apartment office that I do need to pick up so that's a possibility too.

I must have went to sleep at 8 or 9 pm last night. I guess I was really exhausted. I woke up at 5:30am this morning with no alarm. I've already weighed myself and taken measurements. Now I just have to come up with something to entertain me all day.

I finally got the window replaced in my truck after 6 mos of a homemade plexi glass window. I'm completely amazed that I can get someone to drive to my house and install a window with less than 24 hrs notice for 150 bucks.

It's been a while since I've had a really great workout. It's been about 10 shitty months after 6 months of eating well and working out on a regular basis. Tonight my buddy convinced me to go with him to kick boxing. I finally remember why I used to be so motivated. I feel 10 times better after a hard workout than before. I think it's partly adrenaline and partly a sense of accomplishment, but whatever it is I feel really good right now.

I've been really thinking about everything John has said about not having cheat meals. I am starting to feel like it's two steps forward then I ruin it with 1 step back. Plus, it isn't really helping me kick my food habit. I know when I used to smoke quitting cold turkey was far more valuable than cutting back. I would successfully cut back for a while, but that didn't really do any good. The habit was still there and it only took one minor thing to get me back to smoking more than before I scaled back.

I really need to build up the willpower to stop looking at the thread about tattoos. I just can't stop reading the posts even though the prejudice and disrespect in sickening.

Dang I almost forgot all about this journal.

Well I'm about to go to bed and I'm hungry. I'm also sore from the gym tonight. I guess both are good signs, but my body doesn't think so right now.

man, buying a house is a major pain in the ass...

I had a really solid week of progress. This whole home search process is just becoming a nuisance. I just want to get it over with. I'm probably going to be making decision pretty soon. I found a house I like for the most part so I just need to make my decision if this is the one and go for it. Then I have to deal with the pain of negotiating.

I washed 6 pairs of pants last night with a blue ink pen in a pocket. It didn't explode until it went in the dryer. Needless to say I just had to buy new pants today and my dryer is blue on the inside. I hate when my own stupidity costs me money.