Well for anyone who finds this, this blogging may be a bit boring. But I am starting it in the hopes that it will accurately show my day to day progress in terms of nutrition, fitness and motivation. As of 6/2/04, I am 5'11 and I weight 166lbs. Up from 152 a year ago, but down from 200 2 years ago. My initial goals consist of 3 main targets that I need to hit consistantly.

1. Eat Clean, Eat Smart, Eat when hungry (One cheat meal a week permitted to allow sanity)
2. Hit the gym hard! 30-40 mins of cardio 4-5 times a week. Weight lifting 3 times a week, with each day concentrating on different muscle areas
Ex - Monday - Legs, Wednesday - Chest, Friday - Arms/Shoulders
3. Loss as much body fat as possible (I dont know my exact percentage right now, I hope to have it tested in the next few days at the gym)

I am on day 2 of the summer 52 day challenge, so this will reflect my accomplishments in regards to that. However, I want this journal to last as long as possible, because if it stops, that means something went wrong

My goals for tommorow are to eat 3-4 healthy, clean meals, drink plenty of water and spend at least an hour at the gym. Update tommorrow!

PS. If anyone who reads this post has any advice/tips regarding my initial training, please feel free to critique/aid me in my quest for a better body. Pictures coming soon

Ah, today was a good day. Hard but good. Ate 3 good meals as I am still in the process of trying to eat 4-5 smaller, healthy meals throughout the day. Hopefully by this time next week I will be on schedule with my diet. I did 3 different dumbbell excercises at home, 3-4 sets of 10 of each. I will probably feel it in my arms tommorow. I am still a bit intimidated of using freeweights at the gym, so until I can gain a little confidence, 30 mins of good lifting 3-4 times a week at home will do. Also, I walked 4 miles around my house tonight with my mom. Shes a bit slower than I am, but I thought we went at a good pace, although I only managed to break a small sweat
Question? My sister told me that walking and running accomplish the same goals, and she told me that whether I walk or run, I will burn the same amount of calories...does anyone out there know the truth about this?

Tommorow night I am going to the Cardinal game, hopefully I can get a good meal in before the game and then eat one later, after the game. Also, hopefully have some pictures posted in the next few days

1:00 - Bowl of Cereal with Skim Milk
4:00 - Tuna on Wheat Bread; mixed in a bit of fat-free mayo
7:30 - 1 Chicken breast, bowl of spagetti-o's, fat free pudding

Yeah, so the past couple days have been really bad. Friday I went to the Cardinals game and had eaten well all day long. Well after the game, my girlfriend and I were starving so we went to a local bar. Well needless to say, I had a "cheat meal" and a few beers. I felt really bad doing it after I had been so good throughout the week.

Then yesterday I went to an all-day concert and drank tons of water, but made the mistake of not eating beforehand, so I was starving once again after the show and went out again to eat at about midnight. Nothing healthy on the menu, so I had another bad meal.

Today have been beter though. I ate very well throughout the day, and although I didnt go to the gym to do cardio, I did 3 sets of a couple dumbbell excercises that I know how to do. Dumbbells are not too versatle, but I cant get a weight bench since I am only home for the summer, so I am going to have to get over this fear of the gym and take it like a man. This week will be better. I am going to try and go the gym at least 4 times this week.

Monday - Legs & Cardio
Wednesday - Chest and Shoulders & Cardio
Thursday - Cardio
Friday - Back & Cardio

Does this seem feasible/acceptable? I am very unknowledgable about working out, and although I have been doing tons of research on the internet and this site, I am still having problems deciding what my best working out plan should be. I think if I eat healthy, do cardio 3-4 a week, and do a split of 3 days concentrating on the above, I should be okay. Right?...

Summer school starts tommorow. Would be eating fast food right now, worrying if it had been a year ago. But I am trying to change for the better. If anyone can give me some newbie advice on weight lifting/burning fat, meanwhile trying to trim down, that would be amazing.

Today was pretty hard on me, but I did well. Summer school started today, so that really messed up my schedule from before. I ate well all day, did 3 sets of 2 excercises on dumbbells twice tonight. I also walked 2 miles with my mother a few minutes ago. Ive dropped 6lbs in the last 2 weeks, so I have to say that this work is paying off. The next step, which is major, is incorporating a decent strength training regime into my schedule. Hopefully have that planned out this week, and put into action next Monday. Im going to try to get the gym 3-4 before then, to do 30 mins of cardio, abs, and figure out my regime. Heres what I ate today and hopefully Ill have current pics of me up by the end of the week. I ate alot of chicken today, but I had to finish up some of the stuff to get rid of it before it went bad. Hopefully Ill eat some fish, tuna and steak later this week.

8:00 - Bowl of Bran Cereal with Skim Milk
11:30 - 8oz Chicken Breast with side of Sweet Potatoes
3:30 - Lean Chicken sandwhich on whole wheat bread
6:30 - Fat Free Chicken Tenders (6) with 1 can of Green Beans
10:30 - Fat Free Vanilla Pudding
And TONS OF WATER

Well today was a good day for the most part. I ate cereal for breakfast and had a low-fat lunch, although it had ALOT of sodium. Then I went over to my girlfriend's house...now my girlfriend..shes awesome. She loves me for who I am and she doesnt think I need to lose weight. But it's one of those things where you have to do it for yourself and ignore whatever anybody (even your girlfriend) says. I flexed for her, and she was amazed at the progress I have made in 3 short weeks. 3 weeks ago I litteraly had no muscle in my arms, but now you can definitely see some definition.

Its just fuel to keep me going, because I think if I keep going for as long as I can, its going to result in good things happening. We went out to dinner and I had one of my 2 cheat meals for the week. We went to TGI Fridays and I had a Club Sandwhich and French fries. How I love fries! If fries were healthy for you, I would absolutely have no trouble clean eating the rest of my life. Oh Well. And I had a beer, but I dont think that really made a difference after the meal I ate.

So tommorow is back on track as far as nutrition and excercise go. Plan on doing at least 30 mins of cardio and at least 30 mins of lifting, either at home or the gym. Overall, as far as te 52 day challenge goes, I am ahead of schedule to meet all of my goals, which is nice. Hope to have some pics up in a few days. I'm a little scared to post them, but everyone has to start somewhere..

Well the past couple of days have been interesting.. Summer school has really tired me (I wake up at 7:30AM) so I have been a bit lethargic this week. I think I just have to suck it up and stop taking endless naps. Wednesday I ate very well and did a great dumbbells workout in my basement, but I went a bit fast, with bad form, and my left arm was a bit sore. Thursday I gave myself a day to rest and ate well. Today I got on the scale and to my surprise it said 160.8lbs. That is down from 168 on 5/22 so I am thrilled. The weight is coming off faster than expected. Today was a great day workout-wise. I added 10lbs to my dumbbells and boy, could I tell the difference. None the less, I think those 10lbs are going to make a big difference for the rest of the summer. I went to the gym and did 20mins hard on the elipptical. I burned 280cals in 20 mins, which is usually what I burn in 30 mins. So from now on, I am just going to do 20mins hard. I also did 100 crunches and a good 3 set thigh excercise. A friend and I went out to dinner at Ruby Tuesdays (Which, if you have one in your area, I highly suggest you check out. They have an awesome healthy menu). Unfortuently, it was 2 for 1 night and I drank 4 beers...anyways things are going well. Tommorow my girlfriend is coming over and we are going to a mexican place, so I am going to try to lift and do crunches before she comes over. Sunday I will eat well and do some activity and starting Monday, I will be getting into the regime I will work with for the rest of the summer.

Now on to a SERIOUS question: Since I have been lifting, I can definitely see improvements in my arm tone, especially when I flex. However, I am right handed and the muscle made on my right arm is definitely more defined then my left arm. This raises a question...is that really bad? Do I need to start focusing more on my left arm to balance it out? IS it possible to get ripped on one arm and not the other? IF you can help me, please let me know what action I should take.

Photos coming Sunday....

well i havent posted in awhile but things have been going well. i have been eating well and lifting 4/5 times a week at home with my dumbbells. Yesterday I weighed under 160 for the first time in 9 months, and I am exceeding my timeline to get to my goal weight of under 155 by the end of summer. Pics havent been taken but expect them soon and I will put up what I have been eating lately next time