The early weekend

This 3 days weekend is a blessing, I really needed it to relax a little and get some rest, it seems that I laze off and post the day's entry a bit late when I'm on vacation, its true... I couldn't resist :)

Last night's work out was good, Full body weight training was completed successfully.

I have dug up a picture of me back in 2005 when I was 104kg, I'll post it today as a reminder to myself of what I was like back then.

This was taken in At Maracus Beach, Trinidad in the Caribbean,
and yes the snake is live and real!
(Click the image for a larger view)

I'll try to post pictures in the future, until then stay strong and shed hard!

Morale: 6

Another day, another step forward

Last night I barely had time after doing the grocery shopping to squeeze in my cardio workout, I was very tempted to settle for 300-500 cal burn but I pushed myself to finish the whole 600, Its the feeling you get afterward that serves as the best reward.

I had 20-30 mins before having to hit the sack to update my profile picture, the picture I have on was taken back in January 2007 in Barbados just after finishing an ATV Adventure Ride on top of one of the mountains there, I'll try to post more pictures of me when I was 104 kg but the problem is I was very camera shy and quite embarrassed by how I looked..

I've been getting requests from friends and family to post some information about my training and diet, putting that up would need some more time dedication to this blog, I'll try to add little information here and there and as part of my future posts so stay tuned if you're interested.

I leave you with the long version of Dr. Randy Pausch's (R.I.P) Last lecture:

Morale: 7

Keeping the goal in sight

I remember reading once that "Discipline is doing what is hard and boring to achieve what is best"; Now I realized since Day 1 when I first said no more and when I decided to start this journey that I will most likely have to learn to live outside my comfort zone, I will need to push harder than I ever did, be more strict about what I eat and how much I eat, and to constantly monitor my body for changes (be it positive or negative). The reason I am mentioning this is that to do a sort of affirmation, I want to remind myself that regardless of hard things have gotten and will get, it will be so for a good reason and it will pay off. This goes for you as well should you be traveling the same path I am traveling.

Going back to the my progress:

Last night's workout was good, a moderate full body weight workout along with some light cardio.
Today will be cardio day and I intend (God's willing) to make it count, I hope my grocery shopping today won't take longer than it should...

Here is another inspirational video you might like (I spotted this one on the Body Transformation Project Blog):

Morale: 6

Gotta watch those calories!

Last night cardio was exhausting, I kicked it up a notch and went for 600 cal burn, the sad part is that I decided to spice up my post-workout protein shake with a table spoon of natural peanut butter (no sugar), the result was very calorie dense shake that I am sure have taken off 400-500 calories off my cardio!
I've learned my Lesson; I will be more careful when adding anything to my meals..

Today, I'll go for moderate cardio and some moderate weight workout (hopefully there won't be too many interruptions)

Morale: 5

A new Toy for the gym

Last night I received my Dumbbell set and vertical stand, that kinda got me excited enough to try to do some weight training on my off day! I had to reject 3 of the dumbbells as I have noticed a good bit of rust on them, most likely stored in a damp space and I wouldn't accept rust on something I paid full fare on.

I got to admit that I've eaten 100 grams of 85% chocolate yesterday, I took it down in 3 intervals but I started feeling guilty for doing so, one good thing is that I know it was mostly pure coco and not sugar I was devouring but I should have been more moderate in eating that "semi-cheat" snack.

Today is cardio day, I hope all goes as planned.

Morale: 6

True Inspiration

Yesterday's workout was very good, I did my 45 mins cardio and added some light weight training, I've also started reading one of the books I bought "Home Workout Bible" by Lou Schuler & Michael Mejia. It seems like a very good book, well written and has alot of illustration on different workouts and equipment types.

Today, I have seen one of the most inspirational videos I ever came across, I won't even introduce it, I'll leave you to watch it yourself:

Morale: 7

Week end blues

One good thing about the weekends is that you don't have to go to work, the bad thing is: everyone knows it and you end up doing more things at home or for family heh..

Last nights workout was alright, didn't get that much cardio but I did a full body weight training and I was satisfied with the effort exerted.

Waking up this morning I see a few slight changes, its those small things that keep me going.

Morale: 7

My Stats 24-07-08

Before heading back home from work, I went by the gym and had a body analysis test on the "InBody 320 Scale", here are the results:(not very exciting)

Ups and downs

Today is not the best when it comes to work, regardless of the fact tomorrow is the weekend I am still not so very excited due to a bad day at work.. ah well.

Last night was good though, I did my 45 mins cardio and managed to fit in a nice 30 mins weight workout for Biceps, Triceps and Forearms. Now nothing beats feeling stiff and tired after a good weight training, can't wait for my new dumbbell set + stand to arrive on Saturday..

Today I'll put in more effort into chest training as I find myself lacking in that area.. I really need a Home Gym equipment.

Before I conclude this post, I would like to explain a bit about the Morale value at the end of each daily post, its a numbering system that I came up with to rate my motivation and mental focus towards achieving my goal, it also indicate how happy am I with the achievements I am getting and results I am seeing. It is on a scale of 10, 10 being the highest and 0 being the rock bottom.

Explanation:

10 - Highest Morale
"I feel great and nothing in this whole world can stop me!"
9 - High Morale
"I am doing wonderful and every workout really pays off!"
8 - High Morale
"I feel very motivated and I love the progress I am making!"
7 - Moderate Morale
"Progress is good and I am moving steadily towards my goal"
6 - Moderate Morale
"I feel that I am doing the right thing.. good things will come..."
5 - Moderate Morale
"I will continue my effort as the alternative is far much worse"
4 - Low Morale
"I had a bad day but tomorrow have to be better.."
3 - Low Morale
"I could not have made it through this day if it wasn't for sheer willpower"
2 - Very Low Morale
"Is it really worth it..? I try and I try and nothing is working!"
1 - Very Low Morale
"I think I've mastered the art of failure"
0 - Crushed Morale
"The weight of the world have truly crushed my spirit"

Morale: 6

Watching grass grow..

I have made a promise to myself -first and foremost- and to others that by 17th of Jan 2009 I will reach my Phase (I) goal of 63 kg and 8% body fat. While achieving such goal may not be easy it is not impossible and that is enough to keep me going, but sometimes its frustrating being unable to see big changes, watching your own body transform is nothing short of watching grass grow or watching the big arm of a wall clock its boring at times and frustrating at others!

The reason for this frustration is when compared my 5 weeks photos I can barely see any changes! I know I can feel the changes in terms of chest muscles tightening up and love handles dissolving and such but beside that.... nada!

I - however- will stick to my training and meal plans as regardless of how slow the progress is, I can still see it and will never give up.

Morale : 4

The begining

Let me first introduce myself to those who do not know me:

My name is Ali, I'm a 28 years old man who woke up one day looked in the mirror and wondered "what went wrong?"
My story is not one-of-a-kind, many people have been where I was and many managed to move forward, I will do the same one day.

I have been -and for about 6 years- (between 1998-2004 college years) very careless about what I eat and how much exercise I get, I've seen more and more fat accumulating in my body but barely cared to take action to put a stop to it. It was about 3 years ago when I first realized how bad of a shape I am in, that was when I looked at my graduation pictures and saw what I ended up as.

It is at that time that marked the real beginning of this journey, I started dieting foolishly, I starved myself at times and ate nothing but plain salads at another, I dropped from 104 kg to 90 kg and maintained that weight for a good while, I managed to drop my weight to 82 kg before the 13 June 2006, I remained at that weight but went up to 88 kg by 21st of Feb, 2008. That date marked my second and more educated journey; This journey.

I have managed through good/healthy dieting to drop to 76 kg by 17 of July, and on 23rd July I've decided to start this blog.

I am educating myself on proper nutrition, proper exercising and I am adopting healthy habits that will support my new healthy approach to changing my body composition.



I have hesitated before deciding to publish such blog, mainly because of the nature of the Internet where people (ab)use the power of "anonymous posting" to leave hateful, discouraging or even sometimes plainly tasteless comments with no apparent reason but I then realized that those who do so are their own worst enemies.


This blog was started not to brag or whine or make this look like an epic struggle, its merely a journal, a diary, a log book -mind you- to keep me motivated and make my challenge bigger by announcing it, what I hope to achieve is well within my abilities and I know I can reach it eventually, I just want this to be a motivation for myself and all who wishes to follow my journey and maybe even advise or leave a comment that my affect or inspire me along the way.