Looking In The Mirror

That fat picture of me at the top of the page really helps motivate me. I can tell you that fat people don't think they are so fat. We can't see ourselves in the mirror- for some reason it does not register. Or at least that is my case. I don't see myself as so fat- but I see that picture and now I understand my wife and her frustration. She does not want me to be fat and I don't want me to be fat either. I just have gained weight these last 5 years since she came to the USA from China. Yes I was a bit overweight when we got married- I weighed in around 240. I needed to lose 20 or 25 lbs to be in really good shape. But things happened- I went back to school to get my MBA and we had two children. I was super busy and did not have time to make it to the gym. I was stressed and liked to eat. My wife is a great cook and she cooked for me...I ate...And I packed it on. So now I am finished with my MBA and I have not yet been able to lose the weight- 2 years ago I went from 300 lbs down to 260 lbs then I did not stabilize and I bounced. I have not been disciplined enough to keep a consistent workout program. I did not follow a diet program other than the "see food diet"...

So that is why I am here. To write this blog about my weight loss goals and to make it happen! I am going to do "whatever it takes" to make this become a reality. To lose 100 lbs of FAT and show a nice midsection photo. I will be happy and I know my wife will be happy too. So I need to hit the gym tonight- I will do a Tabata on the recumbent stationary bike with a 30 minute program- 16 minutes of warm up then a 4 minute Tabata Interval catch my breath for 2-3 minutes then push 1 or 2 30 second intervals with rest in between. I need to lift shoulders tonight and maybe I will do an ab Tabata. For abs I like to up the intensity as much as possible. I see guys rattling off so many sets of crunches- that is all low intensity stuff- if you can do 20 to 30 crunches that is too low of an intensity. Up the intensity with form- right now I am so out of shape and training- it is easy. I use the 1/4 ball not a full exercise ball- this just provides stability- position your butt to provide the most intense crunch, hands behind the head or gently on the ears- neck straight- eyes straight up on the ceiling. Crunch straight up and hold for a count, down without touching the floor and back up. I burn out 8-10 in 20 seconds and my abs are screaming! This is INTENSITY that is what I am looking for in a Tabata exercise. 20 seconds of INTENSE movement followed by 10 seconds of rest for 8 sets of burn! It is all done in 4 minutes. So far I think I really like the Tabata idea for cardio and core exercises. For my split body part workouts I up the intensity by compounding two exercise movements back to back- for shoulders as an example shoulder press then immediately go to rear delt flies or dumbell lateral raises side or front. Burn to failure then strip the weight and burn to failure again. I can take a body part and finish my resistance workout in 15-20 minutes. I think rest and recovery is very important- I am old...45 years old not 26 anymore...I give it at least a week or 7-10 days to come back and work that body part again.

Okay time to head to the gym before it gets too late...