Only The Beginning..

As everyone knows I'm on my second day of the first week; my meal plan. Truth is, so far so good. Which I am loving it very dearly. I am still 1000% positive it's working. Oh yeah! I will be posting pictures a long the way. My meal plan is working so far. How do I know? I weighted not that long ago as I stated from roughly 180 lbs / 81.6 kg then with the holidays I gained 3 lbs / 2 kg, which I came out to be 183 lbs / 83 kg. Out of no where today I weighed myself this morning. I didn't want to but I said to myself, "I might as well since I'm very curious about it." I did for the hell of it, the digital weight scale came up: 180 lbs / 81.6 kg. I was excited!!! I was like: OH YEAH!!! This diet it's going to be straight for six weeks. Then I will be changing my meal plan around. Yes, I have been exercising everyday. I've been doing High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). It's definitely working better then doing slow workouts and for long hours. It's better the HIIT. I recommend it for everyone. It's less time, higher heart rate, and you get more of a body workout. Yes, this is my second day of dieting. I will be posting the diet online once I am done with it. I will definitely be posting pics of me when I see changes. 

Digital Weigh Food Scale

I remember a long time ago seeing food scales. I would literally think to myself: "Why in the world would people want to weigh there food for? It's lame!!!" No need to weigh the food your going to eat. If you are hungry you just eat how much you want till you are full. I stated this when I was younger and overweight. Now look at me, never thought a day would come that I would buy a weigh food scale. I bought one recently from Walmart. I got a cheap scale since the digital once where pricey and well only had certain amount of lbs that it could handle. When I got it, I was very excited, till I realized I had to keep fixing the damn measurement stick all the time because it will outbalance itself all the time with out even weighing anything at all. Then out of no where I went shopping at Costco, I came across this other weigh food scale. I  actually liked it and the price was very decent for it since most of them cost twice as the amount or triple. It various since there are tons out there. I've even found one that when you weigh your food that tells you what how much calories, fat, sodium, and all that has in the portion of foods that you are eating. It's must admit is nice but it's way overpriced. Yes, it's pretty weird weighing my food then again I know it's well worth it to reach my goal. 

bought at Walmart

bought at Costco

Starting New and Fresh

Since it's a new beginning; it's a brand new chapter on a brand new book. That is why I have decided to not get off track this time around. I will have everything organize and set up on my online calender.  This time around I will be getting a meal plan set up. It will be a strict meal plan and exercising to help me get to my goal. Which is lean and toned; or either that simply shredded. Woohoo! I am 1000% positive that this meal plan will definitely work. All I have to do is stick with my meal plan and everything is good. This meal plan that I have I will stick to it for 6 weeks straight. Then once that mark hits I will change it up. I know there will be temptations on the way. Except I have to keep in mind that if I want to get to my goal I have to do what is best for my health.  We will see the difference within a few weeks. I would say in 5 to 6 weeks. I will notice a difference.  

           Most recent picture of me!

Getting Off Track...

I've been getting on and off track to due some problems that I have to attend and projects to finish up. I had only projects to attend to but this time problems had to pop up out of no where. I dislike this time of year because seems that problems happen the most. Not certain why but they do for me. 

I dislike the fact I get off track then again back on track then go off track again. I need to stick with my regimen. I haven't been able to stick to my regimen due to things I have to attend to. I know I shouldn't use this as an excuse then again I am drained after I'm done with the day. Then again I tend to lack the reason being since I work standing up for 8 hours straight. It has help me out with my weight loss. Truth is people still think I weigh 170 lbs / 77 kg. I don't weight that at all. I may look like it but I still currently weight over the mark of 182 lbs / 83 kg. I've notice during the Holidays I've gained 1 lb or 2 lbs. Which i don't mind at all but if I gained more than that. It isn't very good for me at all. Everyone I hope you get to enjoy or hoped you enjoyed your Holidays. 

Happy New Years: 2013

To everyone: HAPPY NEW YEARS!!! May all of your wishes and dream come true. Woohooo!

Week 1: My Workouts

Since it's been five to six months since I've have not worked out. I am slowly starting off again. This time around I'm starting off slow to stick with my workouts (exercises) :

This week:

      -Monday | Push Ups

      -Tuesday  | Push Ups

      -Wednesday  | 30 minutes of Cardio

      -Thursday  |  Push Ups 

      -Friday  |  Push Ups  - 1 Hour of Cardio

      -Saturday |  Push Ups - 30 minutes of Cardio

      -Sunday  |  Push Ups - 30 minutes of Cardio

Note: The push ups I do off this website is very interesting. Truth is it does work. It helped me out a lot. I'm back on it again due to the fact that I stopped working out. 

This upcoming week I'm not certain what I will be adding. I'm slowly adding other various workouts little by little because if I add a lot of workouts I might get overwhelmed or not do them, either that what ever the case might be. I am starting off slow this time around so I can stick to my regimen. I stopped due to the fact I thought I was happy where I was at. Truth is I was then again I took one look at myself in the mirror. I said to myself this: "If I lost 131 lbs / 59 kg  why not lose the pending weight that I have left to go?" I notice I go off working hard then out of no where stop. This time around I take time out of the day even though being busy at least 30 minutes out of the day and work out. The weight goal that I have in mind is to be 130 lbs / 58 kg. I made that as an estimate goal that I want to achieve but in all honesty. I want to lose the rest of the fat that I have. Everyone states I am fine the way I am. Truth is I like the way that I am except the fat that I still carry I can get rid of it by working out. Going to start with body weight all over again. This time around sticking with it. Another thing is that if I have came this far why stop now knowing I can continue and be where I want to be. 

Lately, I've been busy working and well working out. Also coming  up with a few projects that I will be posting on here on my blog for all of you to check out. 

-Never Give Up

Check In: 1 (My Weight)

Truth is I dislike stepping on digital weight scales. Why? I don't want to see the weight that I am and then get disappointed. I needed to stop doing that, weighing myself and then be disappointed. What did I do when I got disappointed? I would literally stop working out for weeks up to months. Why? I would tell myself I've been working very hard to get where I wan't to be yet it's not happening. This time around I had to change that up. I needed to stop getting disappointed when weighting myself. What I do now is weight myself, if I'm not the weight where I want to be at I simply smile an say as long as I don't gain 5 lbs. It's perfectly fine with me. What I do is work out when I can since I am busy working or either that doing errands. I still find time to do what I have to do. My job requires me to stand up, twist, squat, and move around a lot. It's fine with me though as long I'm not sitting in a chair behind a desk for several hours as I use to be in the past. I'm happy about my weight. A few days ago I stepped on the scale like two weeks ago and I weighted 183 lbs / 83 kg. I wasn't happy about it at all knowing that I went back to my weight I use to be knowing it's hard to lose it. This time around I didn't disappoint myself at all. I told myself that I have to get back to working out (exercising) even though my days are going to be busy. I got to weigh in myself today and well my weight is back to 178 lbs / 80 kg. Which I am happy about. I notice that I have to continue working out. I will be going to a few stores to get what I need to finish up my pull up bar. Do pull ups with the assistant band. I will be working on that because when my muscles get sore I don't do them the next day. I let my muscles relax for a day. I will be posting out my workouts once again and my meals. I'm thinking about doing a fruit diet for two months. I will check that out on how to get started. 

Note: My meals consist of me eating everything all kinds of food, no fast food though. Home made food and eating small portions.

Got It: Resistant Loop Band

I got the resistant loop band this past Wednesday. I gave it a try Thursday morning. I must admit it does help with assisting me in doing dips. I haven't tried the pull ups or the chin ups at this moment. I have to go to Lowe's to get a few screws that I have been pending for the chin up bar. I have one that goes in between the door. I got that one because I know it can hold me better and well I know I won't be taking it off. I rather have something solid and stable. Later on I will be getting the resistant bands. There are various kinds of resistant band names out there. Of course the prices varies on them because some have more equipment then the other and / or has videos teaching you what workouts (exercises) you can do with the resistant bands. I must admit I like the resistant loop band it does assist me a lot. The resistant that I got is 50 lbs. I was going to get the one for 75 lbs. Then again I prefer to get the 50 lbs. Truth is you have to start with a higher resistant then lower it down. I didn't want to do that because it costs a bit more. I only wanted one which I got. I am very happy about it because I know it will help me until I no longer need the resistant loop band to assist me. 

I'm Resting...

Due to the illness I have which is the flu. I am resting my body, which I haven't worked out nor done any body weight exercises. I am resting, hoping to get better soon.

In Searh: Resistant Loop Band

It's been awhile already that I have been in search of a resistant loop band. I've found quite a few of them but they are pricey. I've read a lot of good reviews on them. Except truth is I don't have enough money to spend on the ones that are pricey. I found one at this one website, saw the various kinds that they had. I read a few reviews back and forth of a few loop resistant bands; either called a jump stretch flexband. They have various difference of resistant, that is why the prices varies on them.This is the Resistant Loop Band that I purchased yesterday. I will be getting it in the mail before the 29th of this month. Once I get it, I will be starting on doing my work outs which consist me of doing pull ups, chin ups, and dips. Once I get back in to my Calisthenics work out's I will be starting off with push ups. (At this moment I'm relaxing and letting the body rest, due to the fact I came down with a cold, which I dislike. Hopefully I get better soon to start working out.) 

I Still Work Out: Busy...

It's been awhile since I have posted anything on my blog due to the fact of me working two jobs. Yes, I was working at two jobs. Now I am currently working in one for the temporary time since there are still not of lot of jobs going on and if there is it's only for a temporary time that they are in need of workers. 

Ever since I've been getting temporary jobs I tend to work two jobs. One tends to be a day shift then the other a night shift. The night shift varies from time to time though. When I was working two jobs in all honesty I couldn't work out because my time at work consisted me to stand up for up to 10 hours. The hours always varied on a daily basis. When I had two jobs I still made an effort to workout (exercise) for 30 minutes. I would from time to time but not every day like I would like too. Now that I have one job I barely got back on to my workouts (exercises). This past weekend I started of working out by doing 30 minutes of cardio walking on the treadmill. I've been doing this since this past Saturday which was on 17th. Then of course I weighted myself and I am still 183 lbs / 83 kg. Of course these past few months I thought it was a weight plateau but then again it's not a weight plateau that I hit. Actually never realized this till a few days ago that it was my calorie intake that I had to change it because I no longer was over 203 lbs / 92 kg. My calorie intake had to definitely change. Never came to mind that I had to change it once I started to lose even more weight. Now that I calculated my calorie intake is 1464 and to maintain my weight 2000 calories. These past few months my calorie intake that I was consuming was 2000. Didn't know I had to change it up till a few days ago. Good thing I realize that. Then again I am a bit mad because all this time that I worked my butt off it did help me of course then again I was maintaining my weight which I dislike it. By this time around I could of lost the 50 lbs / 23 kg that I am still pending to lose it.

This time around I'm not going to worry or work on losing the weight. Instead I am going to focus on building muscle while I shed the fat.

Since, the holidays are here and things will be on sale. I was debating on purchasing a bench press. I was on that back and forth. Till I realize I rather get me a loop resistant band to help me assist with my dips and chin ups. Then get me a resistant band kit that can connect to the door. Then of course an ab roller wheel. Lets see if I can get to purchase all of these things on the holidays. I really do want to get started. Lately, all I do is 30 minutes of cardio walking on the treadmill and / or either 30 minutes of kickboxing. I do it every day after work. Hopefully this time around since I have gotten my intake of calories. Also I have found a bodybuilder to help me out with a meal plan. That is all I need help with. The rest I can do but I really need a really good meal plan a strict one to help me get shredded while I work out. Of course means take more protein, watch out for the fats and the carbohydrates. I will start with a meal plan before or either on the 30th of this month to get it going. Then try it out for the beginning of December. Lets see how my journey goes... Woohoo!!! 

It's been a while...

Sorry for the delay on not posting my continuations of my workouts and nutrition. My time at the moment consists me of being a full time employee temporarily and I have a few pending projects that I have started and yet need to finish. I am still working out (exercising). This time around even though I am very busy I will definitely make time to continue my posts.

Day One: Continuation of My Weight Loss Goal

I had to work out (exercise) on Monday the 3rd of September. Except I didn't due to the fact I was still taking my medication and getting rest to heal from the allergic reaction I have gotten. The allergic reaction I got all over my body was hives. Truth is till this day I am not certain what caused my allergic reaction. Everyone states it might of been the acrylic that my sister used to get her nails done. Then again I ate two handfuls of almonds. In the past I notice almonds started to cause a break out reaction on my face which consist of pimples. Never thought that maybe not certain; almonds would cause me to get hives. This morning I decided to weigh myself and see what the digital scale stated. At the moment I was not going to be surprised if I gained weight at all. I got on the digital scale, waited for a few seconds for the numbers to appear. The numbers appeared like this: 178 lbs / 80 kg. When I saw those numbers appear I got very excited and happy. I started today getting back on working out (exercising). I have to start all over again which is better than doing nothing. 

My work out (exercises) for today: 

• 30 minutes of cardio (walking on the treadmill)

My nutrition for today:

• 1 slice a pizza (combo) - Only on cheat days!
• 1 bowl of salad w/ 6 ceasar croutons 
• 2 tablespoons of Italian Dressing
• 2 cups of chicken breast (cooked) w/ bell peppers
• 2 cups of cabbage (cooked) w/ soy sauce and peppers 

My drinks:

• WATER: the main source I drink with my meals and when being thirsty
• 1 cup of coffee w/ organic sugar 
• 1 teaspoon of cream (in the coffee)

The Nutrition: Which One?

There are various types of nutrition out there, well more like diets. Not certain which one to chose. Most tell me to do the vegan, the warrior, plant base and more. I will be doing more research on them. I might as well try them all see which one best fist me the best or better yet which one helps me out more. I've heard of all types out there. I even heard that Weight Watchers helps out a lot. I have spoken to people that have and it has helped them out a lot. Everyone body is different is not the same. I know nutrition is 80% percent of important as working out (exercising) is 20%. This time around I notice that I have to concentrate more on my nutrition part this time around. I never did concentrate on it 100% fully. 

Due to my illness I had a few days ago which was hives. I got medicine for my allergies which of course include steroids. I went back to 182 lbs / 82 kg. Today this morning I weighted myself and came out to be at 180 lbs / 81 kg. My work out was going very well till this had to happen to me. Not sure what cause my allergic reaction. I am glad my weight is going down even though the steroids making me over eat. Which I dislike but I required of them to help me feel better form all these hives. 

Starting tomorrow going to get back on my workouts. Going to set my alarm clock early in the morning to have a nice 30 minute walk and sprint on the treadmill. Then after that do 1 hour of kickboxing. This time around I will be working on my nutrition starting tomorrow. I will keep you updated and posted on the nutrition and work outs (exercises) I do. 

(Sorry for not updating immediately to do illness) 

Note: I haven't posted any new post lately due to the fact I came down with an allergic reaction. Not sure what I am allergic too. That caused me to have hives. Which I dislike because I ended up going to the Emergency Room since my hives doubled up, turning yellow, and also loss of hearing. Not good! I got a steroid shot and some pills. Which included steroids. I dislike that but I had to take them for my health. Till a week after I am not certain what caused it. I am debating or thinking maybe it's because I haven't taking my multivitamins lately. Meaning my defensive mechanism is low. I will have to visit the doctor starting next month to have a full check up and make sure everything is running smooth with no problems. 

Update 1: Workout

I am continuing my work outs even though I have a busy schedule. Since I work at a warehouse it helps me even more with my weight loss which I am grateful. Even though my work hours vary from time to time. Then of course I tend to sleep in the morning instead of at night. I've continue my kickboxing workouts and it's going very well. I will be taking new pictures and a few videos of me working out. I will be posting them on the blog. I've been doing kickboxing (every other day) and cardio which includes walking / sprinting (every day.) Things are going well so far. Truth is I haven't weighted myself at all. I will weight myself by the end of this month to see where I am at. 

Note: I am in the process of making one of my ideas com to life. I will be posting it once I get the website going. Every one will be able to see it and also give me there comments, advice, and more. 

I Had To Buy Me A Few Treats...

Since I was working I saw this store ad inside the newspaper about Big 5 having on sale a few things this week. The sale would end this Saturday. Yesterday, I made up my mind to invest on a few treats. That would be work out equipment treats. I bought myself a boxing punching bag by Everlast. It cost me like $70.00 / USD. (I use to have one except it teared from the hanging straps. Due to the fact I didn't know that you needed to put duct tape around it before hanging the punching bag.) This time around the new punching bags, well the straps on the punching bag come a bit different, as I looked at the straps they have vinyl sew onto them. Hopefully this time around the punching bag doesn't tear from the straps like it did last time when I was training. Hahaha! Now the UFC gloves cost me $24.99 / USD. Of course the chin up bar I got on sale which I was very glad, for $19.99 / USD. The chin up bar I haven't tried it yet. I was going to last night trying to figure out how to place the chin up bar on the door frame except notice that I need to screw it in. I was hoping that I didn't have to. As I can tell I have to. It's all good! I am hoping I don't break the door framing. Hahahaha! Once I start working out, I work out twice as hard and won't stop. Here is a picture, below, of the punching bag and new UFC wrap gloves I bought: 

Note: I had a great workout yesterday and today which was me working my butt off at work. Woke up with my body being very sore. I love the feeling my body being sore from a great hard work out. :) 

I Got It: Weight Plateau

In these past few days I have been paying very close attention is to why my body is on a weight plateau?  As I looked at my food intake I saw that I am eating under my calories. Which is not bad to maintain the weight. Then again is not very good because it will not help me lose weight. The body needs food for fuel in order to burn the calories. I will have to switch up my food intake. I am thinking about the days I don't work out eat very light food meal. Then on the days I work out a bit of heavy food meals so that my body can burn those calories. I am glad I finally figure out what it was that is making me stay at this weight. 

These are my exercises for today:

• 1 Hour of Cardio (am) 
• 1 Hour of Cardio (pm)
• 1 x 10 : Spartan Push Ups
• 1 x 30 : Decline Bench Crunches
• 1 x 30 : Stability Ball Crunches

Note: I'm working on three major components: Strength, Weight Loss, and most of all losing the fat on the stomach area. (The stomach area is the one mainly I am concentrating on the most)

Switch Up....

Today is Monday, I will be doing a bit of switch up of exercises. My achievement this time around is to do dips on the parallel bars. In order for me to do that I will do a workout / exercise called: spartan push ups. If you are wondering what a spartan push up is, here is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OOnqZdw7PI&feature=colike I will start of with 1 set of 6 to 10 repetitions; they will be doing them everyday except for Wednesdays and Sundays. Those days will be my days off  to let my muscles rest for a bit. Of course I will do 30 minutes of cardio, which consists of walking and sprinting. This time around I have to keep continuing to do my works outs / exercises. In order to achieve my goal. 

I am still not certain what is causing my weight plateau. Hopefully by the end of this week or next week. I will definitely know what is causing me to be stuck at a weight plateau. I've been reading a few articles, some say   to go swimming and / or biking. I have those two options. I generally like to go swimming but I have not been able to stop by a friends pool and go out for a swim. I can do biking around my block, it seems like the bike is failing. I need to get some inner-tubes. I will find out how much the inner-tubes cost in order to get them and be able to ride the bike for longer periods of time. 

I'm a bit irritated

I'm a bit irritated because I have so many things to do and yet so little time. Ahhhhhh! I've notice I am still stuck at a weight plateau. As I can see it's been like three weeks straight almost close to a month now. I dislike that!!! I'm figuring out what to change on my food and workouts / exercises. Today is the day I will be busy coming up with some few crazy ideas to work out with. Once I get those ideas going. I will post pics of exactly what I am going to do. I am here figuring out and finding more equipment exercises that I can do. Workout / exercise, without spending a penny. I wanted to buy me a punching bag and the wrap around gloves. Except truth is they are both pricey. As I will change my whole nutrition and workouts / exercises. I know this time around it will work even better. I hope I no longer get irritated and see my weight plateau finally break. I dislike it when it happens and my body tends to adapt at this weight for awhile. Ahhhhhh!!!!

Keep in mind I will keep you posted and updated of a few ideas I will come up with. If anyone out there has any other ideas let me know....

Tell a difference...

Let me see here, my training for now is cardio, jump rope, crunches with the stability ball and also crunches with the decline bench. At this moment I am doing cardio every day but the other workouts / exercises I am  doing them every other day. Then in a week or two weeks change it up to every day. Then once again add more workouts / exercises. I decided to take new updated pics. As I saw with the other pictures I took recently you could not tell that much of a difference. You can see clearly now that I have to work more on my abs this time around my abs and lower abs. That will be the main focus this time, since I have to work very hard on that. Here are two pictures below. 

Yes, I am still on the weight plateau which I dislike. I will be figuring out what is it this time around. That is why I am going to concentrate if it's my work outs this week. If I don't see any changes then it will probably be my food intake. I'm still stuck at 176 lbs / 79 kg. Ahhhh!!! I will soon break that plateau, very soon!!!