TheFitCast- Fitness and Nutrition Podcast » Accountability

Client Spotlight: Kim (The Bridal Shower)

Kevin Larrabee — Wed, 05 May 2010 00:24:54 +0000

[Editors Note: Yes folks, that is some mean looking French Toast. Kim earned it! As you can see by the pictures, she continues to kick major ass with the nutrition and training. Just goes to show you what amazing results you can get with hard work and a (dare I say) great training and nutrition program. Which reminds me...I am going to be taking on two more distance coaching clients. If you are interested head over to the details page: Kevin's Online Personal Training.]

Hi Everyone,

So people have just been starting to get pictures to me from my shower two weeks ago, and I have to say that I actually look forward to seeing them! Before I lost this weight, I didn’t like looking at the pictures because I didn’t like how I looked. But now I am much happier with myself. J I am including a picture of me with my infamous French toast. Look how happy I am! It’s ridiculous!

I also had my first dress fitting last week and the dress that had previously fit me perfectly (this winter) now falls off of me. My seamstress had the dress pinned all over the place for all of the places she needs to take it in. It was one of those days when I really got to see all of my success over the months at one time.

Kevin continues to work me to the bone (in a good way) each time I see him. Recently I have been able to dead lift 165 lbs, and bench 95lbs. This is something that I am very proud of. In the beginning I didn’t like to dead lift, but now I see it as a challenge for me. Can I do all the sets with textbook form? How much will I be able to lift today? I also like how it works so much of my body.

I am just amazed at how much stronger I am now. Strength-wise I am the strongest that I have EVER been. I am not the skinniest that I have ever been, but if I keep plugging away at it, and stop having slip-ups in my diet I’m 100% sure that I could get there.

Client Spotlight: Kim (With Special Guest Maui, the Dog)

Kevin Larrabee — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:36:50 +0000

[Editor's Note: Kim continues to DOMINATE! She is making some fantastic body composition changes and has not questioned any of the guidelines or fudge the calories she has been counting (no pun intended). She just had her wedding shower this past weekend and she treated herself to some French toast that was, "made especially," for her. I am 100% cool with that. You know why? She has been busting her ass and she deserves it. AND, she was right back on track after that meal! Now on to Kim's Blog]

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I’m going to call this entry “The Rededication.” Since the last time I wrote I kind have got off track on my eating. I had a slice of pizza, and I indulged in many other things that I really shouldn’t have. I also kind of stopped tracking my food for a few of those days. Thanks to the workouts that I kept up with, I didn’t gain any weight during this time. But I definitely didn’t loose any either. I am holding firm at a daily weight of 145. I really want to see what else I can do. I have come so far, and I’m still getting a lot of compliments, but I know that I can do better.

So as of just a couple of days ago I rededicated myself. I am reining the eating back in, sticking to the approved amounts and items. I need to get back to the routine. So for the past couple of days I have been good. I am really wanting to get this back in control so that I can loose some more. I saw Kevin tonight and he had me doing some reverse lunges with a bunch of weight. I will hurt tomorrow. Also, earlier this week we were doing kettle bell swats with extending the weight out in front of me at the bottom of each. I don’t know what the technical name for it is – but I will tell you this – there is nothing that has made my core this sore in a long time.

I want to thank Kevin for cheering me on to get back on track and for pushing me this week. I needed that encouragement to get back on the horse. Also, thank you for the ass-kicking workouts this week. I cannot wait to meet back up next week for some more sessions!

What Up Kev?: Episode 4 (Kettlebells, Ketogenic Diets, Corrective Exercises)

Kevin Larrabee — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 11:47:32 +0000

Here is Episode 4 of the What Up Kev? mid-week podcast. You can download it directly here:

WhatUpKev004.mp3 (Right Click and Save-As to download)

or grab it through the iTunes feed for The FitCast.

Mailbag

What are your thoughts on the effectiveness of short-term ketogenic diets or CKD in general for fat loss especially if one has hit a plateau in fat loss after 8 weeks of very clean eating and training -David
This is just a question for you, and you don’t have to ask it on air. I recently bought Assess and Correct and just finished going through all the assessments. I can’t find contact info for the makers and i knew you were familiar with the product so i was hoping you could help me out and give me your recommendations. So, I have to pretty much correct almost everything and they are not clear in the manual when i should be doing all these corrective exercises? Since i have to do so many, should i make it a whole workout? and perhaps do it every other day? Its kinda alot to do before my workouts, but i guess i could just do a few? What do you think? I’m willing to take a lifting break to fix all these problems if you think i should just concentrate on them. If i do that, should i do multiple sets of the exercises? On the DVDs they just say do 8 reps ect., they do not say anything about sets. Thanks so much for any help you can give me.

Kerry
What up Kev!
Through dedication and the knowledge I’ve gained from listening to the fitcast I have been able to achieve many of the fitness and nutrition goals I set 2 years ago. During this time I have been very diligent about eating clean and hitting the gym 6 days week for 60 – 90 minutes (about 70% weight training 30% cardio). However, I feel that this is a little too strict to follow for the rest of my life. I would like to maintain as much lean mass as possible and I’m wondering what common “maintenance mode” routine would work best? Thanks in advance for your help and guidance!

Jesse
Blaine, Minnesota
Hi Kevin. I know in past fitcast episodes you have mentioned kettlebells. I like to workout at home so I went on the internet and searched for kettlebells + some kettlebells workouts. I was immediately flooded with tons of kettlebells, DVDs & books. Do you recommend any brand over others, what weights should I get as a novice to kettlebells, and any good kettlebells workout sources recommendations would be great. Thank you so much for the help.
Matt
Hey Kevin,
Aaron from the accountability blog checking in with a question/potential blog post.

I was asked to join a Beer League Softball team this summer. I’m excited to play, but haven’t picked up a bat or glove since junior high. Any tips you have picked up from Cressey that could translate to softball training? I throw Land Mines into my core work already, I think making that a priority move is a good start.

I am hoping that if my body is ready to play – my skills will quickly follow.
Kevin,
I just recently discovered podcasts in general and The Fitcast in particular. It is awesome and a source of great information. I always imagined what Alwyn Cosgrove sounded like and now I know.

I just listened to your latest “Ask Kev” show and heard about the Eat, Stop, Eat question. I have used the method to some success. Your criticism about binging when one finally gets to eat is spot on, and my method for dealing with it is having lots of filling, healthy foods on hand for dinner the night after the fast ends. I might eat more than I normally would for a single meal, but I eat grilled chicken breasts, greens, beans and nuts. Following a “healthy” diet during the week and having one 24 hour fast, I have lost about eight pounds in the past four weeks, without too much mental anguish.

Keep up the good work,
Rich

Client Spotlight: Kim (Kim vs. The Easter Bunny)

Kevin Larrabee — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 12:29:05 +0000

[editor's note: What can I say? Kim is getting some amazing results thanks to her hard work and some good programming and nutrition from her trainer (not to blow smoke up my butt). I am so proud of Kim's dedication. It really does show what one can accomplish with a great plan followed by pitch perfect execution. For those that asked, much fo the nutrition principles come from Leigh Peele's Body by Eats.]

Hi Everyone,

Sorry I missed a week there. It’s been getting busy here with the coming of spring. But I’ve been loving getting outside to walk the dog. She actually got invited into the gym while I lifted earlier this week, and became somewhat of a mascot J She’s a great excuse/motivation to get out and walk and jog.

So my weight loss has slowed some. From here on it will take some more patience, time and hard work. Kevin put together a new routine for me, which we started this week. I thought that I was in good enough shape to not get hit hard with soreness anymore. But I think that I was thinking too much of myself because I can still feel the back of my legs when I move certain ways and it’s been a few days. He is pushing me up to the next level again, and some of the swats were really getting me. It’s hard work, but I really enjoy our workouts. I leave feeling like I’ve really done something good for the day. And I feel great knowing that maybe in a week or two this-or-that might be fitting again.

This past weekend for Easter I wore a dress that I haven’t worn in years. I got many, many compliments from friends and family members who haven’t seen me since the beginning of my program with Kevin. They kept saying how good I looked. It feels great to accept those compliments.

Well, till next week, lift some heavy stuff and stay away from the left over chocolate bunnies.

The FitCast Accountability Blog (3/24/10)

Kevin Larrabee — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:24:16 +0000

I don’t know guys. We might be coming to the end of this edition of the FitCast Accountability Blog. It seems that we have some of the participants dropping out or just getting bored. To be honest, I haven’t had as much time as I would like to respond to each of the blogs individually, but hopefully the accountability is still keeping people in check. This may be the last week. We will see…

David has made some great progress! The pictures tell the whole story.

Now to the blogs:

David:

Hey Everyone,

This week I actually couldn’t wait to get this blog posted!

So on Thursday I took what we call the PEB. It was my 1^st physical exercise test for this year and the results were better than I had hoped thanks in no small part to the work I have done for this blog series.

My max effort bench came in at 178 lbs, more than 13 lbs better than my previous personal record when I was in the best shape of my life, and 28 lbs more than my previous test in 2008. My time in the mile and ½ run was 12:50, which beat my previous record best by 32 seconds (not too bad for a fat boy like me). As I had feared I didn’t improve much in my agility run, but my sit-and-reach topped out at 22 inches which to me was amazing as well.

Now I cant mention something so good, without mentioning the “ugly” as well. After that performance I did indeed have a moment of weakness, and was more than tempted to celebrate with a piece of my personal kryptonite, cheesecake. Fortunately my INCREDIBLE fiancé kept me in line and showed me the error of my ways. Without her I honestly think I might have buckled.

This week I am hoping to stay the course and on track. I have to spend a few days at a training center which I know from personal experience has a world class cafeteria and workout center, and being away from some of the distractions of normal life at work should allow me to focus even more on the areas I want to work on in my life. And, with no TV at this center, I should get caught up on the “FITCASTS” I have backing up on my iPod.
Thanks to all for your support and see you next week.

Thanks for reading.

Larry:

Mea culpa – MIDPOINT EVALUATION – Fitter YES, Fatter, About the Same. The storm that hit the country this last week did particular bad damage to the area I live in. Not quite as bad as when a tornado came through (Stamford, CT) four years ago and a large tree fell and sliced my wife’s Honda Pilot in half, but close. No power for over five days, no internet, phone or cable, and a large oak tree came down perfectly across the only road leading out of the complex I live in, so no car movement to leave the affected area. Kevin kindly gave me a pass on my blog for last week, but the stress of the storm and some other marital issues led me to test Tom Venuto’s tenets on “Emotional Eating”. Also, although we were car bound, we could walk to a convenient IHOP that was quick to solve our fridge cleanout issue due to lack of refrigeration.

The distraction of the storm put my eating plan on hold, and if I had a stronger constitution probably could have stuck closer to plan, but after a while, I was not strong enough and rolled over, especially with the offer of all you could eat pancakes. My weight held pretty steady, without any improvement, and I did discover I could work out by Coleman lantern light but my treadmill was not cooperative. I did some outside walking and got to know all the neighbors better, because all of us could not exit the area due to the tree issue. The storm receded and the clean-up crews returned to get rid of downed wires and transformers, and on Friday cable and internet access was resumed.

The only other thing to report is my third cortisone shoulder injection. The day I get the large dose, my shoulder “pings” somewhat and I experience what might be described as a roid rush. But it seems to allow me to workout within limits that minimize pain and discomfort and put off the inevitable surgery that will take me over six months to recover from . . . buying some time.

Batty:

This was one hell of a week for me. It started out with my beloved 6 year old ferret, Kane, unexpectedly taking a turn for the worse and I had to put him to sleep. That pretty much made my week suck eggs. So, it kinda passed by in a haze and I just kinda was on auto pilot this week.

On the hernia tip: nothing major, I can continue doing stuff and nothing really needs to be done about it unless it really bugs me, which it doesn’t. So, I heartily returned to NROL4W which I’ve missed. And, I *finally* got to the shop to get my new bike fitted, and with the absolutely gorgeous weather we had this past week, actually managed to use it. Returning to my regular ride schedule after the winter, plus the injury had me a little worried about how well I’d do. But, that long, moderately hard hill I do on my lunch break at work was easier to tackle than I thought it was going to be. Sure, I have a sweet-ass new bike that rides like a dream and is actually fitted to my proportions, but I really also have to credit everything I’ve learned and done with NROL4W. My strength and abilities on the bike are leaps and bounds from what they were this time last year. Also, I was just reminded that I have a metric century coming up in 3 weeks. Holy hell.

I also enjoy that lifting nights in the basement gym of doom have become a family affair, my 4 year old included. He even has his own set of 2 and 5 lb dumbbells.

Ken’s post last week about his pants reminded me that I also had one of those pairs of jeans stored away somewhere because they didn’t fit right. Usually I’m a size 7, these were marked 9, and I swear to god they fit like a 5. Stupidly, I did not try them on at the store and just took them home, and when I tried to put them on I couldn’t even get em up over my rear. That was, oh, maybe 4 months ago. I came across them this week and tried them on again, prepared to be all bummed out when they didn’t. Holy crap, they DID fit. AND I could close the snap AND wear them comfortably AND I wore them to work!

Clocked in at 149.8 this week and down a couple 10ths of a % BF. I ate pretty clean this week, and I’m now only having a ‘free’ Saturday every other week. I *am* seeing the fat going away, obviously in places where there is less of it, but that splooge on my lower abs still refuses to move.

Ken:

I think the NCAA should take some responsibility for the overall fatness of American men. Usually this time of year my weekends look like this- Lazy Boy, Bud Light and brackets. This year I’m trying to go a different route. I watched the first half of a game on Saturday from the stair stepper at the gym. I know, I hate the thought of 30 minutes of gym time wasted on a silly cardio machine too but it was better than the chair and Bud Light.

I forget the last time I stepped on the scale in my bathroom and the first number was a “1″ as in 199. Felt pretty good to break below the Mendoza Line. Baseball purists will know the meaning of the Mendoza Line reference but for the non-baseball honks it means batting below a .200 average. In baseball it is not a good thing, for my fat loss it’s a milestone. The measurement around my waist also shrank by 1/4″.

Aaron:

Something I’ve realized, but never really done anything about, is how truly terrible my posture is. Last week was a big eye-opener – sitting and waiting for delayed flights, sitting through endless meetings, sitting at our booth to field questions, sitting at dinner with clients, sitting, sitting, sitting…. Always hunched over something, whether it be a laptop, notepad or a plate of food – and CONSTANTLY fidgeting to get comfortable.

I did some light research on a few sites (the best one was probably: http://www.exrx.net/Kinesiology/Posture.html ) and it really concerned me. I try to really focus on good form when I lift – often sacrificing the weight I use – but it rarely crosses my mind to focus on good “form” when sitting in a chair or how I stand. A few of the site I came across had exercise recommendations for improving posture, and I plan on incorporating a few on my off days. If Kevin or Doc Fass have any further recommendations I’m all ears.

As far as the training goes, this week was like night and day compared to last week. Six of my friends and I all took Thursday and Friday off and watched NCAA hoops pretty much non-stop from 11am Thursday morning until Sunday night. I managed to get into the gym Tuesday night and then early Thur., Sat. and Sunday – and proceeded to eat like a king every day. We grilled nearly every meal, I managed to only drink 1 beer the entire stretch – no small feat considering the crowd.

I hit a PR in the back squat, doing 225lbs for 6 reps. 8 is my target going forward, but considering the most I had ever done prior to that was 205 for 5 I was shocked at how “easy” it came. I probably should have tried it awhile ago. As dumb and egotistical as it sounds, it feels cool to have two plates clanking around on each side.

And now for something completely different… I have been on a zombie binge lately. I have read World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide both by Max Brooks. Both are recommended, the Survival Guide is more for laughs and WWZ is a pretty neat collection of war stories from various survivors of the Zombie apocalypse. I watched both versions of The Dawn of the Dead. The 2004 was cheesy but entertaining and the 1978 version was ultra cheesy and awesome. I also rented Zombieland this weekend as a distraction from 96 hours of college hoops, I loved it.

If anyone has any recommendations on zombie movies or books to check out please let me know!

Lucas:

I forgot to mention last week that I officially got under 210 pounds, weighing in at 209.5 last Monday morning. Today (Monday, March 22nd), I weighed in at 207, so I am very pleased with that – especially since I was out of town all weekend. We went to my parents’ house, and that usually means I gain a pound or two since my mom is such an awesome cook. She always makes healthy food, but I usually just eat way too much of it. I managed to stick to my plan this time, though, in large part because I knew I had to weigh in and take pictures of myself this morning. So there is definitely something to this whole accountability thing. Anyway, here’s the rundown on my training and nutrition:

Training:

Monday 3/15 – Started round 3 of the 5/3/1 program with a timed circuit at the end

Tuesday 3/16 – Infamous TRX Workout A Phase 4 week 2 – Brutally hard

Wednesday 3/17 – 5/3/1 lift #2 with a timed circuit at the end

Thursday 3/18 – Infamous TRX Workout B Phase 4 week 2 – Wanted to die

Friday 3/19 – Coach Dos’ KB Complex – did this outside while the rest of the fam had a picnic

Saturday 3/20 – Ran in a 5k race

Sunday 3/21 – Rest day

I’m still loving the 5/3/1 program the way I’ve set it up for myself. This is my 3rd cycle on it, and my lifts are still going up. I also finished the Infamous TRX Workout (all 8 wicked weeks of it), and it was unbelievably difficult. At the same time, though, it was a lot of fun and very rewarding. My conditioning and work capacity have increased dramatically.

Nutrition:

Nothing major to report here. I ate according to plan all week. It has become easier for me every week. Yes, I’m still tempted – like at my daughter’s skate night they had pizza and I wanted to knock over every small child on skates to get to the pizza table and eat 24 slices – but I didn’t. I ate before we left, and I knew I had a snack waiting at home. It just gets easier and easier to avoid the junk food, and that is a very good thing.

I hope everyone else had a great week. Let’s keep it going! Until next time…

Tim:

Life is finally getting back to normal, and by normal, I mean traveling all the time, and being really busy even when I’m at home. This week, I’m in Boston. That means yet another week of marginal (at best) diet, stressful meetings, and no real place to work out. At least I have my new runners! I’m seriously hoping it’s not raining when I get up so I can go move a little. Last week was pretty good on the other hand. I completed three of four workouts and I feel they were very productive. Having the lat tower attachment to my power rack really makes for a fuller workout following the programs in New Rules. Rows and lat pull downs (with sets of more than 5 or so reps, otherwise I’d just use the pull up bar) feel really good.

Here are some more half naked pictures. No real change, but that’s not the end of the world I suppose. I’m just looking forward to getting home and staying there for a while so I have access to the equipment I need.

Thanks!

Client Spotlight: Kim (The Life Changer)

Kevin Larrabee — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:28:44 +0000

[Editors Note: Kim continues to see some great progress week after week. It is amazing to see her each session now with the mood that she is in! She continually is getting complements from friends and co-workers about her fantastic results. I am not kidding when I say this have changed her life in the last month! If you want to see results like this, you can check out my Online Personal Training services. Feel free to e-mail me as well via the contact page if you are interested!]

I can’t believe another week has gone by. I’m really getting use to the routine of watching what I eat, working out regularly, and living this new life Kevin has started me out in. Pizza still looms everywhere (seemingly) but I have gotten stronger and this week I just avoided the cafeteria all together on pizza Friday.

This morning I weighed in at 146.4. So, still heading in the right direction. Kevin and I have been trying to figure out what my target weight should be. It’s nice to have someone knowledgeable to talk to about this; someone who knows what realistically I should be shooting for. Me, I’m still dreaming of weighing what I did when I was 18, but realistically I’ll be very happy with another 10-12 lbs gone. Something that he pointed out to me, which makes a lot of sense, is that I have a lot more muscle now. So I have to take that into account when I think of the numbers. And something he’s been saying from day one is that I shouldn’t be so focused on the numbers anyway. How are my clothes fitting? How am I feeling? How are the weekly pictures looking? These things are more evidence of success than the numbers.

This week Kevin and I trained twice. Again, he was pushing me just a bit further than what I had gotten comfortable with. Instead of presses with 30lb weights, I was using 35lbs. It’s so good to have him pushing me that little bit further once he recognizes that I’ve become too comfortable with what we had been doing. I can be a bit lazy sometimes, and not want to put forth the extra effort to push it to the next level. He keeps me going forward, not letting me get lazy.

Another aspect of this was when he had me doing exercises that seemed daunting; he did them along side me – which really helped me get through them. Sometimes you need to feel like someone else is suffering with you to get yourself to see it through. One of these things was the bike intervals that we did at the end of our last workout. I HATE the bike, and I HATE intervals. But they are a necessary evil. So Kevin jumped on the bike next to me and said that he would do it too. It was nice to see him subjected to the torture too.

And so another week begins. I hope to see you all again from the other side of 145. ☺ Have a good week!

What Up Kev?: Episode 3 (Fat Burners, Training Your Kids, Getting Certified)

Kevin Larrabee — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:55:00 +0000

Here is Episode 2 of the What Up Kev? mid-week podcast. You can download it directly here:

WhatUpKev002.mp3 (Right Click and Save-As to download)

or grab it through the iTunes feed for The FitCast.

Mailbag

Kevin,I just recently discovered podcasts in general and The Fitcast in particular. It is awesome and a source of great information. I always imagined what Alwyn Cosgrove sounded like and now I know.
I just listened to your latest “Ask Kev” show and heard about the Eat, Stop, Eat question. I have used the method to some success. Your criticism about binging when one finally gets to eat is spot on, and my method for dealing with it is having lots of filling, healthy foods on hand for dinner the night after the fast ends. I might eat more than I normally would for a single meal, but I eat grilled chicken breasts, greens, beans and nuts. Following a “healthy” diet during the week and having one 24 hour fast, I have lost about eight pounds in the past four weeks, without too much mental anguish.

Keep up the good work,
Rich
Hi Kevin,Sorry to bother you for this little matter. I’m a 19 year old asian male who has been following your podcast for a LONG TIME! I was thinking of investing in a few fitness books with the goal of learning more about exercise methods for pushing my fitness (and hopefully in the future if i further my ambition of being fitness/strength coach!). I’ve been keeping an eye out for good books and i’ve found 3 which sound promising. if you had a little time, could you advise me on which books are worth getting and also on some books that I should get with respect to training? I’d be much indebted if you could!
1) Escalating Density Training: Muscle Logic by Charles Staley
(i already understand the principles and concepts upon which the EDT style was built, being a T-Nation article geek. however, i don’t know if there’s good, new information in there that i can learn from. if you’ve read it, could you advise me on whether it’s worth the money?)

2) the new rules of lifting by lou schuler and alwyn cosgrove

3) The testosterone advantage plan

Once again, thank you very much. I understand that you are a very busy person, so i wouldn’t mind if you miss this email.

Yours sincerely,
Clement
I’ve read on a couple of websites that you have to wait an hour between getting up en training because of the spine being dehydrated.
Is this also applicable for bodyweight exercises? Because I like to get up and train right away.

Thanks

Jim from Belgium
What up Kev, Love the Fitcast and enjoy your weekly question sessions! Haven’t missed one yet. I was struck by your recommendation of use of a fat burner to get those last 2-3 pounds you need and starting about a month before your calendar goal; May 1st for June 1st for example. I know the question of “best” product is hard to answer so, what product would you personally recommend to your clients and fans? Thanks. -Ian
hey kevin
first just wanted to say that i appreciate the show. i was a nutrition major and exercise phys minor in college and am currently not living in the US. i appreciate that you guys give a free, easy to find resource to keep my knowledge of my field growing while i am pursuing other ventures. the question i have regards becoming a personal trainer. as i said, my education was in nutrition and exercise physiology, and while in college really did not desire to do training, but now my interest has been peaked in the profession. i feel i have a good amount of knowledge about the subject .but my schooling did not require any type of internship, but to get to the point of my question i was wondering what steps i should be taking to do so and what are the key differences in the different certifications(ASCM, CSCM, ect…)
thanks kevin, i appreciate your input and once again really love the show.
also i dig your music choices for your workout, my “workout play list” is very very similar, might i recommend some Incubus, Emery, or Falling up to add to that list.

anyway, i know youre busy. thanks man
matt, Valencia(originally from Ohio)
Hi Kevin:I love your podcast! I have a son who will be turning 13 next month and plays basketball. Skill wise he is fine but lacks explosiveness, quickness and strength when compared to other players his age. He is 5’7” and 140 lbs so has decent size. Unfortunately, his coordination is just OK and has muscular low tone. He has been playing competitively for 3yrs and has taken about 20 small class training sessions in the last year that focus on sport movements. I’d like to start working with him and thought in addition to some lower body agility and footwork drills to add some medicine ball training, weights and plyometrics (somewhat cautious on this one, but thought exaggerated skipping and small box jumps may be helpful to him), and jump rope too. I did graduate with a degree in Phys. Ed. with concentration in Adult Fitness, plus worked as a trainer but that was about 15 yrs ago so I am a bit out the loop so hoping you can provide some help!
Best regards,

Mark Johnson
Yardley, PA

FitCast Accountability Blog (3/17/10)

Kevin Larrabee — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:38:54 +0000

I can’t believe it is starting to finally warm up here in Massachusetts. We have actually had two consecutive days of decent weather after a lot of rain which led to flooding. Also, as you may notice we do have two people missing this week. Michelle decided to no do the blog anymore. I am not going to get into why, she just is. Carrie hasen’t sent me her pictures or blog for this week. That means that I may be adding one (or two) new people to the blog, possibly one of my online clients. We will see.

Also there were a few shout outs to Leigh Peele’s Body By Eats. I can not recommend this book enough! Get it before it is too late and it is time to hit the beach!

Body By Eats is Leigh Peele’s amazing book that covers many facets of nutrition, deficits, misnomers, and a TON of delicious healthy recipies that can fit into the strictness of diets. Check out my review of the book here: Body By Eats Review

AND…Big props to Courtney for kicking ass this week!

Anyways here are the blogs for this week:

David:

Hey Everyone,

This week when I was looking at my photos and I was actually a little bit disappointed. I don’t think that the photos tell the story, at least not this week.

Right now I feel stronger that I have in a long time. My workouts have been awesome, and I have been getting in the gym and not skipping any workouts. My exercise battery is this week on Thursday, and I don’t really feel a lot of stress about it like I have in the past. I probably have not worked as hard on my cardio as I should have, but I feel that at least my bench is going to be as good or better than it has before. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

My diet is what shot me in the foot this week, just like last. I haven’t been tracking my food as diligently as I was before, more estimating my amounts, and that has really hurt me. I am feeling more full and “blown up” than I had been when I was tracking online, and I think that showed some in the photos. I HAVE to get back to the livestrong tracking system. It shocks me to realize how just missing one day of tracking has caused me to slack off on it overall.

I do think my diet is going to improve this week though, as the weather here has broken and is getting better. I also finally got a grill for the house, so I will be cooking out more lean meats out there instead of eating as many “heavier” meals. I have already made up some extra chicken breasts for quick snacks , and am thinking about veggie kabobs later this week. If anyone has any great grilling recipes please feel free to shoot them this way.

Thanks for all the support and keep up the hard work everyone.

Thanks for reading.

Batty:

Happy spring forward, y’all! I say “y’all” and yet I was born and raised in Ohio. Go figure.

The 500 feet of snow has melted, that “warm” thing that happens outside is becoming more prevalent, and this makes me a happy camper. That is, it teases us until we get bombarded with another foot of snow or so in April, and then it doesn’t warm up until June. Such is life here.

To celebrate this weeks mild, sunny weather, I took some of my workouts outside. It was a refreshing change from our spooky basement gym of doom.

For ultimate full body strength training, I recommend black lab rope pulls. 1500 reps @ 150 lbs for 3 minutes. Each arm. You’re lucky the pic came out *this* clear.

Last week’s picture really bummed me out. I mean, *really* bummed me out. I have a number of people that ask me for advice because they know where I’ve been, and I always tell them to not base their entire fitness worth on the number on that damn scale. And here I am doing it myself. Its really easy to tell others what they should be doing and then hold yourself to a higher, almost impossible, standard. It would be completely awesome if I could hit 145 by my birthday, but now I don’t know if the pressure of such a time constraint is exactly mentally healthy. I am still going to step on that scale, but focus more on BF% and taking body measurements, which I should have been doing in the damn first place.

I had some achievements in the nutrition department this week. I finally managed to ditch the processed protein bar I had been eating every day for god knows how long. This means the only “processed” food I am eating now is a scoop or two of whey protein powder a day. Everything else is made from my own two grubby little paws with recognizable whole food from the grocery store. well, aside from ketchup and mustard that I don’t use a lot anyway.

I did have a couple of cheats this week. I had a cake donut at work on Tuesday [more on this later], and my mom’s birthday was this week, so I made her this cake topped with a chocolate ganache and organic red raspberries. Saturday, I did track my calorie intake and I did chow down on a handful or two of leftover dark chocolate chips. And I guess I really gotta give myself credit here – when most people say they cheat, they’re doing something like hitting up the Dairy Queen. My cheat is organic whole wheat dark chocolate cake. Is that *really* a cheat?

So, about that donut – I ate it before my coworker and I went on our first lunchtime bike ride of the season. [carb load! I swear!] this is a regular thing for us as long as it’s over 40 degrees and not pouring down rain, and we’ll do about 10-12 miles. As it warms up and the sun is out longer, I’ll tack on an extra 20-40 miles in the evenings, and 40-60 miles on saturdays. I have at least one century this summer, i’m shooting for two.

Michelle asked me what my tabatas were, so I decided to just share with the rest of the class. My list is here. I pick 3 of these sets, repeat them 4 times [so you're doing 16 minutes for each one], for a total of around 45 minutes when i’m done. My favorite is set 2. I also like to do this for upper body, adding regular pushups on the end.

I have not mentioned NROL4W, and there’s a reason for that. One night I was checking out the ab def in the mirror as I am apt to do, and that’s when I notice a small bulge in my groin area. It seems that hernias are contagious. Well, that’s not the official diagnosis but it sure the hell looks like what my boyfriend has. I have made an appointment for a physical and we’ll see what develops. I SWEAR TO GOD this is the MOST I have *ever* been injured in my entire life. It’s rather embarrassing. I’ve never even broken a bone. And now that I’ve typed that, a chunk of ceiling’s gonna fall down on my arm and render it useless.

I am down a pound from last week and my BF% remains unchanged. I have noticed more definition in my arms and obliques, and if I am actually starting to see some lines in my thighs. And to keep my focus, I took body measurements. Now, all I have to compare it to at this point are measurements I took last year when I was doing P90X. I was pretty much the same weight then. Comparing the current measurements to those, I’m down 2 inches in the waist, an inch in the hips, and an inch in the thighs. Calves remain unchanged, but they’re always big. Taking these measurements actually made me feel a bit better.

This is another 4am shot, so I look like I’m about to eat your babies and take your lunch money. Comparing the left thigh with the right, you can totally see the effects of having to wear the leg brace. I’m seeing the beginnings of the tiniest hint of background between the thighs. I’ll take that.

This week’s goals are to hit my protein requirement, keep my carb limit, and make sure most of my fats are healthy. And not beat myself up so much.

Ken:

Is it ok for a grown man to get excited by fitting into a pair of jeans? I have seen the diet ads that reference the pair of jeans you want to fit into but in my opinion, they are targeted toward women. Let me explain. I got a pair of jeans for Christmas that were the right size but the wrong cut. I’ve always worn “relaxed” as opposed to “straight” when it came to denim so when i tried this pair on there was simply no way. Since we forgot were the jeans were purchased I couldn’t take them back and they remained, with tags, buried in my closet. While getting dressed for dinner the other night I decided to give them a try and to my surprise–perfect. I couldn’t help thinking about a Biography episode featuring Oprah where she said the day after the famous “skinny jeans” show she could no longer fit into them. I don’t see that happening, but regaining weight has been on my mind since starting this. We’ve all been brutally honest during this accountability process and fear of returning to my former self is present everyday. I consider the jeans another small victory.

I got to the gym three times, did one HIIT session and one four mile fartlek run outside. I also took two days in a row off from everything and it felt great. I’m getting back into the groove of eating larger meals around my workouts and a smaller meal in the evening which leaves me hungry the next morning which causes me to eat more at breakfast which i consider a good thing. I’ve found eating more at breakfast sets up a better day of eating overall.

The scale read 201.6 this morning and the measurement around my waist also decreased about 1/2″ inch.

Lucas:

Last week was a deload week for me, so I’ll try to keep this short. It was a very good week, and I had very little problems with my diet or training. I’m definitely forming some great habits. The only “problem” I had was not wanting to slow down on my training for my deload week, but I definitely needed it. Here is the rundown…

Training:

Monday 3/8 – Rest day (recovering from the orienteering race and had a head cold)

Tuesday 3/9 – Another rest day (still getting over head cold)

Wednesday 3/10 – 5/3/1 Lift with much lighter weights to deload and half of my usual timed circuit

Thursday 3/11 – “Endurance” Intervals during CSI:NY (go hard during ads lasting from 3 to 5 min. and normal pace during show)

Friday 3/12 – 5/3/1 Lift with lighter weights to deload and half of my usual timed circuit

Saturday 3/13 – Ran in the Luck of the Irish 5k

Sunday 3/14 – Coach Dos’ Kettlebell Complex from Cardio Strength Training

As you can see I didn’t continue with the Infamous TRX Workout this week. I am in the final week of the final phase, and since this was my deload week, I decided to push this off until next week since it is very physically demanding. It also scares the hell out of me. I think I might die when I try it.

Nutrition:

No problems with my nutrition. I ate according to plan all week, and I had zero cheat meals. I consumed a little bit less each day to compensate for my lower activity levels. My favorite recipe of the week was my own version of Leigh Peele’s Egg En Cocotte Recipe (from Body by Eats but also found for free right here - http://www.leighpeele.com/egg-en-cocotte-recipe). I used red and yellow bell peppers, diced avocado, pepper jack and cheddar cheese, and two-whole omega 3 eggs in each ramekin to modify the recipe to my liking. Have a look at the picture, and tell me it doesn’t look tasty. It’s amazingly delicious, and it’s packed with protein and healthy fats.

Anyway, I’m finally starting to notice a difference in my appearance. I went back and looked at my beginning photos next to my photos from this week, and it has really motivated me to keep on truckin’. If you haven’t done this, go do it now, and you’ll be blown away by the progress you’ve made. I’m finally back into my size 34 pants, and I’m going to need a new belt. Pretty damn cool.

I’m loving this accountability blog. It’s really kept me on track. I hope the rest of you had a great week, and let’s all keep it up! Until next time…

Aaron:

I really had my hands full this last week. I was in Washington DC for work Thur to Sunday and put in a 12 hour day Wednesday preparing for my trip. Each day in DC consisted of 13 hours of hellaciously boring meetings, broken up only by 25 minutes breaks for terrible buffet food. The hotel was nowhere near anything resembling a decent restaurant, with the best and closest (it rained everyday) option being 5 Guys Burgers and Fries. In 4 days I ate there 6 times. I had never been to a 5 Guys before, as there are nowhere in the midwest, and I must say that they are amazing.

The strangest thing was weighing myself today put me at 171lbs, or 1 pound lighter than last week. I fully expect the other bloggers to hate my guts. I apologize. I really cannot explain it, I thought for sure i’d be up 2-4 pounds. Such is the curse of my ectomorphic disposition. I did manage to get into the hotel fitness center one night, and went through a couple of kevin’s core excercises as an ab workout another night.

That wraps it up this week, I will be back to normal after I have a chance to catch up on sleep, eating and the pile of work I came back to… It’s fun to complain sometimes. Next week I want to talk about what a catastrophe my posture is and how I can improve it before I get a hump. Also zombies.

Craig:

Last week was pretty mediocre but I did come to a realization when I remembered my three month goal. WTF I shouldn’t suddenly need to remember my goals! I know I’m not going as hard as I can in the gym and it’s time to solve that. I started to train in the morning, which is such a bad idea for me. It’s a pain in my ass to make it to the gym and be super confined because I have to make it home in time to go to work. It’s time to go back to late afternoon training on my way home from work where I don’t even have to think about not going since I’m already on the road.

I reread Girth Control and I came up withhhh 2500-2750 calories (with non-linear variation):

242g Protein
90g Fat
225g Carb

And I know I’ve said this before but the 225g carb scares me. I’ve always dieted down low carb, for whatever reason, wish I knew. Well no matter, it’ll work if I just do it for a few weeks!
Ive also to basically track my compliance with a training % and nutrition %. At 90% and above I’m golden (training 100% of course)

I thought I had more, but not really. I have only so much willpower and I need to make it as easy on myself as possible. At the same time I don’t want to sound like a broken record; actions speak louder than words. Time to confront the brutal facts and not give a shit what others think.

P.S. Sorry for crappy cell phone pic, no camera available to me this week.

Courtney:

What an amazing week. I finished up the quarter (and actually did pretty darn well) so I now have two weeks of relative calm before it’s time to go back to class. I picked up Leigh Peel’s Body By Eats and have been enjoying reading it and trying out some of the recipes. My eating was pretty much spot on this week except for a couple of beers on Friday night when I went out with the girls. I only worked out three times last week but am starting to notice that I’m building up strength and am needing to ramp up my cardio to get the same effect.

Mainly this week was good for me mentally. I left the 190s and will never see that number on my scale again. I reached my 10 lb mark and am ready for 20. To celebrate one of my more fashionable friends came over to help me with my wardrobe. People had been getting on me for a while (my coworkers even nominated me for What Not to Wear) about my clothes. I was a big fan of wearing as much cloth as possible to cover my body from neck to feet because I had always been told that my body was unacceptable unless it was thin. My friend had me try on every piece of clothing in my closet and get rid of everything that was remotely unflattering (about 3/4 of it), taught me how to put some nice outfits together, got me to try on my clothes that had gotten too small and found some that now fit (!) and then took me shopping. I also found that my body just can’t eat unhealthy food anymore. I bought myself a soda and some gummy bears on Sunday and 15 min after consuming them I had a horrible headache and felt terrible. That makes it even easier to stick to my baked tofu and clementines since the thought of that much sugar now makes me ill.

Even though I only lost 2 lbs this week and didn’t work out a ton I feel better than I have in years because of the mental milestones. I’m writing this on Monday evening and felt so good today that on top of my hour session with my personal trainer I biked to and from work (30 min each way). Now… I just need those darn pictures to start reflecting the work I’m doing. Grrrr.

Tim:

What a crap week. I drove from Cincinnati to Atlanta on Sunday, worked there until Friday, then drove to Charlotte Friday night. The next morning, off to South Carolina and back the same day, then in the car again from Charlotte to Cincinnati yesterday. It has been an incredible challenge keeping any kind of diet/workout this past week.

The Good:

- I did manage to get a couple of 2mi runs in while in Atlanta which was really rewarding because I didn’t know I could run even a mile without dropping dead.

- I bought a pair of running shoes because the shoes I had with me were killing my feet. Now when I go back for work, I’m ready to hit the trail w/ the right gear.

- I did an upper body workout in the hotel room w/ the blast straps. This is a really interesting way to work the upper body and core. I have no idea how to hit below the waist line with them, though. Still, for taking up virtually no room in my luggage, they are awesome.

- I reorganized the home gym tonight. Finally got my lat tower up which is great because now I can execute the Hypertrophy I program from New Rules of Lifting using the exercises listed instead of having to come up w/ stuff w/ the straps.

The Bad:

- Nutrition was pretty marginal. Visiting my parents over the weekend was the worst. They don’t know what I’m up to with this whole body transformation thing, so they just cooked the way they normally do: carbs and fat. I at least did not spend any time hungry while visiting them.

- I got fewer than 3 hours of any kind of real exercise in.

The Ugly:

- Same old pics. I’m not really deterred by this, though. I really like what I’m doing with this routine and I’m looking forward to working out more and more. My real goal is to establish a life-long habit of health.

No workout log because there weren’t really any measurable workouts.

178lbs (up 8lbs from the start of the program)

Robert:

Now I know why Jonathan Fass never updates his blog; It’s tough to write something every week. For me this week sucked just as bad as last week. I’m still struggling with time and energy. I’m not eating terribly, but I’m not disciplined either; I’m not sitting around doing nothing, but I’m not on a strict training schedule. So I’m left right in the middle, not gaining or losing any fat. I have gained some strength which is good, but I need to get more interval training in and dial in my diet. My next quarter starts in a few weeks and my schedule won’t be quite as ridiculous (although I do have 9 hours of Air Force classes a week). We just had daylight savings time too so the days will get a little longer and I’ll be able to train outside a little more. I figure I’m like a disney movie where the underdog sports team gets a rough start and gets discouraged, but then there’s the montage where they train hard to some inspiring music and win the playoff game… I just have to find someone to give me an inspiring talk and buy me matching uniforms.

I digress, it’s not that I don’t care or that I’m not taking this amazing opportunity seriously. It’s just that I’m having a hard enough time just waking up every day and meeting all the assignments and responsibilities I have on a daily basis. This week I’m going to try to use some sandbags I have at home to get some metabolic work in. This way I can’t use time as an excuse. I also want to try to plan and portion my meals better, down to the calorie to eliminate the times of weakness or rationalization. Thanks again to everybody who reads these blogs. Even though I feel like crap, I know it’ll be that much better when I’m able to get buckled down.

Client Spotlight: Kim (The Big 10 Spot!)

Kevin Larrabee — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:23:26 +0000

[Editor's Note: Kim continues to kick ass and stick with the training and nutrition that I have given here. 10 lbs down in 4 weeks!!! That is fantastic. If you are interested in getting results like Kim feel free to check out what I offer for online Personal Training. Please continue to support Kim as she get closer to her wedding weight goal!]

Hi Again,

So another week down. I learned something this week. I learned how important it is to have both the nutrition AND the workouts for weight loss. I had a migraine for a couple of days mid-week, and I was out of the gym for a few days. I have been working hard to make up for that missed time since then. Currently I am 147.5 – Very close to 10 lbs down overall! I can’t believe what I have been able to achieve in just a few weeks. It’s mind blowing. I never thought that I would be able to do that! It’s great to actually feel lighter in my every day activities too. Crossing my leg is easier, I feel like I’m flying up the stairs now, and pants that use to “pull” are now loose and my belts are seeing much more use. I can’t wait to get into those clothes that I tucked away long ago – with hopes that I would someday fit into them again.

I cannot thank you enough Kevin for what you have given me. People at work have been complimenting me, and it’s been making for some good motivation to keep going. My results so far are making me wonder where I will be by the time I walk down the isle. I’ll be rockin’ that dress!

Something else that’s been improving is my strength. I’m feeling more solid, and I have gone up a notch in weights this week. The workouts that Kevin creates for me are varied enough that it keeps even ADD-me interested. After a year of seeing him, I would think that I would have seen all that he’s got, but he still manages to teach me new moves. Today it was a variation of planks, which were much, much harder.

So I need to apologize for the photos this week. There are more shadows that usual because I had to take the photos later in the evening, when I usually take them in the afternoon. We had some family drop by unannounced, and they stayed a while… you know how it goes.

Well, I look forward to writing to you all again next week, with some new exciting numbers! Stay strong, and stay away from the pizza (that’s what I keep telling myself). Ciao J

FitCast Accountability Blog (3/9/10)

Kevin Larrabee — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:28:54 +0000

I am just going to let the blogs speak for themselves today. I am still recovering from being sick and have a lot of work to catch up on. Now to the blogs:

Ken:

I should have counted the number of times this accountability program has prevented me from either making a bad food choice or skipping a workout. I have always been a Master of Justification when it came to snacking and over eating. I would simply find a reason why it was “justified” and then dive in. But posting pictures and blogging has made that justification change gears. Now when I’m tempted to undo a good gym session with a questionable dinner choice my inner talk says things like “Think of how good you’ll feel if you follow this workout with a balanced meal?” And guess what? That is happening more and more and my confidence in battling the devil on my shoulder has grown to a point that its not much of a battle anymore. I also no longer beat myself up when I eat one of my favorite “bad foods”. My kids made cupcakes and I had a craving for one. So I had one. I logged it in my diary and at the end of the day I’ll see how the numbers look. But I wont let negativity take over and allow me to eat five more. Have one, enjoy it, and move on. Little victories.

Despite being out of town again this past week I had a pretty good week. The warm weather allowed me to get outside for some running three times and I got to the gym three times. I visited four different gyms over the past two weeks and made one observation- people need to get off that cardio equipment and pick up a dumbbell. The listeners of the fitcast know this but someone needs to make a public service announcement. One gym I walked into was packed and I was a little worried I wouldn’t be able to get my work done until I found my way to the free weight area which was a ghost town. I counted 40 pieces of cardio equipment and 35 of them were being used. In the free weight area- just me and another guy.

I lost one pound (203) this week and about a 1/4 inch off my stomach measurement. I’m happy with a pound per week. Despite losing nine pounds I haven’t seen any of my max lifts diminish since the start. I’m very happy with that. One thing that I’ve echoed from the start is to trust the program and when I look at a comparison of the pictures, and step on the scale, it strengthens that trust.

Aaron:

Hello once again ladies and gentlemen… not a whole lot to report this week. I’m up to 173lbs consistently each morning making for a 7lb total gain so far in 1 month. On the surface that does not seem all that great given the effort I feel like I’ve put forth in the gym and in the kitchen over the last 30 days; in the past this rather underwhelming result would have really bothered me. This time is different. This time I feel like I am laying the right ground work, something sustainable.

Quick trip down memory lane: A few summers ago I finished college and wrapped up an internship that actually paid me. I decided to take 6 months and do whatever I wanted; I was about to start working for the rest of my life so while i had the chance I took some “me-time” and went on a nice vacation with the money that I had saved. Shortly after the vaca I was bored out of my mind… so I threw myself into the gym full-time, going twice a day and eating everything in sight – alot of the wrong things like fast food, weight gainer shakes, and as much leftovers as my parents and grandparents dropped off. Long story short I got stronger than I ever had been, weighed 200lbs and had atleast 2 chins. I felt like a bloat tub of goo, I was tired all the time and I had literally eaten away my savings. Luckily my metabolism was so jacked up from al lthe activity and having to fight off all the calories I was consuming that it did take me long to get back to 175lbs once I stopped inhaling garbage.

I coudnt sustain what it took to gain muslce that way. As I thought about those “measly” 7lbs i’ve gained I realized it isn’t so much about the weight gain, it’s about building the foundation (or other cheesy metaphor of your choice) of sustainable improvement; things like pre-preparing foods, planning out your excercise routine and following through.

Wow, now that i read that back it’s a little sappy. Please bear with me, it’s late on sunday evening and i’m running on fumes. This week will be a struggle, I have to travel for work on Wednesday and won’t be home until sunday late. I will do my best to hit the fitness center at the hotel and atlest get some high rep sessions in. Only upside is I’m eating for bulk on the company credit card for 5 days, BONUS!!

Michelle:

Hello all – another week done, and what a crap week it was. I knew going into this week it was going to be tough to get my five days in at the gym, and it didn’t happen. Three days this week I don’t even remember shutting the alarm off in the morning, nor resetting it. Wednesday night I came home from work at went directly to bed and laid there for four hours until I got up to eat dinner, which consisted of a beer. Work just kicks my ass the first week of the month and I suppose I have to cut myself some slack but it’s easier to beat up on myself I guess. I was away this weekend too. Actually, I just got home from new york. I have found myself (for lack of a better term) in a long distance relationship, where I only see my boyfriend about every three or so weeks. I usually meet him in upstate NY. I say this not because I think you all want to hear about my relationship status but because I have a hard time being on the road – or in a hotel – and not eating like shit and drinking like a fish. Shockingly, I didn’t drink my face off this weekend. I actually barely drank. I’m not going to lie and say I didn’t drink at all but compared to some weekends when I meet him, this was a vast improvement. The eating is a different story. While I don’t think I made horrible choices this weekend in regards to food, I can say that it wasn’t great. Does anyone have any suggestions when traveling/staying in a hotel on better food choices that can be made? Keep in mind I don’t stay at a place with a kitchen. I did get out and enjoyed the weather today and walked for two hours through NYC today, I love the idea of New York, just not sure it’s ever a place I can see myself living. I’d eat pizza every day! So this week I’m back on getting myself to the gym five days and back on the diet. Oh, and not sure if everyone read kevin’s blog about the good eat sweet and spicy tea; but it’s phenomenal. Brian is the one that actually told me about it and said he drinks it either before training or on his way to CP (I can’t remember) and he feels great. So I’ve been making it before I leave for work in the morning and before I go to training and I love it! It has a weird sweetness to it that took me a few tries to get used to but it’s the spiciness that I love. And it smells just like big red. Brings me back to high school for some reason… well it’s been a long day and I’m gonna crash at any minute. Keep up the good work everyone.

Lucas:

I love to read Chris Shugart’s work, because it’s like he is writing directly to me, and it’s often quite funny and inspiring. He’s also a Former Fat Boy (FFB) like I’m trying to become, so he has experienced a lot of the same things I am going through. He wrote in a recent blog post (http://tnation.tmuscle.com/free_online_forum/diet_blog_hammer_velocity_shugart/the_end_is_the_beginning), “It’s easy to get stuck when you’re halfway up a mountain. And it’s even easier to slip back down.” I don’t want to get stuck halfway up the mountain any more. I’ve gotten halfway up the mountain several times before, only to get stuck and then slip back down into the Valley of Fat-N-Lazy.

I’m getting closer and closer to that elusive 200 pound mark. I’ve been there before several times over the last five or six years, but this time I will NOT become satisfied and stagnant. My new goal is to hit 190 pounds by my 10th anniversary (July 8th). I’m tired of being satisfied with “average” results. I’m better than that, and it’s time to prove it.

So here is the rundown of last week:

Training:

Monday March 1st – 5/3/1 Lift with Front Squats & 1-Arm DB Rows plus a timed circuit

Tuesday March 2nd – Rest

Wednesday March 3rd – Infamous TRX Workout A Phase 4 (Holy Crap that hurt) then racquetball later that night

Thursday March 4th – 5/3/1 Lift with Deadlifts & High Incline DB Press plus a timed circuit

Friday March 5th – Infamous TRX Workout B Phase 4 (I almost died)

Saturday March 6th – Coach Dos’ KB Complex (so fun)

Sunday March 7th – Gateway Grunt Orienteering Race (5 hours of hiking/running over rugged terrain with a map & compass)

My training last week was great! It was my heaviest week of lifting, and Phase 4 of the Infamous TRX Workout was insanely difficult. You know it’s going to be a tough training session when you are nervous and anxious before you start. I almost ran out of time to train on Saturday, but Coach Dos’ KB complex came to the rescue again – it’s short, intense, effective, and a lot of fun.

Nutrition:

With this being my highest intensity week, I scheduled a “cheat” meal for Friday night. I devoured a bacon cheeseburger and some sweet potato fries along with a beer sampler at a local microbrewery (I rarely drink alcohol, but I like to try different micro-brews). I also ate way too much after the orienteering race on Sunday night. I ate mostly good foods (7 oz sirloin and asparagus), but I also ate a little bit of fried food and 4 dinner rolls with honey butter. After racing hard all day, I guess I just couldn’t resist a huge basket full of freshly baked rolls right in front of my face. The rest of the week went according to plan, though, and I’m still within my 90% compliance rule.

I weighed 212 this morning (Monday 3/8) which is a loss of “only” half a pound from last week. I actually hit 210 earlier in the week, so hopefully I can get below 210 pounds by next week.

I hope everyone else had a great week, and I hope we can all reach the summit together. Until next week…

Batty:

This past week was just all kinds of messed up for me. I had the MRI for my knee, the corresponding followup and started my PT, which I’ll be doing for 6 weeks. Long story short, my knee will be able to be completely rehabbed without fear of any long term effects. To say I am peeing my pants with happiness about this would be an understatement, and hot damn am I headed to the bike shop to get fitted for my new bike that’s just been sitting there for the past 3 weeks.

My trainers basically told me I can go back to doing whatever I’ve been doing. The soreness is going to be there for a while. However, if it makes me wince in pain, then stop. Well, duh. so, I am resuming my NROL4W lifting. and this makes me happy. However, with my newfound freedom, I kinda winged it in the gym, which I don’t like to do, and I don’t think I did enough.

And hey! I get to go back to my bowling league!

I hate the treadmill. Hate it hate it hate it and the only reason why I’ve been using it is because of my injury. I am glad I can kick that to the curb and focus on my love, tabata intervals. I now have 3 full body sets that when all is said and done takes 45 minutes to do and leave me in a big heap of mess on the floor. I actually got my SO and his son [who is 15] turned onto them as well, and now we do them together on non lifting days. Family bonding, we has it.

Now, the food part. I know the only way some people can stick to their

nutrition goals is to tread food just as a fuel source. I cannot do this. I love food, I love eating, cooking, and celebrating food in a healthy way. I am constantly looking for healthy recipes online so we can avoid the ‘grilled chicken and steamed vegetables’ syndrome that so many people seem to fall into when watching their nutrition, myself included.

Carrie: I made a protein peanut butter egg for you – only 3g of sugar, healthy fats, ground flax seed, and 15g of protein, but every picture I took of it made it look like a wad of poop. it was pretty tasty, though.

So I was evaluating my nutrition goals this past week when I noticed something that caused a rather deep imprint of my palm on my forehead. The previous week’s calorie cut was a really, really metabolism-fuckingly stupid idea. I had 3 signs staring right at me all over my face – the diet calculator for NROL4W, The calculations from Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto, and my own RMR test that I had done at the Cleveland Clinic. All of these things were clearly telling me that I *can* eat, and I *need* to eat, and yet I didn’t pay attention to them. Instead, that 100 calorie cutback sent me dangerously into depriving my body of what it needs in order to just function, exercising aside. So, I went back to my original calorie limit that I had when I started the Getting Serious plan, and even tacked on a little extra, and now I’m pretty sound with all 3 of these tools. I do not want to F up my metabolism.

One would think that I would be happy that I can eat more, but with the sudden calorie increase combined with “Aunt Flo” barreling down on me with guns blazing, this week’s weigh in yielded a 2 pound gain. I am not defeated by this as it is more than likely water retention. Ok, maybe a little defeated. But I am trying to not let it get to me too much. I did not bother taking my BF% this week because of this.

i can see the bloat in this picture and i’m not liking it. i am also running out of hats.

There were a lot of changes for me this week and it just threw me off mentally, and I felt like I didn’t have things in control. On the flip side, a lot of things were sorted out, so I am hoping I can regain control this week now that I know a lot of stuff.

I saw grass today for the first time in months. The sun is out more, and it got up to a whopping 46 degrees today. Spring is coming and I cannot wait to get my butt back in the saddle and outside. That is my ultimate gym.

Carrie:

Let me start this off by saying I was in no mood to take my pictures this week. I actually stated it out loud to a couple of people. Someone’s response was “Isn’t this the time you really need this thing most?” Yeah, good point. But here’s a question: why can I see muscles while I’m working them, but not just when I stand there in these ridiculous pictures each week? Frustration sets in.

This last week felt pretty hectic. I was tired from a lot of running around I had to do, and because I would be out of town for a couple days, I crammed all four of my weight sessions in – four days straight. Stupid? Maybe. But I wanted to make sure I got them in, and knew if I didn’t the week or weekend would go by and I would regret it. I even bumped my normal Saturday CP session to Thursday. And though I don’t feel my new program is any sort of killer, I was still a little sore, it being my first week and all. My upper body was incredibly tired around mid-week. I did bump my numbers up across the board on my CP day though, which made me happy. I think I need to do more cardio. I’m definitely not getting any of that in these past couple weeks.

My eating wasn’t as on point as last week, but it still wasn’t BAD. I probably had more wine than I have in a while and than I should’ve. Not sure why, but I got word that my PB2 order is apparently out of stock and won’t ship until at least the end of March. THE END OF MARCH?! Have you not read how much I love peanut butter? Killing me.

As always, here’s hoping it’s a better week for everyone!

Tim:

Last week was a challenge. There was a lot going on at work. I was stressed out. I managed to get two of four planned workouts in (both very productive none the less). Then Sunday night it was on the road to Atlanta….for….work…. I forgot my workout log at home, so I can’t report on what I did, but I can say I’m on upper/lower splits.

There’s no gym that I have free access to here in Atlanta, so I thought I’d try something completely crazy: running. I haven’t run in 3-4 years, and I remember the last time I started running, my legs seized up like an engine with a quart of water in it. I was really interested to see how well I’d do this time around. The break-in program I followed from new rules of lifting felt like a cardio program with weights. Lots of heavy breathing and sweating throughout the workouts. So this morning I put on the running gear and heat out into the 40F morning on a 2 mile track outside my hotel. To my astonishment, I made it at least half way through before having to stop for a break, and even then it was more my uncomfortable shoes than anything else. I ended up making it through two miles, and even got so into it I actually ran right past my hotel and got half way down the block before I realized the run was over. My legs are tired now, but I’m happy I can run nearly 2 miles after not having run for years, and do it without seizing up like I used to. I feel like quitting smoking has really paid off.

Photos this week are lame… I don’t have my posh bedroom to snap them in! Here’s me from my Atlanta hotel room:

Man is it hard to take a side shot with an iPhone in a cramped space. Anyway next week’s pics should be much better. I brought my blast straps with me, so I’ll be playing with ways to use those as an alternative to the weights. I don’t really know how to use them, so I have a feeling I’m going to have to be really creative to get any value out of them. In either case, this week is not going to be a great lifting week. Can’t wait to get home and work with iron instead of running shoes and nylon bands.

Robert:

I finally started using fitday…then my two year old son spent a night throwing up on me, I had a midterm, I had to edit a movie/slideshow for my nursing research class, and we had our grand opening this weekend at the gym. So my week was shot and I was left with three quarters of a day recorded on fitday. I’ve never counted calories so I’m looking forward to being more accountable in that way; it’s just such a pain to enter in all my homemade foods. I’m a bit of a creature of habit, so I’m hoping once I get it all entered in, it’ll be a lot less time consuming. At this point, I’m pretty sure I’m gaining body fat. I’m still struggling to get more than 4-5 hours of sleep at night (as I write this at 11:25 pm and have to train at 5:00 am) and the combination of school, work, family and ROTC may give me a heart attack. I’m sure my cortisol levels are off the chart and my body is begging for every bit of comfort food I come across. I really picked a horrible, horrible time to do this accountability blog, but I guess in that way, I picked the best time. I’m really fighting to get things more organized and manage my time, but I’m lacking the will power and energy. I only have a few weeks left in this quarter. During spring break I’m going to do an overnight hiking trip to regroup and try to start the next quarter strong, with a plan. Finals are coming up so I’m gonna need a lot of prayers and positive thoughts out there. At this point I’m giving the four areas in my life 30 %. I’m no math major, but I’m pretty sure those numbers don’t work out.

David:

Hey Everyone,

Ok, so today I am sitting here writing this feeling like I am totally out of gas. My body feels like it is just plain broken, which isn’t good because I can tell the reason. Until the last year or so when I started paying more attention to fitness, nutrition, etc., I never really noticed how clearly my body would tell me if I was not treating it right.

This week I only got into the gym twice, and to make up for the missed sessions I did 2 days worth of workouts in each session. Mistake # 1. I ate pretty well, not as much in a deficit as I would have liked, but healthier than before I started blogging. I did cave in to temptation a couple of times though, once when my fiancé made one of her famous casseroles, and the other when a piece of cheesecake was calling my name when out to eat with my folks. Mistake # 2. It was remarkable to me how my body felt so completely miserable after consuming the fats in the casserole and the sugar and other nasty-goodness in that cheesecake. It was plain as day. I started my nutrition for this week out right today, and will be staying on the course better this week after my experiences last week.

As far as motivation was concerned, my slacking in the gym wasn’t really anything to do with not wanting to work out, I was just so completely focused on getting several things done at work that I burned up the time I would have spent in the gym on getting other things done at work. I am thinking about switching back to morning workouts just to make sure I get them done, which I haven’t done since the first part of January. It’s hard to work out at beginning of shift for me because I feel like I am so much more focused and sharp mentally in the morning, and I feel like I lose some of that sharpness after my workout.

I am including a “flex” picture this week with my others for one reason. Part of why I have been doing all this was to increase my strength and to help “the guns” as they were called on the “What’s Up Kev” I listened to yesterday. Even though I haven’t been doing anything specifically to target my biceps, I have noticed definite growth (or definition at the very least) since January, and I want to track that as well in the photos. To me my arms as a whole have really improved, and I would like to see how much when this is over.

Keep up the hard work everyone.

Thanks for reading.

Courtney:

I really should start writing these before I am desperate to go to bedon Monday nights. I survived this week with no weight gain and I call that a success. So as some background I currently work full time and am taking a full graduate course load. The last few weeks of the quarter are HELL for me. Usually I gain 5+ lbs, this time? I’ve lost a bit. Not a lot, not like I was before, but it’s still going down despite my stress levels being somewhere up around “shoot me”. I have a hard goal this month of losing 10lbs now that I’ll be done with my major school stuff on Wednesday. I’m meeting the boy’s mother the first weekend of April and am determined to meet this goal before then. I’m drawing up a food plan and have a really good workout from my trainer to keep me interested at the gym (that and a couple of really excellent audiobooks on my iPod).

Part of my strategy for this past week was to make a BIG pot of veggie soup on Monday and then have it for dinners most nights. This saved me
from my usual tactic of pizza. I managed to drag myself to the gym three times and had an AMAZING workout with my trainer. Unfortunately I’m starting to have some trouble with my rotator cuff in the shoulder where I had my AC joint surgery so I need to head back to my physical therapist and see what we can do about that before permanent damage happens. Good advice on the show this week to the swimmer, guys. I wish that someone had given me that kind of advice when I was his age and saved me the trouble of my shoulders being wrecked.

Oh, for grins I included a picture of wrecked Courtney. Once I’ve met my goal I’ll send an update with happy, rested, successful Courtney. She looks much happier.

Larry:

For me, this last week counted as my week four of my twelve week program. I must admit that when I signed up for this Accountability challenge, I thought I had my workout and nutrition, pretty well dialed in, guess what . . . NOT! Although I managed to lose over 50+ pounds over a six month period of time last year, after a couple month RE-FEED, putting back on some fat and some muscle, it has really taken me more than the last three weeks to finally feel comfortable with my weight & cardio routine, and my updated “meal plan”. This last week I was 100% compliant with my training, without injury or major strain, and my food finally felt right and my energy level has returned!

Nutrition:

The routine I have fallen into is three low calorie days followed by a higher calorie day, looks like 1700-1800 daily then a 2000 calorie day. The higher day is usually met by just having an additional carb serving with my dinner, a cup of rice, potato, or pasta. I have also incorporated a 24 hour fast day following my higher calorie day, and even with a weight workout during, does not seem to be a problem. Although losing weight and building muscle seems like a daunting task, this week I am finally beginning to see some results. I am actually feeling lighter and have begun to see some definition progress in shoulders and arms. My gut and love handles will likely be the last to improve, the photos don’t lie.

Fitness:

Nothing magical on my workout, still following the Tom Venuto TNB Workout, with dips and some of the shoulder work removed. Instead of chin-ups, I use resistance bands and my weights are not anything close to my high weight lifts of my youth. I tend to use higher rep sets with weights that still allow me to recover in a day or so. Perhaps the thing that messes me up more than anything is LUNGES, as my balance is very slowly improving and the strain on my thighs still leaves me with DOMS on a regular basis as I try to get my body lower on each workout. For cardio, I am lucky to have a treadmill in my home so I have been increasing the speed by 1/10 mph per week and hope to add back in HIIT within a couple of weeks. Hoping the nicer weather lets me jog outside soon.

Everybody hang in there!

Craig:

This week wasn’t that great. I lost 1lb and the only way that can happen is if of course I didn’t do everything I was supposed to. I sliced the bottom of my foot and ended up having to miss a training session and I indulged on some Chinese food as well. I did feel good during the rest of my training sessions and almost watched a guy kill himself. A guy came in and decided to start off squatting 275lb and I saw him pull a 1/16 rep with shaking kneeing and rack it. Then I saw him put MORE weight on the bar and I couldn’t help but wonder “wtf is going on!” Of course one of the trainers also saw what I did and went over and talked to him. Crisis averted. This post won’t be that long, but I do feel that I could do much better in the gym. I want to come out dying, not in a bad way, but knowing I put in everything I’ve got. I’m not fortunate enough to have an awesome training environment so it’s all on me to push myself.

By the way check out this pic of Eric Cressey deadlifting from this recent MH blog. http://rodale.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54f86af56883301310f4ef69d970c-pi If that doesn’t get you hyped up I dunno what does.