Workout Progress - Oct '07

October’s challenge was to see how much damage I would avoid doing to my diet plan during the Hari Raya break. After losing weight during the fasting month, I would in previous years gain it back by feasting on all that heavy and fattening festive delicacy. This year around, I promised myself to watch out for that tendency and be more calculative about the amount of food that I took in. I have to admit that it was hard to resist the temptation to binge during the holidays but I was not about to let nearly 10 months of dieting effort go down the drain. Looking back I think I did OK as I didn’t really gain much after coming back from my Hari Raya break. I would know for certain next week when I go for my InBody scan again but based on the bathroom scale I think that there was not too much damage.

Working with my PT during my gym workouts also have been helpful for me this past month. I’m currently averaging 5 gym visits a week with 3 PT sessions. My normal routine would usually consist of about 15 minutes of stretching exercises, 20 minutes of stationary bikes for cardio and about 45 minutes of either resistance weight training or circuit training. My PT has been very helpful in keeping me honest with my training and giving me the tools for me to learn how to get the most of the machines at the gym. He has also been an invaluable motivator to spur me on when I thing that I’ve reached my limits. I’m really glad to see the investment that I put in to engage a PT at the gym showing positive returns.

I still have a ways to go before I look anything like the guys you see on the health magazines but there has been noticeable physical changes. Chief among them was dropping 2 pants sizes which means that I would need to fork out money soon to get new pants tailored. I also see some definition happening in the shoulders and the upper arms area which is always encouraging. I have been receiving some comments from friends and co-workers who have noticed the changes in my body weight which is always a good self-image booster. The best one I got was from my old secondary teacher who told me that I look better now than I ever did in school which was surprising for me since I always thought that I looked my best while I was in secondary school. It may be superficial and shallow but for someone with self-image issues like I do, hearing something like that just gives me the confidence to continue on the current path that I’m on.

Diet plan in Oct ( post fasting month diet)

Breakfast (8 am)
- 1 cup fat free yogurt
- 2 banana or
- 1 serving of oatmeal

Brunch (10 am)
- 1/2 serving of plan fried rice with tempeh goreng or greens
- 1 hardboiled egg (alternate working days – 2 whole eggs total per week)
- 1 serving of fruits

Lunch (12 pm)
- 1 Spirulina cereal 3 in 1 mix.

Snacks (4 pm)
- 1 Nature Valley Granola bar (Apple Crisps, Almond and Pecan have lowest calories)
- Japanese Green Tea

Dinner (7 pm) – non workout days (Tues/Sat)
- buy something roughly less than 300kcal

Workout Days (M/W/Thurs/F: 8 – 10 pm, Sun: 4 – 8pm)
Pre workout
- EAS Creatine Powder – 10mg
- 3 homemade tuna sandwiches on wholemeal bread.

Post workout
- tomato juice immediately after workout (when I remember to buy some)
- EAS Myoplex Deluxe Protein Shake 1 hr after workout as dinner

Supplements :
EAS Creatine Powder – 10mg per day
EAS Myoplex Deluxe Protein Shake – ½ serving post workout
21st Century’s HerbalLipo Tea – 1 serving per week day
GNC MegaMen Dietary Supplement – 1 tablet per day

I’ve switched to having dinner before going to my workouts instead of after workouts in Oct. I had thought that I wanted to keep my body on fat burning mode by working out on an empty stomach but I soon found that I could not keep up with the workout intensity as I near the end of the session. I tried eating different types of food before my workout sessions and have discovered that tuna on wholemeal bread seemed to give me the best level of energy that I need to sustain the workout sessions. The meal was not too heavy that I would spend most of my gym session trying to burn it off but enough to give me the burst of energy I need. I’ve also discover that I could recover faster after each workout session if I ate before instead of after my workout.

Looking forward in November, my plan is to continue to increase the intensity of my workout as well as the levels that I put myself through. I have proven myself that I could do that in this past month when I went up a resistance level on the stationary bike for my cardio workout as well as sustaining a heavy intensity with little rest time in between during my circuit training. I also have to work on developing my muscle strength in November which my PT commented was markedly lower than my stamina level. The ultimate goal in muscle strength development would probably be to the point that I would be able to train with free weights safely which currently I can’t yet.

I might also try out some of the GX classes that they offered at the gym while I am at it as well in the coming month. I’ve been watching other people attend them and they looked like they were quite fun. I was thinking of trying out some introductory spinning and BodyJam classes. I guess the spinning classes would definitely be a possibility in the near future as I’m already doing most of my cardio on a stationary bicycle. The BodyJam session would be something that I have to really think about since I am absolutely lousy as tasks requiring any amount of physical coordination and rhythm. My PT is also recommending me to try their KickFit program at the gym which basically is kickboxing training but I’m a bit wary of embarrassing myself since I kick and punch worse than a girl.

I am encouraged by the results that I’m seeing and the feedback from people around me during this experiment. Every little bit helps as I continue on this current path.