I'll explain later. lol

I didn't make the time to write my post this weekend but hopefully I'll explain more this week.   Until then, I'll let these pics say a few words....   

Surprise pizza party for me at work on Friday night, celebrating my last day in that shift, just hours before Saturday morning's weigh-in.  It would of been rude not to partake...

Lost about a pound, even after the late night pizza party....

On Saturday, my daughter's 9 year old birthday party food of her choice, more pizza.

Some birthday cake and ice cream...

Treat meal gone wrong, turned into a splurge day...

Overall, my body fat this morning...

Progress

Dropped another 1.6 pounds this week.  I actually thought it would have been more, but a loss is a loss and I'll take it.  Once again I was able to progress with the weight training this week.  

So I did attempt my fastest mile yesterday.  Again I thought I would have done better, but I did crush my 7 minute goal that I set back on Father's Day.  I was able to maintain a 10mph pace for 4 minutes.   Then I wasn't expecting my mind to persuade me that I couldn't break 6 minutes.   I ended up walking for a minute and then an all out sprint to finish the mile in 6:30.   I forgot just how much your mind has to be locked and set for breakthrough to happen, where falling short is not an option.   I have six more weeks to train my mind and body to break through a 6 minute mile.  It's not an option.  

That was yesterday's treat meal.  Eggplant parmigiana, a meatball, spaghetti and a Greek salad.   Delicious.  The hardest part was not going back for seconds and thirds.  

These last 6 weeks is where the fit2fat2fit program really kicks it in overdrive.  The workouts are intense and range from 40-60 minutes each.  I actually enjoy pushing myself in the workouts.  It's the weekends that scare me.  By the time Saturday comes, my body is exhausted from the intense workouts and working a full time job.  With that amount of stress it can be easy to reward myself with treat meals and splurges.  That's where I must rely on God's grace for help.  He's always faithful.  Always.  

Updated Stats

I just realized this weekend I didn't update my current body fat percentage and time for my fastest mile.  Here's my updated body fat percentage of 16.8%.   With that percentage and my current weight, not only did I drop fat weight, I also gained close to another pound of muscle during the process.  I'll take it!   

Here's the comparison:

Starting Weight:  224

Body Fat Percentage:  25%

Lean Muscle Mass:  168 pounds

Last Month's Weight:  214

Body Fat Percentage:  21.1%

Lean Muscle Mass:  168.85 pounds

Current Weight:  204.2

Body Fat Percentage:  16.8%

Lean Muscle Mass:  169.8 pounds

So even though I'm losing scale weight slowly, I'm still losing fat while gaining muscle at the same time.  Of course it's going to be slower, but in the end, it's worth it.  

As for my fastest mile, there's only one day per week that I can do that with my current schedule.  For the past two weeks, when those days came, I was not able to complete the challenge.  The first time I was 3/4 of a mile in and the treadmill I was on died.  I was so bummed.  I put forth so much effort into the 3/4 of a mile that if I tried again my time would not be accurate.   The 2nd day I planned to run it my body was weak and fighting sickness.   Hopefully sometime this week I can complete it.  

Before It Gets Busy! lol

So down close to half a pound after last weekend's splurge.   Bittersweet.  

This past week was hard.  Very hard.   It finally hit me how much work it takes to work off splurges.   It's extra work in the workouts, either higher intensity or longer duration.   It also meant prolonging the time to reach my goal because I had to dedicate this entire week just to do slightly better than breaking even on the scale. But the biggest struggle was staying positive and not beating myself up for making horrible food choices last weekend.  

The mental and emotional battle was very exhausting, much harder than an intense workout.   Most times after completing a great workout, you feel great, knowing your progressing towards your goals.  But this week all the hard work in the very intense workouts was dedicated just to try and break even, all because I wanted to stuff my face. Well those food choices turned into a week-long emotional and mental war.  Thank God for His grace to help me press on and fight the good fight.   

You really can't compete with what you eat.  I can down a meal like this in 10 minutes but it would take hours to work it off.   Sad thing is on one of my typical splurge days (splurge day, not treat meal) it would include a few meals like this.  A few meals like this can really set me back.   For a foodie, a splurge meal can very easily turn into an entire splurge day or weekend because once you feed an addict, it's hard to apply the breaks.  

So I'm entering into this weekend with much prayer and dependence upon Him. I need His grace.  It's a must.     

Another pound gone.  This was Saturday September 12th's weigh-in.  

As much as I would like to dedicate more time to this blog, with the little free time I do have, I value my devotions, my family time and my workouts more.  We make time for those things that are important to us and apparently this blog was down on the bottom of things to do. Our family had another busy weekend and the little quiet time I did have I chose to just relax with a cup of coffee and take a breath.  That is all. 

Saturday's treat meal...

The busy weekend did include a much needed date with my wife.  That doesn't happen too often with 3 kids.  I chose a bacon cheeseburger with fried peppers and onions and a side of fries that we shared.    Delish. 

I've still been hitting the program hard, except with the diet.  My treat meal was planned on Saturday, but I also splurged on Sunday.   It wasn't planned.  Had a very busy Sunday and ended it by showing up to a party very hungry.   I ate every dessert there.  Homemade apple pie, blueberry pie, pumpkin pie, and pound cake.  Showing up hungry to a party is never a good idea.  Hopefully there's not too much damage on next week's weigh-in. Until then, I'm gonna keep moving.  

It Wasn't Pretty

This pic was actually taken Saturday morning.  I know I'm late updating this blog, just had a busy weekend. 

Down 2.2 pounds this week.  Wish I could say that it was a picture perfect pretty week, but it was far from that.   I was actually very surprised that I lost that much considering the amount of calories that I ate last week, including a splurge day.  Say what?   Yes.  A.  Splurge.  Day. Not meal.  Day.   

This was my first splurge day since starting 70 days ago.  That was my longest streak ever.  The splurge day wasn't planned.  We were celebrating our youngest daughter's birthday.  It was in that environment that little spur of the moment decisions snowballed into trying to satisfy 70 days of cravings and eating several pieces of pizza and a few servings of cake and ice cream.   I convinced myself that I would just be strict the remainder of the week so I could enjoy this treat day.  Well I did.  All 5000+ calories.  

Then came Monday.  I had a great workout and a great day with my diet... That is until it was bedtime.   I came home from work and found myself with a spoon digging into some left over ice cream from yesterday's birthday party.  What happened to the self control?   What happened to the discipline?   What happened to the power to stay strong focused and committed to my goals.  What happened to the grace that I had for the previous 70 days.  I felt absutely powerless.  Zero self control and zero will power to take control over my health.  I was just shoveling spoonfuls of ice cream into my mouth, not caring anymore.  

It really freaked me out.  I cried out to God asking for His help.   I needed it.  Thank God He answered with a wake up call that instantly convinced me that it was by His grace that I made it 70 days of pure, effortless dedication.  

I heard God whisper in my heart..."when you are saying yes to splurge and try to satisfy every craving by eating whatever, whenever and as much as you want, you are also saying no to My grace that I am providing you.  When you are saying no to My grace, you are ultimately deciding that you don't need My help,  deceiving yourself that you got this and that you can do it without Me."  That my friends is pure pride and God makes it clear that pride comes before a fall.  

Well fall I did, and the only place I could go from there is to look up to God for help.  Thank God for His tender mercies are new every morning and His grace is sufficient and more than enough.  I asked and He answered.  He restored my heart and gave me a fresh dose of His grace.  

Not only did he give me the power to excel in my workouts, but I was more aware of how much I  am dependant upon his grace.  So even with a splurge day, when I turned back to Him for help, he gave me supernatural results.   

There's no way I should of lost 2 pounds this week.  My calorie deficit was nowhere near the 2 pound mark.  This past week I had 5 higher calorie lifting days. I decided to go with my original plan of still eating higher calories on lifting days instead of cutting calories just to make a certain goal weight by the end of the week.  That's why it surprised me so much to see a 2 pound loss.   I thought for sure I would just break even and maintain my weight, especially with the splurge day.  But somehow, someway, the pounds melted off and once again my strength increased this week.  Crazy.  

Another yay God in the books.  :)

Decisions, Decisions

Had another great week with the weights and the scale.   Once again I made continuous progress in all of my exercises.   I've been getting stronger and faster every week and the scale weight has been continuously dropping.  

I've also been aware of God's grace that has been helping me through it all.  Many times this week before going into a workout, my physical body just felt weak and I was dreading the workouts.  I did not want the momentum of continuous strength gains to hit a wall and I thought for sure I wasn't making any progress this week because of how my body felt.   So before and during each workout I had to completely rely on God's grace to give me the strength needed for further breakthrough.   I can say from experience He helped me increase my intensity, lift more, run faster and even subdued my cravings.   His grace is very real and thrusts me from surviving to thriving.  Another big yay God.  

Now comes some serious decisions I need to make over these next two weeks.   I totally forgot about some changes that are occurring in my workouts.  In the fit2fat2fit program, week 17 and 18 have five lifting days instead of three to shock your muscles and metabolism.  I've been following very strict caloric guidelines for weight lifting, cardio and rest days in order to make muscular gains while losing fat at the same time.   If I continue with my same diet routine, I am going to have 5 high calorie days per week instead of 3.   So for the next two weeks, I would expect to either maintain or even slightly gain some scale weight.   

Now I have to ask myself am I ok with that?   Am I ok with not being a certain scale weight or body fat percentage by my birthday?   Or is my main goal establishing a lifestyle and continuing on with my current caloric guidelines.    These are the questions I will be asking myself this weekend.  These are the questions I have to completely surrender to God and ask for His wisdom and grace to help me through it.  I will not make any progress and will be miserable if I waver and don't make a solid decision and follow through with it.  So I must be content with whatever decision I choose.  

As long as I acknowledge Him, He promises to direct my path.  With that I have peace and that's all that matters.