Workingout - Phase One - Month 2

Season Greetings to Everyone!

:)

I am now at the end of Month 2 (plus 10 days ) and feeling great about my workout routine and early morning schedule. Since beginning this monthly varied routine, I have added a sum total of 18 pounds (much of which is muscle) from my pre-workout start of 172. So - my weight as of today (12/21) is 190 lbs. and I am quite proud of this milestone.

Also, I have added the weight without increasing my waist size (32 inch waist) which is important to me since I had bought a great Hicky Freeman business suit when I was at 180 LBS and still want to wear as long as possible to maximize that investment.

With this being the holiday season, and with temptations abounding, I wanted to talk a bit about what has been tempting me.... and offer it up into the blogosphere as to what others might be dealing with.

• So - the drum roll please...

• I have found my main temptations this season were more so from dairy and meat then from sweets of all things! In retrospect, I would have thought sweets were at the top of the list of "bad foods" for everyone, me included, during this time of year??

• I thinking about this further, my personal indulgences; Beef and Chicken, Creams and Cheeses and oils (that is as in cooking with vegetables) had to do more with family, gatherings with friends and having a communal experience that everyone enjoys. On our own (Mark and me) we enjoy the Vegan approach during the week  with some occasional fish and eggs entrees on the weekend.  But hey, we love our friends and family and are happy to live in the moments with them!

 

Me at 190 lbs - 71 days into new workout routine

As an aside - since this is the first Christmas without my Dad (George Curran) I wanted to post a picture of him here. He passed at the end of  July 2012 after a 4 week battle with pancreatic cancer.

When I workout every morning I often think of him working out daily too, and use his remembrance as a personal aspiration for me to live in the moment, go for what you want and grasp concepts around how quickly everything can be taken away at a moments notice.  

• He was 78 and "never sick a day in his life" before noticing something unusual shortly before Father's day 2012.

Workout - On the Road

I was in Alpine/Marfa Texas this past week for work without an LA Fitness to be found, which is not unusual when traveling for work.  I had been looking for a workout routine that would allow me to use dumbbells vs formal machines when on the road and think I found it ...

Turns out my week #3 workout routine lends itself very well to dumbbells, an incline bench, a mat  and an exercise ball. Below was the only "gym" and equipment I had to work with last week. The positives were I had the place to my own and felt very refreshed afterward.

Here is the exercises I followed: about 60/70 minutes each morning

My Week #3 Routine

Monday,Tuesday, Thursday & Friday

                # of Sets          # of Reps
Incline Bench Press 4 sets 8-15 reps
Dumbbell Flyies 3 sets 8-10 reps (used exercise ball)
Dips                 3 sets 8-10 reps
Behind The Neck Press 4 sets 6-12 reps
Upright Dumbbell Rows 3 sets 8-12 reps
Front Shoulder Raise 3 sets 8-12 reps
Shrugs         3 sets 8-12 reps
One Arm Tricep Pushdown 3 sets 10-12 reps
Overhead Tricep Extension 2 sets 10-12 reps
Raised Leg Crunches         3 sets To Failure
Lying Leg Lifts                3 sets To Failure

PS - I have started doing Dips/Triceps now (7 weeks ago I could not do a single one!) in addition to the other ones above even though they typically to not have these type of workout stations on the road .... below my solution below - A treadmill!

• This piece of equipment is of course for running: but is does double nicely for dips too (Sturdy arms) and when options are limited... a great option indeed.