How Real World People Lose Weight: Johnny Cash Returns!

You know, the nice thing about being in a loosely structured class like circuit training is that there's a lot of opportunity for fun, and I'm very blessed to have a trainer like Ryion Butcher who is all about making it fun.

Now, music is a big factor in working out.  It can drive you to push harder or it can slow you down.  Sometimes, it can drive you away.  Some of us older crowd have issues with the angry rap or the pop music.  when it's a big group, we make some compromises, usually good-natured mocking or "Ryion, please skip that song!" variety (and usually we all agree on those).  One gentleman, Bill, who is an absolute riot anyway, has been for a month saying "We need Johnny Cash!" and everyone laughs it off.

Last Tuesday, however, it was just him and me, so when he suggested Johnny, I wholeheartedly agreed.  After much laughing at us, Ryion found it on Pandora.  Burning Ring of Fire!  Ghost Riders in the Sky!  It was awesome.  These are the songs I grew up with, and I could still sing them all--or as much as I could sing, considering I was pushing level 8 on the treadmill.

Ryion has indulged us with Johnny and friends all week.  It was the most fun--and apparently, it bumped up my performance.  I lost another two pounds this week.

Wanna see me lose 10 pounds in 30 seconds?  It's all in how you hold yourself.

	15-Jan	22-Nov		total loss
weight	169	144		25 lb dec
body fat	38.5	33.2		5.3 dec
chest	38.7	34.7		4.0 dec
bust	41.1	37.7		3.4 dec
waist	39	32.9		6.1 dec
hips	42.8	37.7		5.1 dec
abs	42	37		5. dec
thigh	22	22		no change
calf	15	14.2		.8 dec
bicep	11.6	11.1		.5 dec
forearm	10	9.2		.8 dec
neck	15	13.7		1.3 dec
Total loss				27.3  inches

For those who never had the treat of hearing the Master of Country Music, here's "Walk the Line."

Real-World Weight Loss: Month Nine!

I can hardly believe that I've been going to the gym faithfully for nine months now.  That's the amount of time it takes to grow a baby!  Alas, I haven't' lost a pregnancy's worth of weight, but baby days are over, and middle-age weight is make of sterner stuff!

The thing I love most about circuit torture is it never stays the same.  One minute cardio, one minute weights, mixes for floor, free weights, nautalis.  Some weeks, we have weight vests; some days, we do Tabata.  In nine months, I've not seen the same routine twice.  Today was Aggression Release Friday.  Ryion had set up the punching stations I've been wondering about for months. We punched one and kicked another.  Plus, we did punches with weights, and did slam ball (in which you hold a sand-filled ball over your head and slam it to the ground.  Sand-filled balls do not normally bounce, so the fun is to see how high you can make it rebound.)  We also had the inclined sit-up station.  We needed something to feel aggressive about, after all.

Hit me, baby!  I love the abuse!

It's been a long time since I punched anything.  The first time, I apologized, but by the end, I was getting into it.  "You want a piece of me?"

Yeah, sometimes, I get odd looks in the gym.  Why do you ask?

Anyway, considering that this month, I had a 2-week break with no exrcise and not-so great food, I did pretty well.  I've stayed under 145, though not lost more, and you can see my stomach has gotten a little paunchier than last month.  That's okay, though.  It's slow progress but steady overall.  Today, I pulled out a shirt that was tight last winter and it fits great!

Love that the extra chin is going away!

Will admit to having been fine with a bigger butt.  Want the waist to go away!
Lately, I've started replacing some of the cardio with abs.

	15-Jan	18-Sep		total loss
weight	169	143.6		25.4 lb dec
body fat	38.5	26.7		11.8 dec
chest	38.7	34.5		4.2 dec
bust	41.1	37.4		3.7 dec
waist	39	33.6		5.4dec
hips	42.8	37.9		4.9 dec
abs	42	36.9		5.1 dec
thigh	22	20.6		1.4 inc
calf	15	14.4		.6 dec
bicep	11.6	11		.6 inc
forearm	10	9.5		.5 dec
neck	15	14.2		.8 dec
Total loss				27.2 inches

Circuit Torture: Technology vs Intuition

Last week, I remarked that Rob got me to use an app called Noom.  It tracks calories and workouts and tells you how much you can eat.  It works terrifically for Rob.  He's lost 6 pounds since starting circuit training and using the Noom program, in only three weeks.  However, the first week I tried it, I gained a pound and two percent body fat.  This despite the fact that I was doing double workouts and walking the dog daily.

Well, last week, I lost my phone.  (It got put in the second shelf of the cat scratcher, where the cat never sits, but which for some reason collects stuff.)  It has been a different kind of week, with a lot less exercise, though the weekday workouts continued.  Without the phone, I was back to guessing what I should eat and basically following my body's signals.  Turns out I lost a pound this week, even considering I had too much pizza and a soda last night.

The lesson for me is that, when I listen, I know my body's needs better than a computer program.  The program was actually encouraging me to overeat, because all my exercise gave me extra calories to consume (and keep in mind that it would only give back part of what I burned in exercise, yet that was still too much for me to process.)

I'm not dissing the program, btw.  It works great for Rob.  It gives him guidelines and discipline he needs, and as he noted, his intuition works far better with externals than listening to his body.  The program is kind of fun, too, if you get into tracking stuff, which I usually do.  In this case, however, I think I'll stick to my weekly measurings and just listen to my body on a daily basis.

Circuit Torture, er Training: Sights of the Gym

Well, I did sounds of the gym a couple of weeks ago, so now it's time to see how the gym looks on a typical day.  Ready the slide show!

This is what the nine o'clock class usually looks like.  I attend the eight o'clock class, which means I'm on my own more often than not.  I don't mind, because then I can grunt and wheeze.  If I get too loud, Ryion will turn up the music or put in his earbuds.

Me and my personal torturer, er trainer, Ryion.  We are holding 60-pound barbells.  Yes, be impressed.

Remember what I said in a previous blog about how the headband rides up on my hair?  Yeah.  Not a good look.  Another reason to grow it longer--at least long enough for a topknot.

This is what muscle growth looks like. 

Once every four or five weeks, Ryion ups the pain, er, burn, by making us wear weight vests.  As you can see, there is an embarrassment factor as well, as the vests will squish all your fat into a nice spare tire.  Of course, you should have seen this the first time I wore the vest.  (No, no, I'm glad you didn't.)

So, do I look like Beyonce' at the Superbowl?  I was going for that expression.

The glory photo above?  This is right AFTER that shot.  OH!  Ryion, grab it! Grab it!

And this is when we tried to get that shot the day before.  HEAVY!  Heavy barbell!