Trey Connell

I started out doing the Body for Life program, but now I’m just going to call my updates “Getting Fit”. I never really wanted to participate in the Body for Life challenge, but I do like some of the aspects of the program. So I’m continuing to follow it – just now with the goal of sending in photos and showing my “transformation”.

At Day 45, I’ve lost 8 lbs and I’m feeling stronger every week. I was so weak when I first started lifting weights, but in just 45 days I’m working out with 50 lb dumbells (it’s harder than it sounds). I don’t feel like complete crap the next morning. My posture and attitude is better. My stomach is starting to shrink, and I’m also seeing definition again in some of my muscles like my triceps.

This is really all about being able to go lay at the pool and not feel like a fat-ass so June 1 really represents the first major goal. With 3 months to go and the progress I’ve seen so far, I’m feeling really positive that I’ll be happy with the results.

Apparently I’m going to have to get serious here. After 30 days, I’ve only lost 2 pounds. That being said, I feel a helluva lot stronger and tighter. I believe my waist is actually smaller since my jeans feel loose and a belt is now a required accessory.

I can’t help shake the feeling that I should have lost more weight by now though. When I look back on the past 30 days, I can think of two things I haven’t done well:

1. Control my portion size
2. Work out every day

The Body for Life plan is not about calories. It’s about consuming foods that are acceptable and are in the correct portion sizes. So even though I feel I’ve been eating well, there are times when that quarter cup of cooked brown rice turned into a whole cup.

I’ve also missed at least 1 workout per week – sometimes two when cardio was involved. (I really HATE cardio). So starting today I’m redoubling my efforts to hit every workout and to make sure I attack it with the intensity needed to make a real difference. I even put my running shoes back on and hit the pavement today. We’ll see if those 2 keys will help me see better results over the next 30 days.

It’s warming up a bit so I’m going to be getting back to jogging now. I hate running inside around a track and so I’d been using the elliptical machine since I started the Body for Life program. It’s OK, but I’m ready to get outdoors again.

Just like last time, running is a very harsh reminder of just how horribly out of shape I am. After hurting my knee as a result of pushing too hard at my svelte 235 lbs, I started out easy today. I ran/walked 1.2 miles at a blistering 15’38″ pace.

As if it’s not embarrassing enough to say that in public, I’ll even use my new little Nike Mini to illustrate just how out of shape I am.

Now if only Nike gave me the option to put a spare tire around his waist and have him clutch a donut.

So the bad news is that I’m still badly out of shape, but the good news is that I really think the Body for Life program is going to work wonders and I’ve got nowhere to go but up.

On Friday, my wife and I went to the horse races at Oaklawn in Hot Springs, AR. We came back that evening and met up with friends to hang out for a bit. Because of that, I didn’t get my workout in that day.

Saturday was my “free day”, and we ate Quiznos for lunch and Old Chicago Pizza for dinner. After a week of tuna, egg whites, oatmeal, and everything else good for me, a big “Meat Me” pizza was a welcome change.

Yesterday I got everything back on track with a great upper body workout.  I’m not as sore this morning as I was the day after my first workout last week so I’ve got that going for me. I’ll probably hurt worse tomorrow. It seems like it’s always the day after the day after.

Today’s the elliptical machine – or maybe some walking / jogging if it’s warm enough outside. Overall I’m feeling good about my new fitness plan after the first week. I’ve decided I’m going to weigh in every Monday even though I’m not particularly focused on losing weight so much as I am getting in shape and establishing strength and muscle tone.

Here’s today’s weigh-in:

Day 1: 235 lbs

Day 8: 233 lbs

I hurt. Ooooh man I hurt. That’s it. That’s all I have to say.

Today was tough as I woke up really sore from yesterday’s Day 1 workout. I sort of moved around slowly all day and then finally got around to the prescribed cardio workout early in the afternoon. I decided to use our elliptical machine since it was cold outside.

You start off at intensity level 5 and maintain that for 2 minutes. Then you step it up to level 6 for one minute, level 7 for one minute, level 8 for one minute, level 9 for one minute, and then start over at 6.  You do that 3 times and then finish with level 10 (basically try to kill yourself) for 1 minute followed by a level 5 cooldown minute.

Twenty minutes doesn’t sound too bad, but it is – especially if you’re in bad shape like me.

I stuck with my diet today with no slips. All 6 meals with the appropriate portions of proteins and carbohydrates.

Bring on Day 3.

I took my first step towards building my “body for life” today.  The program calls for weight lifting one day and cardio the next.  You also have to follow a nutrition plan that includes 6 meals per day each consisting of a portion of protein and a portion of carbohydrates.

After exactly 53 minutes of upper body workout, I feel like someone knocked me down and ran over me with a street sweeper.  The workout is designed to make you vary the level of intensity as you perform multiple sets of an exercise.  You are then supposed to try and reach a level of maximum intensity on the last set.  The cardio activities follow the same formula where you change the level of intensity every 1 minute during a 20 minute workout.

I also took my “before” picture.  Folks, I know pictures don’t lie, but I didn’t know they were going to point and laugh too.  I’m not sure I realized just how bad it is.  I recommend that anyone who is having workout and diet motivation issues simply take a picture of themselves in very few clothes from all angles.  If your hair doesn’t turn white and you don’t go into anaphylactic shock, you will definitely be motivated to get off your lazy ass and get in shape.

So I’ve buried those pictures deep, deep on my laptop hard drive, and I’ll pull them out again in 12 weeks so I can hopefully feel good about myself and the transformation that I’ve made.  And if that doesn’t work?  I’m gonna try not to think that far ahead.  It’s too depressing.

I’ve decided to try the Body for Life program.  It’s not really a New Year’s Resolution.  I simply had some cash freed up to go out and invest in a bench and some dumbells.  So I’ve turned a small corner in my office into a tiny gym, and I start today.

I highly doubt I’ll actually enter “The Challenge” that the Body for Life program is geared towards.  I don’t expect to make miraculous changes in my body worthy of winning some prize.  But I do think the program looks solid, and I do expect to see some real serious results after 12 weeks.

I’m tracking my daily workout and nutrition activities in spreadsheets and will be posting an update with progress (or lack thereof) on here each week – if not more often.

Here’s to taking my shirt off this summer and feeling good about it!