Day 10 - Body For Life - 5 things that keep me going

Along my 10 day journey, I’ve realized some things that are essential to keeping you motivated during a workout campaign. I’d like to share with you what has helped me so far.

1. Support.
I want to thank everyone that has given me encouragement during this. It’s amazing how much of a motivator it can be when someone shows genuine interest in what you are doing. I give all my friends on Facebook status updates on how I’m doing during my workouts. Many of them send me messages and post comments that help keep me moving. My wife and kids have also been a huge encouragement. When you spread the news about what you are doing, people will respond with encouragement. I’m the type that will start strong and fade fast if I’m not motivated to keep moving.

2. Sleep.
If I don’t get enough sleep, I’m depressed and grumpy all day long. The workouts are much more tough to get through if you don’t have a good night of sleep prior to it. Also, your body needs that time to repair itself after being torn down during the workout.

3. Nutrition.
Getting the right amount of carbs and protein is essential to health and generally feeling better. Here’s an interesting page regarding how much protein you need that I found. I am much more motivated when I feel better. I feel better when I reduce sugar and eat healthy stuff. That’s all I’m gonna say. I’m not a trainer or nutritionist. All I know is how I feel!

4. Schedule.
I love the Body For Life program because it keeps my on a schedule and I know exactly what I’m going to do and how long it’s going to take. That’s critical when you are pressed for time and your time management skills suck.

5. Consistency.
Staying consistent is key. Just like anything else, consistency and repetition with the right habits will lead to success. Before, I was consistently eating horribly and never exercising. Consequently, I felt like crap. Now, I’m working out daily and eating much better. As a result, this is the best I have felt in a number of years.

As Jonathan Swift said, “If we keep doing what we are doing, we’ll keep getting what we’re getting.”

Day 9 - Body For Life - Not feeling very motivated

Well, I worked out Monday and today. The workout yesterday felt pretty good. This was a leg and abs workout. The only thing that is sore today are my abs. My legs did seem much stronger. I did the elliptical cardio workout this morning. I seemed stronger on it as well. Interestingly, my heart rate only got up to 140 this time even though I did the identical workout from last week.

I’m so unmotivated today. I had a weird dream last night and woke up crying. I couldn’t go back to sleep for quite a while. I think I’m just tired. I have stuck with the diet for the most part and resisted urges for sugary cakes and cookies. I think a good night sleep and an awesome upper body workout will get me back on track tomorrow!

Day 5 - Body For Life - The ups, downs and noises of working out

Getting up today sucked. I felt like total crap. I woke up in a panic at 6:00am and wasn’t sure why. I knew there was something I had to do, but couldn’t recall what. I hit snooze. It’s now 6:08am. Again, what the hell? Why do I feel like total crap and why do I have this sense of urgency?

Damn it! I need to workout! I love contests. I thrive when it’s time to compete, but at the end of the week getting out of bed is bull crap.

I did the upper body workout again. It was fine once I got going.

Do you grunt when you workout? If I have some heavy weights I’m lifting, I give a little grunt or grown sometimes. You could probably hear it a few feet away. So, today… there’s this one guy who sounded like he was doing one of two possible things during each lift. Since I’m naturally curious, I looked to see what kind of ridiculous weight he was lifting. He had 50 pounds on a lat pulldown bar! WTF?!?! You have to be a real a-hole to make that kind of noise.

You know what else I hate? I hate when people think they need to drop dumbbells after their lift. Are they SO exhausted that they’ve completely lost the ability to grip the damn bar?

Day 4 - Body For Life Cardio Workout

I feel great today! I literally haven’t felt this good in quite some time. This challenge is giving me confidence and structure. I’ve resisted tempting treats and stuck to a decent diet. I had an egg sandwich this morning and a protein meal replacement drink at lunch. I did the elliptical cardio workout again and hit the 172 mark for heart rate again! I really pushed at the end. I wanted to stop, but I kept going and worked harder in the final minutes.

It’s a great feeling to get this back. This will. This drive.

I’m looking forward to another awesome upper body workout tomorrow morning.

Day 3 - Body For Life Lower body / abs

Today I am incredibly sore from my Day 1 upper body workout. My wife joined me on this workout. She has been working out for quite some time and is much more advanced than I in terms of the soreness factor you experience when beginning a training regimen, in addition to the fact she has incredible endurance!

At the gym some guy asked if I’m working out under a program. I told him BFL. He seemed very familiar with the program and asked how often I do abs. I told him I do them on lower body days. He suggested that I do abs EVERY DAY. He said, “Abs are made at the dinner table. Abs are made at the dinner table.” I laughed along with him out of courtesy. You know, It does seem like abs could be done more often. I think whoever came up with the Body For Life workout plugged abs in with lower body as a filler. The program is designed to get you in and out in about 45 minutes on upper body and lower body days. I definitely don’t think it would hurt to do abs more often. I might sneak some in at home on a random basis.

This was a pretty decent workout for me. I did leg curls for my hamstrings and began cramping badly during my 3rd set. I also had some serious cramping during the abs workout. I’m excited about getting Day 3 over with in the morning!

Thanks random ab suggester guy at the gym.

I had an egg sandwich for breakfast with whole grain bread. I’m hungrier than usual during the day which I attribute to the extra exercise in my life. I suppose the hunger pain is all part of the gain.

Progress hurts, but I like it.