Astronomical Aspirations

I was inspired watching the Mini-series "From the Earth to the Moon" last night. The episode entitled "For Miles And Miles" details Alan B Shepard Jr's successes and failures. Here is a description of his NASA career as stated by Wikipedia. "He piloted the Freedom 7 mission and became the second person, and the first American, to travel into space but in early 1964, Shepard was diagnosed with Ménière's disease, a condition in which fluid pressure builds up in the inner ear. This syndrome causes the semicircular canals and motion detectors to become extremely sensitive, resulting in disorientation, dizziness, and nausea. This condition caused him to be removed from flight status for most of the 1960s."
Alan never stopped striving to return to space. "Shepard was restored to full flight status in May 1969, following corrective surgery (using a newly developed method) for Ménière's disease. At age 47, and the oldest astronaut in the program, Shepard made his second space flight as commander of Apollo 14, January 31–February 9, 1971, America's third successful lunar landing mission. Shepard piloted his Lunar Module Antares to the most accurate landing of the entire Apollo program."

The episode had an inspiring message that we can all benefit from. Never let go of your dreams! Most likely none of us will have the opportunity to fly in space but we can still have the conviction to strive for our dreams regardless of their size.

On a side note: In the Episode, Alan B. Shepard is played by actor Ted Levine and his co-pilot on Apollo 14 is played by Gary Cole. At one point, there is a very tense moment when they are about to land on the moon. Kim (my fiance) says "come on Lumberg and the lotion guy from the silence of lamb". I almost fell of couch laughing so hard.
Gary cole
Ted Levine

Down to 289 with 17 lbs lost!

Smaller Portions you fool!

I had a little setback and my weight loss stalled this week. I have been eating clean food with the proper meal timings but I haven't been losing fat at the rate expected, so I went through my food logs and realized I have two glaring holes in my current diet. Portion control and carbohydrates(Carb) timing are two components of the diet that have been lacking.

Vegetables, lean protein and good fats have been the staple of the diet so far but I haven't been eating the correct portions. I have gone back for seconds too often over the last two weeks. You hear a lot of dietitians talk about waiting 20 minutes after initialing eating and judging whether your still hungry. I think I will need to incorporate this idea into my eating patterns.

The Second issue I failed to address adequately was my carb timing. When I talk about carbs, I am referring to starchy carbs because a lot foods have carbs that don't affect blood sugar the way starchy carbs can. Dr. John Berardi speaks of rewarding yourself for exercising by eating carbs. Ingesting carbs post-workout does not have the detrimental effect on the body composition like eating carbs at other times in the day. I realized that I was not strict with my carb timing and that directly correlated to not losing as much weight/fat.

I have 164 days or 23 weeks left on the big day and I weigh 292 lbs. I need to average 2 lbs of weight over that span to get to my goal. Weight and fat loss does not occur in a linear fashion. Most of the excess is lost in the first few months of body transformations and as one gets closer to their goal the gains or losses are harder to come by.

Current Measurements:
Weight 292 lbs -14
Neck 18 inches -.5
Calf 13 inches same
Thigh 29 inches same
Upper arm 18 inches - .5
Lower arm 13 minus- .5
Chest 52 inches +1 inch
Shoulders 56 inches same
Hips 46 inches -1
waist 42 inches - 1

We lose fat the old-fashioned way...

WE BURN IT(In a John Houseman voice)! Don't log off I won't get into a diatribe about the "The Paperchase". I simply want to point out that fat lose is simple...Sticking to the plan is difficult.

All you need to do is a create calorie deficit, exercise frequently and recover using healthy foods and rest. In today's world information is transferred at a amazing pace but unfortunately the science of fat loss is not advancing at the same rate. We may not know the exact mechanisms involved but we do have anecdotal information on what works for fat loss.

If our nutrition, supplementation, and rest is effective, then what is the best strategy for exercise? Create demanding full body workouts that create metabolic disturbances for days following exercise. The term "EPOC" is often used to describe this phenomenon and it simply means excess postexercise oxygen consumption. What does that mean? After working out the body is attempting to restore itself to pre-workout state. The body continues to expend energy for multiple hours post workout, up to 48 hours in some cases.

How do we accomplish EPOC in workouts? The most efficient way is to include circuit training and complexes in our routines. These workouts should be short and intense with little or no rest between exercises.

Why don't more people use this system in their training?... Because it is friggin HARD WORK but its worth it!

I am currently at 293 lbs. and have lost 13 lbs of weight in ten days. I will have my full measurements and pictures available early next week.

Evil Scottish program design

Alwyn Cosgrove has created the ultimate fat loss plan! When I initially lost my weight I utilized his Afterburn and Afterburn II programs. Last time I lost my focus before I realized my goals.
That will not happen this time! I have 24 weeks till my wedding and I started the Afterburn II program today which last for 12 weeks. At that point, I will reevaluate what I am looking to accomplish and I will adjust accordingly. I decided with all of the diet and lifestyle issue I am dealing with writing a fat loss program for myself was not something I was looking forward to. So I am going to use a fantastic program that I can immediately implement.

Today's workout started with my Intu-flow and foam rolling plus some dynamic warm-up exercises from Magnificent Mobility.

The workout started with a complex of exercises including rows, hang cleans, front squat presses, back squats and good mornings. Anyone of these exercises can be taxing by themselves but a complex combines all of them into one set is just pure evil. I performed 4 sets with 90 seconds rest. I knew it was good workout early because I started wondering if I was going to make it through.

The second part of the workout contains 4 exercises that you rotate between: Bulgarian split squats, Push-ups, Supine hip extensions on a ball, and Supine rows with a jungle gym with feet on a ball. The last item is normally easy, but planks held for time kick your ass at the end of a workout, especially if you focus on using your Transverse abdominal (TVA) muscles and squeezing the glutes.

Last week I performed workouts that were designed to let my body recuperate from the strongman training I had been performing. The goal now is fat loss! I would like to keep a lot of the strength I gained the past few months.

After a week of mostly dieting and light exercises I lost 8 lbs. Let's see what happens when we add a fat loss exercise program into the mix.

Flexible Living

I have an event this weekend that will take up this evening and most of the day tomorrow. Food preparation will accomplished this afternoon. I plan on making 8 meals, which is probably too much but this the will insure that I don't miss any feeding opportunities. Intuitively you would think that eating more often would cause a person to gain weight but the opposite is actually seen. The meals I am preparing are more like large snacks than big meals. An example of meal might consist of a Chicken wrap( Flatout wraps with chicken breasts, mixed greens, hummus and carrots is my current favorite) and another might include a handful of unsalted nuts. Nutritionists like John Berardi talk about eating every 2-3 hours to boost the metabolism and avoid drastic drops in blood sugar. For more information on the 10 habits of successful dieting please visit Precision Nutrition.

Goal number 5 is to be flexible enough to do a full split

I am currently working with Lauri Ruddach, who is a fitness phenomenon and along with her kettlebell prowess she is an accomplished yoga instructor. I will incorporate Intu-flow everyday to help keep my connective tissue healthy and keep my body limber. Several times a week, I will incorporate traditional yoga routines like the sun salutations to develop my flexibility. As I progress Lauri has planned for me to start Prasara yoga.
The best benefit of increase flexibilty is cool ways you can choke people!

What you can learn from the biggest loser

Ali Vincent lost an incredible 122 pounds (47.86%) on NBC's Biggest Loser and looks great. I am inspired by her accomplishment and had the opportunity to listen to several of her interviews and found a two common themes. She said her weight gain was gradual process over many years and she had to deal with the realization that she will have weight problems for the rest of her life.

Weight gain is normally a gradual process. If it was a dynamic process then people would most likely act upon it sooner. 2-3 lbs. a month of weight gain doesn't seem like a lot but that could mean gaining over 100 lbs. in 3 years. As we gain weight we rationalize the behaviors that are creating the weight. I had a stressful day so....I deserve this quart of Ben and Jerry's cookie dough. The sad part is the indulging of the junk food creates more problems that one would think. Your energy balance is going to be negatively affected as well as your mindset because you will feel depressed and guilty.

The realization that weight problems will always be present has to be recognized before any hope for long term success can be obtained. A reset of your internal consciousness is needed before any long term physical changes seen. If I don't fix the reasons behind my emotional eating then I will fail eventually. The contestants on show were constantly reminded to look into the feelings to find the root causes of their weight gain.

My fourth goal... reset my internal mind to love the way I look
I was unfortunately a large fat kid and was typically 5-6 inches taller than every one in my class. There was no where to hide from the verbal abuse. Instead of acting out against the abusers I chose to swallow my sadness with every bite of food. Luckily my father and brother were both extremely active so I wasn't allowed to be sedentary. Now, loving the way I look does not mean that I am satisfied with it and is actually the complete opposite. I love myself enough to not shove crappy foods and beverages into my system. Loving myself enough to control the stresses that come into my body and changing the mindset from one, who is ready to fail, to one that will not fail.

By the way I am down 9 lbs. since Monday!

Victorious on two fronts

Phillies win, Phillies win, Phillies win, Darren wins, Darren wins, Darren wins. I was able to see a comeback from favorite baseball team last night. Down three runs in the bottom of ninth, the Phillies scored four runs on two homer runs and double that scored the runner from first base. The base runner actually went through the cries of "stop" by the third base coach and successfully avoided the catcher's tag. Check out the video: Phillies vs. Astros

I successfully stayed on my diet because I had planned ahead. I had a protein shake after my training and ordered chicken breasts and vegetables, at the McFadden's bar at Citizens bank park, while my girlfriend ate a burger and had a beer. The ballpark was filled with familiar smells of very tempting items but I wasn't hungry and I was determined not to fail. Once nice thing about not indulging on the junk food was the savings on my wallet. $6.50 for a 16 ounce beer bottle is outrageous and I saw people throwing them back at an alarming rate. Now, I know I sound like a martyr but I just want to point out that I had as much fun last night as I have at sporting events where I was intoxicated.

The third goal of my training:
I am going to do 10+ bodyweight pull-ups from a dead hang to my throat touching the bar. 10 or more pull-ups would be a great accomplishment for me because up until 4 years ago I had never completed one. I was strong but not strong enough to pull my 300 lbs over the bar. Instead of trying to improve my pull-ups I started doing heavy pulldowns on machines. The problem is that pulldowns and pull-ups appear to be the same movement but they are not.

While performing a pull-up you raise your body around a fixed point.The exercise requires a lot of body control and works a great portion of your upper body including the abdominals.

I couldn't take advantage of this great exercise until I learned how to use force produced by my back muscles instead of trying to use my arms. I started out lowering myself for a specified time and eventually I was able to get one rep. At 280 lbs. I was able to get 7 repetitions and I hope to be 30-40 lbs lighter than that by the end of the transformation, so I should be able to get 10+ reps. Most trainers will tell you the fastest way to increase your pull-ups is to lose weight!

When you perform a pulldown your body is fixed and you pull the bar down around it. The movement is lot easier to perform and doesn't work as many muscle groups as the pull-up.

The assisted pull-up machine is no better than the pulldown because of the way the body is fixed to the knee pad or foot pad depending on the model type.

What I found for myself and my clients is the addition of a Flexband assists people in performing pull-ups before they are strong enough to perform multiple repetitions.

For more information on stretch bands visit:
Elite Fitness

Nachos, beer, and dollar dogs oh my...

Dollar dog night, surely you must be joking!!! Today is a great day. I have light workload, Brazilian Jujitsu practice and I received tickets to the Phillies/Astros game at Citizen's Bank Ballpark, which is the seventh level of hell for anyone on a diet. Literally, you can't go more than ten feet with out stepping on food land mines like, cheese steaks, pizza, popcorn, pretzels, sausages, ribs, candy, nachos, sodas, ice cream, beer, and a 9 lb nestle crunch bar to name a few.

I will be fine though because it is my second day of the diet and I am still in the excited phase. I think anyone that has started a diet knows this feeling. I have a lot of self confidence and resolve to complete the task. My meals for the week are planned and so far I haven't gotten tired of veggies and lean protein. How long will it last before I have to deal with the reality of what I am attempting to accomplish?

Second Goal for the transformation
I will not consume calorie containing drinks except for my post-workout shake. Water and green tea will be my only drinks for the next 178 days. No alcohol, soda, or fruit juices will be ingested. But isn't fruit juice healthy...No todays modern processing makes fruit juices basically sugar water. It is always better to eat the fruit than drink its juice.

and the following article describes why we shouldn't drink soda...

What Happens To Your Body If You Drink A Coke Right Now?

by Wade Meredith on December 8th, 2006

*

Have you ever wondered why Coke comes with a smile? It’s because it gets you high. They took the cocaine out almost a hundred years ago. You know why? It was redundant.

• In The First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down.
• 20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (There’s plenty of that at this particular moment)
• 40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.
• 45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.
• >60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.
• >60 Minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolyte and water.
• >60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, pissed away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like even having the ability to hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth.

This will all be followed by a caffeine crash in the next few hours. (As little as two if you’re a smoker.) But, hey, have another Coke, it’ll make you feel better.

*FYI: The Coke itself is not the enemy, here. It’s the dynamic combo of massive sugar doses combined with caffeine and phosphoric acid. Things which are found in almost all soda

179 days and counting

I have several reasons for preparing my body for my wedding day. Some of the reasons are vain(Damm Sexy), but most have deal with creating a successful program that will keep me healthy and add to my quality of life. In the past, I have told myself that I would prepare and get in shape for various events but never achieved what I set out to do. The problem was I never defined my goals. "I wanted to be lean", what does that mean? I never set up parameters for my goals. A better goal would have been something that is measurable like body fat percentage or girth measurements (tape measure).

First measurable goal deals with food because:

MY NAME IS DARREN AND I AM A FAST FOODAHOLIC.
Unlike some people I can't have an occasional fast food meal. One meal and I am hooked like an addict. I have in the past gone through stages where I didn't have Fast Food for several years. One trip to Burger King and I had a drug like episode. I literally felt a drug like response in my body.
Goal #1 No More Fast Food ...None. If I want a burger I will make it myself. I have proven that some people can not handle eating Fast Food and much like addict I am just asking for trouble if I ever do indulge.

And if you think I could go into McDonald's or Wendy's and order a salad your dreaming. Yes, I remember times when I ate a salad and painfully watched people at the table scarfing down the food I really wanted. So to avoid that kind of pain I will just stay away from fast food restaurants.

The truth is I would eat at Fast Food because I hadn't planned ahead and it was convenient. Food preparation is the key. More on that later.

Personal Stats
weight 306 lbs.
height 76 inches
waist 43 inches
Hips 48 inches
Chest 52 inches
arms 19 inches
forearms 13.5 inches
legs 29 inches
calves 18 inches
Shoulders 56 inches
neck 18.5 inches
Body Fat % 22

Prelude to a transformation

Why do I want to make a change?

I have been following a pattern of losing and gaining weight for a large part of my adult life. When I was a kid I was fat and awkward and I created body image issues that I still deal with. It wasn't until I reached high school and showed some athletic prowess that I came out of my shell and started feeling good about myself. I was lucky enough to control my weight through the sports I participated in. The energy I expended in these sports allowed me to develop atrocious eating and drinking habits with minimal consequences.
However, that all changed when I finished college and started working a 9-5 job and I ended up +350 lbs.








I took 4 years and a lot work to lose over 100lbs. I made a lot of progress but I wanted to be leaner. It has been 1 and 1/2 years and I gained 30 lbs of the weight back and it is time to finish what I started. My six month journey will culminate with my wedding day!





Over the next few days, I will describe all of the components that will make up a body transformation and how they relate to my journey. I will have also get a lot of assistance from many experts.