by Mike Vifquain on August 22, 2011
I’m Married! I’m happy to report that I have married Juliette, the special girl who originally inspired me to create this blog.
As of today, I am 286lbs. I’m not quite sure why I can’t seem to dedicate myself to weight loss as I once did. Perhaps its because I am happy with my life as is. I am eating better, and much less than before, which has resulted in some weight loss. However I am still not hitting the gym steadily. Tomorrow I will get back into the gym, and slowly work my way back to getting fit. Wish me luck!
by Mike Vifquain on June 9, 2010
Yep, I admit it. I’m a bad blogger.
Life has gotten in the way of my blog posts, once again. Here I am almost 90 days later, a few lbs heavier and finally posting about it.
First – The Good news:
- I have still been working out. (Weight training 3-5 days a week)
- I have increased my strength, BIG TIME!
- I have added 8-10lbs muscle mass
- I haven’t been traveling.
Now – The Bad News:
- My diet sucks. I’m not eating often enough or well enough.
- I am not doing enough cardio, in addition to my weight training.
- I have gained a few lbs. (287lbs as of this morning)
One could argue that the bad really isn’t that bad; I’ve added muscle and maintained fat %, while really not pushing cardio and a proper diet. I don’t see it that way. My initial goal was to lose 100lbs by today. I have lost only 20.
Lets cut to the chase here and let you be the judge.
Now, if we compare to the pics in my last post you will see a few things:
- I am MUCH more tan. Its summer and I am out on the boat a lot!
- I am definitely “larger”. But is this muscle growth or fat?
- I clearly have no fear of posting embarrassing “fat” pics of me online.
I know what I need to do. I know I need to get more serious, but didn’t I say this before?
I’m searching for some encouragement by way of true criticism with this post.
What do you think of my status here? What is your take on my status pic? Better/worse?
by Mike Vifquain on March 13, 2010
Here I am, 92 days into my journey and I’m still feeling lost. The weight just isn’t coming off how I intended. Not like “last time.”
As I mentioned in the last post, I needed to do something different. I needed to hold myself accountable. I am.
Just over a week ago I started attending a “Punch Boxing for Fitness” class for cardio, in addition to my weight training. I must say, it’s a really good workout – and keeping me motivated. It’s a mix of stretching, calisthenics and boxing that is always followed by a great core/ab workout. I leave the class drenched in sweat and feeling great about myself. It’s addicting. Almost too addicting. I’ve been every day since I registered. I forced myself to take yesterday off as to not “overtrain.”
For the first time in over a month, I saw the scale move.
Current weight: 283lbs
To be totally honest with you, I gained 3lbs the week before, so I was 288lbs. This moves this weeks “real loss” to 5lbs. Hooray me!
It’s taken me 92 days to lose 23lbs. I was sure I would be down at least 50lbs by now. I’m not.
Head up, Think Positive and Move Forward.
by Mike Vifquain on February 24, 2010
On February 1st I was excited. I finally broke my initial goal of losing 20lbs with my weigh-in of 285lbs. At that time I started to focus not only on cardio, but lifting weights. Things were looking up.
Then I went to LA for work, and got stuck in snow on my way back to Florida. I got sick, which meant no workouts for a week. Fast forward to now and we get to todays weigh-in.
Drum roll please….
Current weight: 285lbs
I didn’t lose a damn bit of weight! Could it be the sick week with no workouts? Could it be the weights I am lifting 3-4 days a week?
I feel like I wasted all of February, instead of losing the 10-15lbs I had targetted! I guess no loss is better than a gain, but it’s still ZERO PROGRESS!
So, I’m left trying to figure how to get myself out of this rut. I need to think a little more about my course of action, however I think this is what I am going to change.
1) Log my food and calorie intake on DailyBurn.com. I’ve already started to do this and see that I am eating way to more carbs than I thought.
2) Increase my daily cardio from 30-45 minutes to 45-60 minutes while paying much closer attention to my heart rate.
3) Take body measurements and track them much closer.
4) Most important. Really watch what I eat. It’s time to really get serious.
I will organize my thoughts and plan a bit more and post here.
by Mike Vifquain on February 1, 2010
285.0lbs Posting a big weight-loss at an unexpected time!
Wow! After yesterdays post I was sure I packed on the pounds. I woke up this morning and hopped on the scale to a huge surprise!
Weight: 285.0lbs (-3.3lbs)
First goal FINALLY reached! Now setting my next goal of 250lbs. Its attainable. I won’t put a time limit on this one. I hope I can drop the 35lbs by April 1st though. We will see.
by Mike Vifquain on January 23, 2010
I am still sleeping … kinda.
After returning home late Wednesday night I have been trying to catch up on sleep and work. It hasn’t left much time for anything else. I’ve made it to the gym every day, and even managed a lifting session with my training buddy on Thursday.
Blog posts have been few and far between, as you have seen. I promise to get back on track next week once I’m not so beat.
On to the good news! I managed to lose weight on my trip! I weighed in Thursday morning and was surprised to see a drop in my weight!
Weight: 288.3lbs (-2.7lbs)
I dropped almost 3lbs on my 11 day trip. While this isn’t the 3lbs per week I would like to lose, this is still a raging success! I can lose weight while I travel!
While this is a success, I don’t consider it a victory. I have a long way to go. I know I can make better choices. I still enjoyed pasta, steak and the bread and butter that is served before meals. I look back now wishing I would have ordered the grilled chicken instead of the kobe flat iron steak. I wish I would have only had 1 piece of bread with butter rather than the 3 or 4 pieces before each dinner. While I only had a “taste” of the 3-cheese macaroni and scalloped potatoes, I could have skipped them. The key here is I am still living my life and losing weight. If I tighten the reigns a little more for these first few months, I can accelerate my weight-loss and then let up a bit once I hit my target.
I am reminded once again that exercise is only 20% of the battle. A proper diet really does make a difference.
On a side note, I while on my trip I stopped at a local Starbucks and found a great tasting snack!
Sahale Snacks - Soledad Almonds with apple flax seeds, date, balsamic vinegar & red pepper
They tasted great and were very light on the calories. I plan to search for these online and order them in bulk!
