Six Months Of Lifting Weights And I'm Finally Getting The Hang Of It

The results of my weight lifting have been pretty awesome

Growing up with an older brother who played football in high school was pretty intimidating. I didn't care a bit in the world about growing muscles, participating in athletics, or doing anything physically active. It just wasn't my cup of tea at the time and I had no problem playing alto saxophone in the marching band, pushing myself academically in preparation for college, and anything else that would keep me from EVER lifting a single weight in my life.

Of course, this was incredibly stupid on my part because I had no idea that building up my muscles would aid in fat and calorie burning which might have kept me from becoming a 410-pound morbidly obese slob of a man as an adult. Thankfully I was able to find a diet plan that would enable me to shed that weight at the age of 32 and now I am in the midst of a journey to actively make my body stronger, leaner, and more powerful than it has ever been. BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!

It was in December 2007 when I started my resistance training program in earnest for the first time in my entire life and I was dead serious about it this time. I've dibble dabbled with lifting weights before but didn't know what the heck I was doing, so I hired a personal trainer at my local gym to help me with proper form, effective repetitions, and the weekly accountability and motivation I needed to do this right.

After just one month, I was seeing some incredible results already and in three months it was that much more pronounced. I had no doubt in my mind that the muscle growth and tone would take place, but it's nice to see it in real life on ME! What a feeling it is to actually be strong enough to carry in all the groceries at one time without straining at all. Or lifting the couch up for my wife Christine when she vacuums. Or even slamming the ball down with force during my Tuesday night volleyball games. I'm a different man now than I was before--and I like it!

In my previous update after three months, I was complaining about the consistent pain I was experiencing after every single workout. It was rather excruciating in the first few months and I really did want to stop doing it (especially with the double whammy of seeing my weight go up by 30 pounds and STAY up since I began lifting weights). But I'm not a quitter and I didn't want to pay the penalty to get out of my contract with my personal trainer who I have enjoyed working with.

And so I pressed on.


It's a great feeling when you see muscle development

Now it's been a half-year for me lifting weights and I wanted to update you on how it's going. The delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) I was having is still there, but not nearly as severe as it was. My trainer especially likes working my abdominal muscles each time and I feel those for 2-3 days after working out. My shoulders, biceps, and quadriceps get a little sore as well, but I can handle it now very well. To me, it's a sign that the muscle was adequately exhausted which will result in quality muscle growth. After six months, I think I'm finally getting the hang of it.

I certainly have a lot more to learn about lifting weights, but I have just enough knowledge now to make me dangerous. The muscles that have started to appear on my body are bigger and more defined than I ever thought possible. No, I'm no Arnold Schwarzenegger or Mr. Olympia, but I'd say the changes are pretty remarkable for someone in his mid-30s who has NEVER ever lifted weights in his entire life. It may sound a little egotistical to say this, but I'm pretty proud of myself for doing something like this for myself.

Let's take a look at my progress since I started in December 2007. Here are some before and after photos in the six months I have been training about twice a week (one 30-minute session with my trainer and one self-guided 30-minute workout):



My neck has DEFINITELY gotten bigger because my collared button-up shirts are getting tight around the top button when I put on a tie. The muscle growth in my upper body has been pretty extraordinary. The same thing about the tightness in my clothes is happening in my shoulders and upper arms as the muscle growth continues to progress well in those specific areas.



Here you can see where I've put on the extra weight in my stomach, but you can also see the muscles in the neck, shoulders, and arms that weren't there before. When we figure out what's happening with my weight and get it back down again, then I can't wait for even more definition to start showing up in my upper body, including my chest and abs.



The back side view again shows the muscles I have grown in the neck, shoulders, triceps and forearm that weren't there before. My trainer works my arms, shoulders and back regularly, so it's no wonder those are the areas I'm seeing results.

As of right now, I weigh 264 pounds--up 29 pounds since I started my resistance training six months ago. Sure, some of that weight is muscle, but my personal trainer estimates the actual muscle weight I have put on is around 5-7 pounds. The rest is fat and that is so not cool. Again, I'm working on that with a low-carb doctor and will be going back for more tests next week to see if we can see why this is happening. It could be totally unrelated to my diet or I may need to tweak a few things with my possible reactive hypoglycemia strategy to make it work for me.

For those of you who are wondering, no I'm not taking the creatine anymore. I did it for six weeks at the beginning of my resistance training regimen and have been completely off of it since the beginning of February. Any remnants of that stuff should be out of my system by now, so it's still a mystery why I have been unable to take the weight off that has come on me. If we figure it out, then you'll be the first to know about it.

If you are thinking about adding some resistance training to your healthy lifestyle, then DO IT! I cannot say enough positive things about what lifting weights can and will do for your health. And don't worry about "bulking up" as it takes a lot of aggressive heavy lifting to make that happen. Hire a personal trainer, read a book like Slow Burn by Fred Hahn or The New Rules of Lifting for Women by Cassandra Forsythe, and even join a gym if you'd like. Of course, you don't really NEED any of those things to grow your muscles if you just lift your own body weight at home. But I've found the accountability that comes from getting dead serious about doing this is worth every penny you spend to get there. NEVER GIVE UP!!!

Dangit, My Apple iPhone Was Stolen Today!

Six months after getting my iPhone, it was stolen from me

Can I whine just a bit for a moment? WAH!

I'm just a little bummed out right now because earlier today my beloved iPhone was stolen. Yep, right from under my nose, the dad-blamit thing just disappeared on me. What makes it worse is that it happened at the gym likely while I was using the abdominal equipment to do my 150 crunches (as part of my new commitment to resistance training). Double whammy! UGH!

I know, I know, some of you are laughing hysterically right now because you feel utter glee that I would allow myself to lose something like an iPhone which I paid $600 for back in August 2007 (they've since dropped the price to $400). Alright, got that out of your system now? Good. For the rest of you without iPhone envy syndrome, I have to tell you that little gizmo was one of the best business investments I'd ever made. Besides my computer, that phone was my lifeline to so many facets of what I do. And it had EVERYTHING about me on it (but I'm not worried about identity theft since I got LifeLock four months ago to protect me).

But now my iPhone is gone in the blink of an eye. Shoot!

Here's what happened: Around noon today, I drove down to the gym to get in a quick 30-minute resistance training workout before running some errands to the bank and to pick up some kitty litter and cat food from PetSmart. The first thing I did when I got to Peak Fitness was head straight to the machine to do my abdominal workout since my personal trainer wants me to get in at least 100 a day (I've been doing 150).

As always, I kept my iPhone in my left pocket in case I got any calls while I was out. It's the same place I always keep it when I exercise and I've never had an issue. In my right pocket was my Sony Walkman to listen to the radio while I worked out. I went through my entire routine working on my abs and arms today, ran my errands, got home, and only took three steps inside before I felt down my left pocket for my iPhone and it wasn't there.

My heart immediately sunk (don't you just HATE that feeling?!).

Before I even spoke to my wife Christine, I raced out the door to my car and hurriedly drove back to the gym that was about a mile away from my house. When I got there, I asked the attendant at the front desk if anyone had turned in a cell phone. He starts digging for a box and said, "You can check in this box we have." I explained I was just there less than an hour before and that it would have been turned in recently. He said nothing was brought to him.

My heart sunk some more.

So I retraced all my steps in the gym and headed straight for the abdominal machine first. Not there. I looked around all the equipment and weights where I had been to see if it has slipped out around them. Same result...not there. I was getting sick to my stomach thinking that this little expensive apparatus that is one of the lifebloods of what I do had been stolen by a member or staff at my gym. ARGH ARGH ARGH!

Okay, so I seethed all the way back home and had to break the news to Christine who was the level-headed one for once when she suggested we call the police and file a stolen item report, call our insurance company to file a claim against our home owner's insurance, and call AT&T to suspend the usage of the iPhone until we can sort this thing out. Before I did all of that, though, I decided to call my cell phone number to see if someone had it and wanted to return it to the proper owner. But after three attempts and it went to voicemail each time, we started making the calls.

What was supposed to be an afternoon filled with getting some regular work in--making calls, doing some research, and blogging before the BCS Championship game tonight--turned into nearly five hours of being put on hold, transferred, sharing information, and the whole rigmarole you go through when something like this happens. We all have been through something like this at one time or another, so today was my lucky day. Ain't it great? NOT!

We suspended the telephone number with AT&T so the creep that has my iPhone couldn't make calls (as if he would even try that anyway since that would open himself up to being caught). I wasn't really worried about him/her running up the bill because I had a TON of minutes on there and AT&T has the rollover minutes as well. The person would have to talk nonstop for days before the bill would have been run up.

The next call was to Allstate to report this with my homeowner's policy. The deductible is $250 and I paid $600 six months ago for my iPhone, so we should get a little assistance with paying for a replacement phone. The actual report will be taken by a third-party processor on Tuesday so wish us luck!

Finally, we called the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Department here in Spartanburg, South Carolina to report my iPhone being stolen. The very nice woman who took the report responded, "Oh my!" when I told her my iPhone was the item taken. She indicated the phone is a hot commodity for thieves. Not what I wanted to hear!

More rumbling in my stomach! Grrrrr!!!

But then some relatively good news started happening. I found a couple of old Apple credits that I had not used and decided to call them up to purchase a new iPhone to replace the stolen one. I was concerned about whether I had enough money in the bank to cover the replacement since our checking account balance was about $400. We don't use credit cards, so our check card was the only other payment option. After the two credits were applied, the total cost on our check card was just over $300. WHEW! That's $300 I didn't want to spend, but I need my iPhone again! They said it should be here by the end of the week.

Then I received a check in the mail today that fully replenished our checking account (Thank you Lord!) and helped us pay for the new phone. I drove down to the AT&T store and transferred my cell phone number that was on my iPhone to my old cell phone until the new iPhone arrives. At least I'll still get my calls from clients and be able to call long distance in the interim.

As for the punk who stole my iPhone, it's pretty much useless to him now. I've reported the serial number--75727M6HWH8--as STOLEN with AT&T, my insurance, and with the cops, so he's screwed if he tries to sell it or reactivate it for his own personal use. For the life of me, I cannot even begin to imagine what would compel somebody to think that taking something that doesn't belong to them is even remotely the right thing to do. The guilt of doing something like that would eat me alive.

I am thankful that the phone was simply taken and not robbed from me. I guess it would have been worse had the thief hit me upside the head with a blunt object or pointed a gun at me in order to steal my iPhone. Not only would I have been out the phone, but then I would have needed to have my head examined (some would say I need to anyway!) or I would have been shot. EEEEK!

Christine said this whole incident had her so stressed today she wanted to eat carbs (she recently started back eating strict low-carb again to lose some weight she gained during our recent IVF cycle). But she resisted the urge and stuck to plan. I'm proud of her because stressful times are no reason to give in to carbs! She made me so proud. :)

Alright, enough of my whining already. Dangit, my Apple iPhone was stolen today, but at least there was a somewhat happy ending. All will be back to normal again by the end of the week--except for that $300 or so hit to my wallet! I'll have to chalk it up to another one of those tried and true lessons in the school of hard knocks that we all go through.

Government-Subsidized Gym Memberships?

Meredith says obesity would drop with universal access to fitness clubs

When I write about various topics of interest at my blog, the feedback that I receive from people about my posts usually spawns another discussion entirely on a similar subject matter. And that's exactly what has happened today.

I received an e-mail from a 20-year old Pilates Instructor from Los Angeles, California named Meredith who wanted to comment on my recent column entitled "Obesity: A Product Of Affluence Or Poverty?" As a certified fitness trainer and health advocate through her Pilates classes and at her blog The Pilates Body, Meredith has an intriguing perspective about what she believes is needed to help reverse the obesity epidemic in the United States and the unique role the government should play in that.

Here's what she wrote to me:

I love the passion you have for this important topic. And congratulations to you for making such a huge accomplishment!

I thought your statement about not "waiting on the government to come up with a plan" was the most notable. I agree it is not the responsibility of the government to help the obese and overweight lose the pounds, and I also do not think they should wait around for the government to do something.

However, I think the government should provide the ability for everyone to be a member of a health club or fitness program. As a Pilates instructor, I know it can be incredibly expensive to have a consistent trainer and pay for club memberships. Americans simply do not have the extra money to pay for these things.

If employers and insurance companies covered fitness regimens in their policies, I truly believe people could stay motivated to lose the weight and keep it off. It’s all about access and motivation, and I think there is something the government—and employers--can do!

So, Meredith, in essence, believes we should have government-subsidized gym memberships since many people cannot afford to pay for them. That's the premise of her solution to the obesity problem in a nutshell. But I have several concerns with this proposal she has made.

From an anecdotal standpoint, let me offer my experience about free gym memberships. I was extremely fortunate when I began livin' la vida low-carb in January 2004 because I work for a company that provides as part of the benefits package a complimentary family membership to the YMCA. How fortuitous! To Meredith's point, at the time I believed there was NO way I would have been able to afford the hundreds of dollars annually to be a member.

However, after losing 180 pounds in part because of my daily workouts at the YMCA, I spoke with the head of benefits last year bragging about how much I enjoy going to the gym and she shared with me a startling statistic--98 percent of the employees in the company have NEVER used their free gymn membership. NEVER. As in, they don't go. They haven't even bothered to darken the doors even once. Holy cow, what's going on? And the membership even includes three FREE sessions with a certified fitness trainer, too. EEEEK! What's wrong with these people?!

Sadly, this says a lot about our culture. We already knew that people in general are lazy and unmotivated to get started about making necessary changes in their lives. It took me 32 years to finally get serious about my health and weight problem. While it may sound good to provide every American with a free gym membership compliments of the United States government and/or their employer, what's the reality going to be? Will people take actually advantage of it or just ignore it completely? If the trend among my fellow co-workers is any indication, then it doesn't appear very much would change.

That's not to say I think Meredith's idea is necessarily a bad one considering all the other ridiculous social programs that our government has come up with over the years. But how effective would having fitness classes like the ones she teaches available at no charge if the people who need it the most choose to stay at home snacking on Cheetos while watching football? I don't think we have a budget problem necessarily, Meredith, but rather a refusing-to-budge one instead. :)

Speaking of money, though, your other point was that people can't afford a gym membership. I have to disagree with that and here's why. If paying to be a member of a fitness club was indeed a priority to them, then people would allocate money from their personal budget to pay for it. Period. We do it all the time with extra expenses such as fast food, bowling, golf, movies, vacations, etc. Health clubs could be subsidized by replacing some of these other activities with payments to this place that could help them lose weight and get into shape. We buy what we want to buy and, unfortunately, gym memberships aren't at the top of the list.

Let me put on my public policy hat for a moment (I have an M.A. in the subject) and talk about this issue of "the government's money." In a nutshell, THEY DON'T HAVE ANY MONEY! Not one red cent. What they have is OUR money and we have elected them to be the caretakers of that money to provide the best services to the Americans who need assistance. This is a reality that too many people forget about when election time comes and they fall prey to the pork barrel legislation that their Congressman promises to them. Isn't that so nice of them to spend my money on such inconsequential things!

When you start talking about the government paying for gym memberships, what you are basically saying is that people will be paying the government more money in the form of higher taxes to pay for themselves to have a gym membership. So, in the end, people actually CAN afford to join a health club when the government mandates it by offering universal gym memberships. UGH!

Furthermore, if the government stops short of funding the gym memberships out of the federal budget and instead passes legislation requiring business owners to give their employees open access to their local health club, then they are simply passing on an unfunded mandate to companies who will be forced to reduce their payroll dollars or raise their prices to be able to afford this incentive for their employees. Why do we want to put this onus on the foundation of our economy? Is it their duty to make their employees get fit?

Is this really the answer, Meredith? You know I'm a big supporter of exercise, but that's not the entire answer regarding obesity. We also need a multitude of nutritional approaches promoted to help people make wise choices about their weight problem. Since the government already dishes out unsolicited dietary advice, it certainly is within their realm of responsibility to provide information about a variety of programs that people could choose from to get healthy and lose the weight.

What are your thoughts about Meredith's idea for the government and/or employers paying for a free health club for every man, woman, and child in this country? Would it work to reduce obesity? Or do you agree with me that it would be a lesson in futility, unfortunately, because people don't have the passion and desire within themselves to get healthy? Share your comments below or e-mail me at livinlowcarbman@charter.net.

9-18-06 UPDATE: Meredith blogged about her free gym membership idea today providing further support for her belief that the underprivileged are being denied access to this key part of their fitness plan.

Here's a quote from that post:

"If employers and health insurance companies included nutritional counseling and health club memberships in their policies...people would be better informed about what they put in their bodies, and they would have the opportunity to exercise safely on a daily basis. Additionally, if the companies provided incentives for employees and carriers participating in a fitness and nutrition routines, Americans would be much more successful in losing weight."

I still hear UNFUNDED MANDATE screaming in my ears or the BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU mentality that the federal government would bring to the table if they got involved in this issue. But even to the point of simply asking companies to provide these incentives, how many people will use them, Meredith?

I work for a pretty major company and you saw the percentage of people who never take advantage of their free gym membership. How much money is WASTED by companies trying to do something positive for the health of their employeees because they do not appreciate what they are getting? I keep waiting for the day when the benefits department sends out a notice telling us they are discontinuing the YMCA membership because of lack of participation and budget cuts. That day is coming sooner than later.