This might be a little too personal...

Weighed in at 280.2 lbs this morning. I was very happy to see that number since I forgot to weigh in yesterday. It's always scary after the weekends because I usually put a little weight back on (probably from lack of exercise). But I'm getting closer to my next goal of 275 lbs. I'm very happy with the weight loss, but I think I could do more to help reach my goal. I'm pretty much off red meat (which I miss very badly), but I still have a steak on Sundays as a reward for myself. I need to cut back on my sodium intake. Aaron told me to try different seasonings like Mrs. Dash, or lemon-pepper for some of my food, but I'm still seasoning my chicken with Tex-Joy steak seasoning (it's the best). I can probably cut some water retention by switching over. Also, my turkey hot dogs and turkey bacon are both high in sodium. I need to wane off those too. I'm sure my turkey lunch meat has a lot of sodium too, but I'm not giving that up too. Of course there's salt in my other food, but I think these are the biggest culprits. If I can handle it, I might try oatmeal for breakfast more often than turkey bacon and eggs. We'll see if that helps. Lately I've still been too tired to stick around for more than one class. I need to work on that too because it's all part of the training.

Speaking of training, I've been trying something new for the past 2 days at the gym. Not a new exercise, but some new protective equipment. This might be a little too personal for some, but I'll look at it as a public service announcement. For the past few years I've been wearing jock straps when I work out. I was never an athlete in school, so I wasn't familiar with how that equipment was supposed to work. All I know is I hurt myself a couple of times without it, and my doctor recommended that I wear one when I worked out. They're not hard to figure out, but they are way uncomfortable. I mean it really pushes your bits against your pieces, but I guess that's what it's supposed to do to protect you. There's an item on the market that does pretty much the same thing, but they're at least 3 times as expensive as jock straps. They're called compression shorts, and they perform basically the same task.

I tried 2 of the lesser expensive brands: Starter and Franklin. Yesterday I wore the Starters, and I'm really not sure how they're supposed to feel. I got the same size as the jock straps, but I had a hard time getting these undies around my thick thighs (mostly muscle of course). After a little effort, and a lot of adjustment, I got them on. They felt pretty good. It was nice to have some pressure around my legs and butt, but I wasn't sure if they offered as much support to my huevos as a jock strap. I wasn't being cradled like I was used to, but I still risked it and tried them at the gym. For the most part, I liked them. We did a lot of squats and lunges yesterday, and that's when I need support the most. It definitely didn't offer as much support as the jock straps during that exercise, but I think it offered enough support. Again, this may be a sizing issue, but I'm leaning more towards like than dislike for these shorts. I'll definitely give them another try.

Today I wore the Franklin brand. These were a little less snug than the Starters, and it came with a cup holder. Not the kind where you can put your drink, but kind where you put a protective cup to protect your groin from getting kicked or punched. I didn't wear the cup to work out because that kind of groin injury is rare for just a workout. Like I mentioned, these weren't as snug as the Starter brand, but they were the same size. We did squats again today, and I felt like these didn't offer the fellas as much support. I wonder if it's because it was designed with a protective cup in mind. The legs and butt compression felt comfortable, but I just don't think sack support was good enough. I'll try them one more time without the cup just to make sure , and then I'll try them again with the cup to see if my suspicions are correct. When I can afford it, I'd like to try some of the more expensive brands. In the meantime, I just have these 2 to work with. Tomorrow it's back to the harsh cradling of the old jock straps.

Today was a good day...so far

I wasn't too pleased with the scale this morning. Yesterday it read 282.2 lbs, and today it was up to 283.6 lbs. Not sure where the extra 1.4 lbs came from, but I think I worked it off today at the gym.

We traded shots today for part of the 9 o'clock class. I got to be the punching bag pretty much. I'm cool with that because it gives me an opportunity to practice my blocking. I'm not too proud to admit that I need a lot of practice there too. When class was over, I was doing ab exercises with one of the girls in class because she pretty much challenged me to it. I didn't get to finish though because Chris called me over to ask me a question. I was tired and pretty much ready to go home, but Chris asked me if I wanted to stay and trade punches with "Hollywood" (the guy I sometimes train with in the 10 o'clock class). Hell yeah I wanted to stay for that. I wrapped my hands again and got gloved up because I really wanted to do this. I know I have a lot of work to do before I can step into the cage for a real fight, and this only proved how much work I need. Like I said, my blocking needs work, my punches are pretty slow, and I need more cardio to keep me going. All in all, it was a great workout. Hollywood has some fast, strong punches. We weren't going full force, but I could tell he knew what he was doing. We caught each other a couple of times in the face, but nothing that will leave any cool marks. All I know is, I'm going to be sore as hell tomorrow. I can feel it in my lower back now, and my shoulders are starting to burn too. I might have a date with some Advil tonight. As much as I'm going to hurt, I'm going to rest comfortably knowing that I earned every ache and pain. Yup, today was a good day...so far.

Slowing down

I forgot to weigh myself this morning, but yesterday I was a trim 283.2 lbs. I'm still dropping, but I'm slowing down. I guess it's to be expected.

To help speed up the weight loss, I doubled up on class today at the gym. I was late again for the first class, but I made up for it in the second one. Yesterday and today were some of the most fun times I've had working out. Yesterday we got to trade punches, which was a lot of fun. Today I did the same thing in the second class. The guy I was training with today is a lot better than the ones I worked with yesterday. Obviously we weren't hitting full force, but the guy still has some good solid punches. My arm is pretty sore right now from blocking punches, and there's a pretty nasty bruise on my left arm right near my armpit. It's ugly, but I love it. I feel like I earned it. Nobody wants to get seriously injured doing this sport, but when I come home aching and sore, I feel like I'm accomplishing something. It's like having temporary battle scars. I've never had a real fight in my life. Tyler Durden said it best when he asked, "How much can you know about yourself, you've never been in a fight?" Maybe he's not the best role model, but he asks a relevant question. Now I'm searching for the answer.

The week in review

I've been at 284.6 lbs for the past few days now. While I'm happy I've reached my first goal of 285, I'm a little disappointed that I've plateaued for these past 2 or 3 days. I made it to class all 5 days this week (a couple of times on time), and now I'm shooting for my next goal of 275 lbs. This week wasn't particularly hard, and I think part of that is because I didn't double up most of my workouts. When I say it hasn't been that hard, it's not to say that it hasn't been hard at all. The reason I haven't doubled up that much is because I've been too tired after the first class to try and stay for another. My abs, back, and shoulders have really taken the worst of it this week. There's a class on Saturday mornings too that I'd like to go to. I'm not sure if I can force myself out of bed on Saturday, but I'm going to give it a shot tomorrow. I could certainly use the extra exercise.

A couple of things I'm really excited about this week. I ordered a custom mouthguard, and the impression kit came in yesterday. I'm going to have a busy weekend trying to do it correctly so I can get the right fit. Also, Chris has been shooting some video at the gym, and I'm going to edit some of it together so he can use it to help advertise the Beatdownboys Training Center. I'm really excited about that. I wish I could have shot the video myself, but the day job gets in the way of that. It's still going to be cool to edit some video again.

One last thing. I've been taking Chris' class for about 3 years now, and I never felt like my punches were any good. Today, however, I felt like I was throwing some good, solid punches. I'm not saying they were knockout bombs, but they felt like they could do some damage. Stuff like that makes me happy.

Gotta have a strong heart

This one has to be quick because I have to get ready for work. Weighed in at 287.8 lbs this morning. That's a total loss of about 20 lbs in 5.5 weeks. Not too shabby if I say so myself. I'm staying pretty loyal to the diet, except for this past weekend when my brother came to visit. We hit a Chinese buffet, and I was pretty good the first go round. I had some roasted chicken, shrimp, and some shiny green beans. Eventually I had a taste of some crappy buffet pizza, a fried spring roll, and some fried shrimp. But I didn't overdo it like I know I can. Other than that, everything has been pretty well on track.

I skipped the gym yesterday morning. I know I said I had to fight through those lazy days, but yesterday was not laziness. I was tired...dead tired, and I got some much needed extra sleep. I caught some shit for that today at the gym, but I don't think I deserved it. I also caught shit for constantly being late to class. That I deserve. I don't know why I can't seem to get there on time. It's not just at this new location either; it just seems to be a bad habit. I'm working on that, but it's going to be a process. I took the class, and it was hard as usual. Tuesday I went for approximately a mile jog with Amber, and I actually made it most of the way without walking. My hamstrings got really tight since I didn't use them yesterday, and they were killing me today. After class I did a 2 mile jog with one of the other women in class. I didn't realize what I had gotten myself into until I was a couple of blocks into it. Usually I run to warm up before class, but this was after class - after I was exhausted. I probably still ran more than I walked, but I did a lot of walking on this stint. When I finally got back to the gym, I felt like all the life and energy had been sucked out of me. I was catching my breath, and I was very aware of my heart pumping blood to meet the demand my body was putting on it. It wasn't a scary feeling. I didn't think I was going to have a heart attack, but I could feel it beating at a much faster pace than usual. I just thought to myself that I gotta have a strong heart if I'm going to make it through this training. Not just in the physical sense either. All the stuff I've described before: the guts it takes to step into the ring, the camaraderie and sportsmanship involved, and everything else that these fighters do for the love of the sport...it's all heart. That's what I need, and I'm going to have a strong heart.

Still going strong (barely)

First off, I weighed in at 289.4 lbs this morning. Chris wanted me below 290 by next week, and I made it. In fact, I'm almost to my next goal of 285 lbs. I'm not sure if I've actually burned that much fat, or if it's water, or maybe even something else. Whatever it is, I'm losing weight, and I'm eating much healthier.

All week I've been trying to workout a little extra after class - usually about 20 or 30 minutes of cardio. Yesterday was the worst so far. I did 2 classes back-to-back, and it really drained me. I was exhausted. I slept so well last night that I really didn't want it to end. In fact, I almost stayed in bed this morning. Then I remembered how I felt last time I slept in, and I forced myself out of bed and got my ass to class. Thankfully Chris took it a little easier on me today.

Oh yeah, somehow I let myself get talked into training for a 5K run for St. Patrick's Day. I don't know what the hell I was thinking, but I already told Amber I'd do it. I know it's not that long of a run, but I carry some major heft with me, and running doesn't really agree with me. I ran Monday thru Wednesday to warm up, and my feet, legs, hips, and back were killing me. When all this is said and done, I'd better be one bad ass mofo. I don't think that's too much to ask for.