Proudiddy

So... I was wanting to wait on updating everyone until I finished the entire "process" but, may as well just do it. I did all of Insanity EXCEPT the last week, smh... That was about 3 weeks ago that I completed an entire week. Possibly 4 weeks ago. Part of it was because I started thinking ahead to starting another round of it, the other half was that I tried to change my workout times up. I was doing the entire program usually after midnight or later because it was easier once all my kids went to bed. But, that got so taxing because I'd end up working out at like 2am and finishing at 3am and then I'd end up not being able to lay down and sleep until about 5 or 6am everynight. I was tired of that schedule so I tried to start doing my last week in the morning right before or after I took my oldest daughter to school. Then that got thrown out of whack because I seem to take the workouts a lot harder in the mornings and if one of the two younger ones got up during the workout, I wasn't able to finish it. Then I thought I'd try doing it after my wife got home from work, but it was just hard to start b/c we'd end up catching up on everything or running errands then. So, here I am, still contemplating how to finish my last week of Insanity, lol, almost 4 weeks later. One measly week, and I just can't finish it, lol. Meanwhile, I stopped taking whey protein because in my last completed week I took almost 4 scoops within 24 hours (still within recommended amount) and had a pain in my lower back - I assume my kidneys. Told my doc about it at my physical last week and some trace amounts of protein and blood show up in my urinalysis as well. The doc thinks I'm trying to pass a kidney stone, lol (TMI, I know). So, I'm avoiding that now as well and will be trying to get all of my protein from whole foods for now on. In the meantime, while trying to decide whether to finish the last week or abandon it and just start the second round of Insanity instead, I have been doing 20 pushups, 20 diamond pushups, and 20 reps of various abs exercises every other night. I also purchased the Classic 50 Powerblock Dumbbells and THEY ARE AWESOME, so I've added in some curls and shoulder presses as well. Just been doing that to keep some strength up until I figure out my plan of attack. Amazingly enough, apparently Insanity kickstarted my metabolism and I had some delayed results from it. Started at around 188, as high as 189, and have been hovering between 177-179 since my last completed week. I've thinned out quite a bit in the waist area compared to where I was at before, and I feel much better in general. Now, if I could just figure out what to do and how to do it from here, and get down to my goal weight of 160-165. Sorry for the novel, but there's my update.

I'm in my second week of the second month of Insanity. Started at 188 or 189, I'm holding steady at 183 give or take now. At one point, I actually reached 177 a few days ago... Would probably be even lower but ate out about 5 days out of the last week and a half. I'm still drinking more water than I ever remember drinking in my life and I've only had soda with the take-out meals and one other time. Regardless, seeing huge differences in my body. My cardio is clearly better as my avg and max heartrate have lowered by about 10 bpm each since I started the program. If I measured correctly, I've lost two inches off of my waist so far. And again, I'd probably be even further along if I was eating like I should be... Just gotta recommit myself diet-wise. Other than the multiple-cheat days, I feel really good about where I'm at. The two inches off my waist, definition in my chest and abs again, and veins popping out my arms like they used to... All great progress. I just gotta get the diet right to rid myself of the layer of fluff that is still hiding some of it. But, for the most part, I'm really excited and the progress I've seen is just pushing me further. I think once I'm done with this round of Insanity in two weeks, I'm just going to start it over immediately and keep going until I'm where I want to be at completely.

You fapped to that Irv? LOL

Yeah, I have no middleground when it comes to soda... I'm all or nothing, lol, so I just have to cut it off. And I think the BBF calculator for LBM I used said mine was like 144 or somewhere around there. So, I think I need 140 g of protein a day.

Thanks man, this is much more encouraging. I haven't even started my 2nd week of Insanity back yet because I've been so frustrated with this diet stuff. So, to hear that you're losing it without a perfect diet is more believable than reading people eating nothing but tofu and wheatgrass, lol. I felt like the key was, as long as I eliminated fast food, or limited it to one day a week, completely eliminated soda, and just ate better overall, then I'd still get lean regardless. I just get so detail-oriented that I get caught up in the intricacies of it all instead of just putting my nose to the grindstone and going at it. Someone at BBF's also told me that if I feel full off of what I'm eating, then I'm fine - because as you said, these are just guidelines and every person's body is different. I just need to get at it so I can get back to where I was - lean and cut.

Thanks Salty. I think the low amount on the MFP app was because of the 'sedentary lifestyle' option. I'm gonna see if I can find another free app on android that is setup better. This is what askscooby's calculator says:

Thanks ladies... I checked out the link Salty posted, as I've been on the bodybuilding forums lately as well, but it's kind of like information overload right now. I've gone most of life thinking carbs will keep you fat but I calculator I used on askscooby.com (which was popular with a lot of people on bb forums) said I needed to get 2,600 cals a day to get lean but had the breakdown as like 55% carbs, 25% protein, and 20% fat. How can you possibly get lean on that many carbs? My problem is anything in the 2ks in calories just seems like an impossible amount to eat for me. When I see how much I have to eat for that amount, I have no idea how that will result in my losing weight, whether it's clean eating or not. And you're right MsPF, I forgot to add the olive oil to my counter last night, but that's the other thing, sometimes, I don't know how to calculate the amount in what I'm eating. I'm going to the store in a minute though to go get some high-protein, high-calorie choices... Almonds, walnuts, jerky, turkey bacon, cheese cubes, etc. I already have plenty of chicken and salmon in the freezer. I just need to add some more options to eat throughout the day that have a good amount of calories. Oh, and I'm gonna start having a glass or two of chocolate milk to go with all the water I drink. Hopefully, this will bump me up to at least 2k.

What do you eat on a typical day then SCM?

But, I feel lost Saltman, lol. I've went all of these years thinking carbs were the enemy, and with the calculator at askscooby.com, which I read a lot of guys at the bodybuilding forums liked, it said I need like 55% carbs daily, 25% protein, and 20% fat. How the F is that gonna lean me out? I thought chicken was ideal because it's a lean protein... Man, I don't even have that much variety in my cabinet.

Can someone please help me with this stupid myfitnesspal app? I set it as living a sedentary lifestyle, although I'm doing Insanity, so maybe I need to adjust that (the descriptions were going off of your job type). But, it gave me a net calorie goal of 1,500 cals or so, which is incorrect according to other calculators I've used which suggested between 2800 and 2300 cals. I added that I would be doing circuit training for 45 mins, and it added 501 calories to the total. This is where I'm having problems. If I went out and ate a double bacon cheesburger combo, I'd knock out 3/4 to the whole amount of calories I need for the day and no worries. Whereas, eating 6 oz. of grilled chicken and 3/4 a cup of green beans with olive oil only gave me about 159 cals for lunch. WTF?!?! This is why I get so frustrated. I can't just sit around and stuff 2,500 cals of grilled chicken in my mouth all day when I'm getting full off of 6 oz of it at lunch and it barely gives me any calories. It's retarded. These requirements seem like so much eating it makes me feel like gagging. What am I supposed to do. All I've ate so far is the lunch I mentioned and 2 cliff bars and I don't feel like I can spend the rest of the night trying to stuff my face without getting sick to get 1800 more cals.

Lol, nah, that was 'we're in the same club' liking. It makes me think of this thing Louie CK said in a stand-up after his divorce. He basically was like "Do you see this? This wasn't ready to go on the market." He was referring to how we kind of keep ourselves up as part of 'hunt' when you're single, but then once you get someone and get comfortable, we just quit caring. Mission accomplished, lol.

Yup, once I got married and we started popping out the little ones along with school, I just either didn't have time, or didn't feel like making it. It just sucks b/c it's a lot easier to maintain then it is to lose and build back up.

I'm 28 now man, so yeah, you're right on... I was around 17 in those pics IIRC. Thank God I took them so I have proof, lol. My problem is, back then, it felt like I just woke up one day and looked like that. Truth was, I was almost OCD about working out. Every night before I'd go to bed, I did variations of pushups, situps, crunches, back exercises, etc. Everything I did was bodyweight except for curls with 20 lbs. dumbells. Even crazier, is I had no idea what sets were back then. When I had weightlifting in school, I just did what I wanted to do and ignored the ideal way of doing it. When I worked out each night, I did 1 set of reps until failure for each exercise. I was around 150-155 lbs. in those pics. In hindsight, I remember being "skinny fat" around 14 or so, and I started doing that routine I came up with on a nightly basis. So, it didn't just happen overnight, although it felt like it. I was also playing basketball everyday for cardio, which made a huge difference in staying lean. I feel like and even felt like back then, that I know what it takes to get someone from lean to cut, but my problem is, once I let myself go, I had no idea how to get from out-of-shape/fat to lean again. I think with my body type though, I should be able to easily get back to that physique once I lean down.

That was my other huge problem man. Once I started sitting at home and not working out, I drank sodas like water. I could go through a 12 pack in 2 days by myself. That was my main problem. Now, I'm drinking about 12 cups+ of water a day but I have to piss about every 5 minutes, lol.

lol,I actually ate A LOT psc, I just burned it all off. Then I went into Bojangles mode and quit doing everything physical. So, in that sense, I guess I'm lucky to not be even worse off than 188 and 25% BF.

But, just for kicks... This is why I get so discouraged when start a workout and look in the mirror now... This was my prime and about 15% body fat ago, lol: But, I guess now I should use it as my motivation instead of my source of depression, lol. I just want to get back there ASAP.

I pulled my groin during Insanity stretches during my 2nd week two weeks ago. So, I took a week off and figured I'd start the 2nd week back this week. I've yet to start it back, but plan on doing so tonight. Also, I finally joined the bodybuilding.com forums for some additional advice and it's really helped me to break down things and look at the macro, rather than the micro. I've gotten so caught up in the details that I get discouraged after a week or two and have to realize it's a process to transform back to where I was. So, I figure if I can lose 3% body fat a month, I'll close to my target in 3-4 months.