Week 5 Review

I weighed-in at 227.2 this morning. My weight loss this week has been the smallest decrease yet.  However, 1 lb 8 oz a week is considered healthy, so I am in no way complaining.  This is still progress in the right direction.

Goal for next Sunday: 225 lbs

I introduced a couple of new things to the routine this past week that may have affected the minimal weight loss.

1. I introduced whey protein, this included about 7 servings over the week. | I am not sure if an increase in this type of protein would promote water retention or not, I have yet to do research.
2. I only had 1 cup of coffee during the whole work week. | The consumption of coffee seems to be beneficial and I will most likely make an effort to have one cup of black coffee a day.
3. I introduced another type of fluid, almond milk. | I do not drink this plain, it is used as a mix for my protein shakes and on bran cereal.  This may or may not have had any affect.
4. I did my first big workout. | 24 Tabata minutes of the Spartacus workout, most of the focus on lower body.  I am still feeling remnants of the workout 5 days later.  This may have led to an increase in water retention as my muscles repair themselves.

I bought some dumbbells this weekend.  After a week of searching Craigslist, eBay, and 2nd hand exercise stores I came to realize that dumbbells really hold their value.  I headed over to Sports Authority and purchased a 5lb and 10lb pair, something to start with.  After my workout last night, I will be trading the 5lb pair in for a 15lb pair.  I am sure I will out grow these very soon.  My wife will likely be using these within the coming months.

5 weeks in.  I have determined my baseline exercise for the remainder of the rest of my life.  Every time it is bath time for my children I will be doing a workout.  If the workout is only made up of a couple of sessions of Tabata that will suffice.

Week 6 will be the kick-off for the growth of my exercise program.  Like my weekly food menu, I have created a weekly workout menu.  The workout menu, which I will refer to as schedule from here on out, will initially consist of Tabata structured workouts.  I love the intensity, the small amount of time required, and endless potential for variety.  My goal this week is to have my entire workout schedule for the week defined. As of tonight, I have only finished tomorrow morning's workout routine.  I need to get to sleep, so I will be completing the rest of the schedule tomorrow.

Starting tomorrow morning, I am adding an extra 30 minutes to my morning routine.  I will be doing a single Tabata session after my stretch followed by some push-ups and sit-ups.  The goal of this experiment is to see how these early morning activities have a positive influence on my entire day. If the effects are positive I will be working towards defining this as a new habit of health.  The morning is a perfect time to workout, no one is awake.  If this does become a habit, I will be very excited.  The new morning routine looks something like this:

4:30 | Alarm

4:35 - 4:40 | Stretch

4:40 - 5:10 | Workout Routine (Tabatas)

5:10 - 5:15 | Prayer, Meditate

5:15 - 5:40 | Bathroom Routine

5:40 - 5:45 | Dress Routine

5:45 - 6:15 | Breakfast Routine

6:15 | Depart

At this point in time, the morning workout will not be replacing my evening workouts.  However, if I absolutely love the morning workouts, I will expand on them which could potentially replace the evening workouts.

Time to get some rest.