I’m not sure how I let things like this happen.  I’m a very anal person, and always check sources.  If you forward me an e-mail that sounds unbelievable, I will immediately ⌘-T (Open a tab), and check snopes, or google it. Then, I will of course, mock you for your ignorance. It’s just the anal elitist person that I am

So, why did I listen when the personal trainers [sic] at my gym told me I was doing my squats wrong, and my feet had to be parallel.  They blamed my poor flexibility (which is true), and said that I should lower the weight, and get my form right.  So, I did.  Without fact checking.

Fast forward a few months, and my squat really isn’t moving, but I’m doing it right now (in the eyes of the personal trainers [sic]).  I was bitching about something to Rafe, and he mentioned that I probably have my feet too narrow.  That they should be shoulder’s width or slightly wider, and the toes should point outward.  I immediately googled it, before calling him an idiot.  Luckily.  I was the r-tard.  Most sites recommended that your toes point out 30°.

Why did I trust the opinion of strangers, when I have plenty of friends that know way too much about exercise?  Why didn’t I fact check the trainers [sic]?

Anyway, in my googling, I also read that Smith Machines are not a very good way to do squats, and that squat cages are preferable.  I have access to both, so, today, I moved my squat workout to the cage, and I re-pointed my toes slightly outward.  It was like coming home again.  The squats were easier, I felt that they were working my glutes more, and I could go down lower.

At least, now, I’m back on track

Original Post

Today’s Pain of the Day (PotD) was mostly good.  I had a bit of fatigue toward the end.  But, I’m not sure if it was fatigue, or just a slightly upset stomach from taking my vitamins.  From now on, I’ll take them at lunch time to avoid these issues.  For the second time, I ate a maintenance bar for my morning snack after the workout.  Just in case.  I worry, though, that I’m eating too many carbs by doing it.  But, I think Friday is the last time I’ll eat them.  After that, it will be a normal Medifast meal.  Anyhoo, onto the workout . . I quit about 2/3 of the way through the second circuit.

I spent about 35 minutes working out, with an average HR of 157bpm, and I burned 380 calories.

Abs

• V Sit-ups: 15
• Reverse Crunches: 0 — I’m simply not able to do these
• Jackknifes: 10
• Back Extension: Plank Hold with Lift: 10
• Back Extension: 15

Circuit

I’m supposed to do this two times, but, I quit during the second half.

• Dumbbell Squats – 12@85#, 7@85#
• Dumbbell Bench Press – 9@80#, 10@75#
• Bent-Over Barbell Rows – 10@70#, 10@75#
• Seated Dumbbell Press – 10@35#, 10@35#
• Dumbbell Upright Rows – 10@30#, 10@30#
• One-Arm Dumbbell Kickbacks – 10@25#
• Leg Extensions – 10@175#
• Standing Alternate Dumbbell Curls 10@35#
  • I might be doing this wrong.  I start out in almost a hammer curl, and twist it to a normal curl.  I noticed that I was doing it, and I tried to change to a straight curl, but, when I did that, it was too heavy.  I may reduce weight to do it “right”.
• Lying Leg Curls – 10@115#

Original Post

My father had a unique job during the holidays.  At least, he thought it was his job.  He would poor shot-sized drinks and peddle them out to all the people visiting us.  People would try to refuse . . . . but it was simpler just to take one.  He would buy the strangest concoctions.  Whatever was strong, and had an interesting bottle.  Or, whatever was on sale.  Occasionally, it was an off-brand of some schnapps that was actually popular.  But, usually, it was just interesting.

I, for one, thought it was great fun.  And, I’d like to continue the tradition.  But, I’d like to up the game a bit.  I’d like to serve quality shooters.  My goal is to have 80% of the people who try them, love them.  But, here is where the problem is:  my tastes.

In college, I was introduced to the “normal” gambit of shots.  First, comes the hard liquor.  While many (myself included) enjoy a quality shot of Tequila, or enjoy sipping whisky straight, most will gasp and try to put out the fire in their throats.  Next, was the . . .urm . . let’s call them, “schnapps style” shots.  Personally, I’ve never stopped loving Rumplemintz, Goldschläger, and Jägermeister.  But, most people I know did learn how to grow up . . .

So, what I’m looking for is the in-between.  The Grasshopper.  The Orange Creme.  Does anyone have any suggestions on liquors to serve to the masses?  I need to start working on my game before . . hmm . . what’s next . . . Easter!

Successful Pain of the Day (PotD) today!  I managed to finish my workout. I’m finally over the low-carb slump that I was in for much of my first week on Medifast. My Medifast Health Coach recommended an additional maintenance bar (going to a 6 & 1) plan, but, I’m trying things out with a single maintenance bar (which is almost twice the carbs of a regular bar) immediately after my workout, counting as my mid-morning meal. We’ll see how it goes.

I burned 367 calories in 43 mins with an average heart rate of 146bpm.

Abs

• Crunch Twists: 15
• Knee to Chest Crunches: 15
• Side Ups: 10
• Back Extension: Plank Hold with Lift: 10
• Back Extension: 15

Circuit

• Squats 12@165#, 12@165#
• Barbell Bench Press 10@160#, 10#145#
• Wide Grip Front Pulldowns 10@100lbs, 10@95#
• Seated Barbell Front Press (Military) 10@75#, 10@70#
• Barbell Upright Rows 10@70#, 10@75#
• Cable Pulldowns (triceps) 10@70#, 10@70#
• Leg Extensions 10@175#, 10@175#
• Standing Barbell Curls 10@75#, 7@70#
• Lying Leg Curls 10@110#, 10@110#

Original Post

Someone noticed in my post the other day , that I had consumed four 4 liters of water, instead of the recommended eight glasses. Putting that into archaic, non metric terms, I drank roughly 128 ounces instead of the recommended 64. The person was concerned that I might be headed for Water Intoxication (Water Toxicity).  In fact, there are many articles out there, that state the same thing!

So, what’s the scoop?  Did I drink too much?  Did I drink too little?  I decided to do a little research of my own.  The wikipedia water intoxication article states, “The recommendation from the medical field is to drink about 1.5-3 liters per day depending upon body mass.”  I think the key phrase there is body mass.

I started looking for how much water I should be drinking.  My friend, Rafe, computed that I should be drinking almost a gallon, a while back.  So, I looked through our IM logs, and found his formula, and googled that.  That’s when I found the rule of thumb equation that is splattered over the internet, in as many places as the water intoxication and toxicity articles.  The formula I found is:

Body Weight (in pounds) divided by 2 = Ounces of water you should consume a day.

So, for me, at 220lbs (at the moment), I should be consuming 110 ounces of water, which is just under a gallon.  So, I think I’m in the ballpark.  But, that just confirms that I’m drinking what half of the internet thinks I should be drinking.  What about the other half, the half concerned with water intoxication?  For that, let’s work the 1.5 to 3 liters a day in reverse.  First, let’s call quarts and liters equal, and do the rough math:

1.5 liters (quarts) = 32*1.5 ounces = 32 + 16 = 48 ounces.  Doubling and converting = 96lbs. 3 liters (quarts) = 32 * 3 ounces = 96 ounces.  Doubling and converting = 192 lbs.

So, in 1.5 to 3 liters, we have approximate coverage from 96 to 192 lbs.  (And, if we get all anal, and convert the liters to ounces properly, we get 101 to 203 lbs.)

Given all of the above information, I think four liters was a bit more water than I needed, but, in the ballpark.  And, far away from the amount of water it would take someone of my . . . . urm . . . girth, to have to worry about Water Intoxication or Water Toxicity.

Thanks to the guys over at tigertech.net, helping me with my Rewrite rule, I have now moved my blog over here to scriptonomicon.org.  I moved the database, moved the files, edited the wp-config.php, and I was back in action.  The rewrite rule allows people still using dave.frascone.com to be redirected back over here.  Yay!

Next, I’m going to move over my mercurial repository . . since it should be hosted under this scriptier name anyway

This is the second day of the Medifast diet that Tammy and I are doing.  The fist day was pretty easy.  I only got hungry while dinner was cooking . . it smelled good I walked 2.2 miles for my exercise yesterday.  Burned about 350kcals.  Was a nice brisk walk, with the dog.  I also did well with the water.  I drank 4 liters, which is roughly 16 cups of water, instead of the 8 I was required to drink.  This is in addition to several cups of tea, and one diet coke.  I’m calling yesterday a complete success!

Today started easy.  I woke up down 2lbs.  But, I had to cut my workout short.  I got fatigued really early.  I’m sure due to the lower calories / carbohydrates that I’m getting.  Once I’m fully into ketosis, things should be better.  But, for now, there’s no reason to push it.  On the good side, my bench went up 5#, and I was able to still do all 10.  I may jump to 80#/arm next week.

The Workout

Abs (one circuit)

I had trouble doing some of the abs exercises.  I should have studied the videos closer.  When I had trouble, I substituted, and, hopefully, got the same muscles worked.

• V Sit-Ups – 10
• Reverse Crunches – 0 (Did regular crunches instead.)
• Jack knives – 0 (Did side planks instead)
• Back Extension: Plank Hold with Lift: 10
• Back Extension: + 20 # : 10

Circuit Training

I was supposed to do the circuit twice, but, I stopped in the middle of the 2nd set, when I got too fatigued.  I still did a last set of curls, though, since my biceps are so weak.

• Dumbbell Squats: 75#/12, 75#/12
• Dumbbell Press: 75#/10, 75#/10
• Bent Over Barbell Rows: 80#/10, 80#/10
• Seated Dumbbell Press: 35#/10, 35#/10
• Dumbbell Upright Rows: 35#/10, 35#/10
• Triceps Kick Backs: 20#/10, 20#/10
• Leg Extensions: 175#/10
• Standing Alternate Dumbbell Curls: 35#/10, 35#/8
• Lying Leg Curls: 125#/10

Original Post

I am a social person.  I’m not a blogger.  I usually don’t have anything very “deep” to say.  But, I do like to say things.  I like to update my facebook status.  I like to let people know what’s on my mind.  And, I like to ask stupid questions.

Lately (over the last 8-12 months or so), most of what’s been on my mind is weight loss.  I enjoy discussing my loss publicly.  I don’t care how many people know my real weight — so long as they know that it’s 50 lbs less than what it used to be.  And, I enjoy studying trends in my loss with others. What I’m wondering is:  how crowded is my little world?  How many other people out there enjoy sharing as much as I do?  While I know I’m not normal, I’m wondering how abnormal I am?  And, I’m doing it with ulterior motives.

There are a lot of free weight trackers out there.  I think my favorite is over on http://dailyburn.com/  But, I hate navigating to multiple social sites.  I use tweetdeck or ping.fm to update my status’ across twitter, facebook, myspace, etc.  And, I only limit myself to those, because those are the place where I there are people that I know, that are not on the other networks.  I’d love to just have one. . . .  but I digress.

While there are many trackers, I have not found any in my favorite (and arguably the most popular) social networking site, facebook.  So, I’ve been toying with the idea of creating a facebook application myself.  What I’d like is this:

• Weight Tracker
  • Regular
  • Averaged – for daily weighers — a running average will negate the daily water retention changes that cause most programs to tell you to only weigh once a week.
• Exercise Log
  • Will track minutes, calories burned, etc

For both of the applications, I’d like private and public visibility settings, and, hopefully the ability to embed into other blogs.

So — the purpose of this post is really to get a headcount.  Of the people here, how many would find such an application useful?  I shout my stats out all the time, but, there’s a good chance I’m shouting to an empty room.  And, if no one is really listening, and, if no one else wants to shout into the empty room, then I really don’t want to waste time writing it.  But, if there are others like me wanting to shout — or — if there are people actually listening, then I think a good, tool, on a more social site, could be really useful.

Thoughts?

I did a half-assed attempt at starting today.  Went almost low carb.  Just enough to give myself a little headache.  Maybe it will ease my pain tomorrow.  Tomorrow is for real.  5 Medifast meals a day, plus one Lean & Green one.  Tammy is doing it with me, so I’m pretty excited about it.

Today I cut my workout in half.  I removed all cardio, and, instead, did a fast circuit.  I did the Men’s Health “Abs Diet Workout”, Day 1.  It was pretty fun.  I did  this:

Crunch Twists – 15 Knee to Chest Crunches - 15 Side-Ups – 10 Back Extension: Plank Hold with Lift – 10 Back Extension – 15

Then, I did two circuits of this

Squats – 155#/12, 155#/12 Dumbell Bench Press – 70#/10, 70#/10 Wide-Grip Front Pulldowns – 110#/10, 110#/7 Seated Barbell Front Press – 75#/10, 95#/5 Barbell Upright Rows – 65#/10, 70#/10 Cable Pushdowns – 70#/10, 70#/7 Leg Extensions – 150#/10, 150#/10 Standing Barbell Curls – 70#/10, 70#/10 Lying Leg Curls – 110/10

It took me about 35 minutes, and I burned 347 kcals.  Perfect for a medifast workout, if I do say so myself!

Tomorrow, I’m supposed to walk briskly for 45 mins.  I may do a jaunt around Leita Thompson park.  I’m pretty sure I’m not supposed to run – fat burning vs cardio zones and all

And, in unrelated news, today I registered for, and attended my first day at Southern Polytechnic State University.  Then, when I got home, I dropped the class.  It wasn’t that the class was hard, it was that attendance was mandatory.  Completely mandatory.  So much so that my unpredictable travel schedule would cause me to fail the class.  Time to find another class, that can actually work with my schedule.

Well, at least, a new record for me!

I’ve been hanging out over at ShrinkGeek for a long time.  And, since they just installed forums, I’ve been hanging out there.  Well, today’s Daily Quest inspired me.

A long time ago, I went over to HundredPushups, and thought about doing their regimen.  But, it always conflicted with my workouts.  So, I never did it.  But, today, after this Post on the Shrink Geek Forums, I decided to give it a try.  I wanted to see if I could do all 50 pushups at once.

And, I did it!

I paused after 40, for about 2-3 seconds, then pushed out the last ten.  The last one was a doozy.  I don’t think I had more than 1-2 left in me.  (But, to be fair, once you set a goal, you usually aim exactly for it.  I really dont’ know how many I could have done if I aimed for 60 (likely, not 60))

So, today’s post is just a self serving bit of bragging.  Now where’s my pie?!?

Original Post