Feeling Fit Feels Great!

Posted February 5th @ 2:52 pm by James Ledoux

I payed the best offensive game of the past year in my basketball lunch league today. It brought to mind this quote from Tony Robbins:

Nothing tastes as good as looking good feels”

I was able to run, shoot, cut, and drive with ease today and scored at will. Felt really great and is proof positive that my new fitness regime is working well. Can’t wait to see how good I feel when I lose the next 25 lbs!

202.2

Posted February 5th @ 8:53 am by James Ledoux

I try to weighing in every day but I make sure I do it on Fridays after I play b-ball Thursday nights. Some of this new wieght might be hydration fluctuations but I burned a hell of a lot of calories yesterday too.

According to my fitbit, I traveled 5.12 miles yesterday with over 1 hour of high activity. I played for 1.5 hours and some of the time is spent standing around or walking in between plays.

I also did an hour of heavy weight work and burned approximately 3600 calories yesterday while taking in only 1600. A few more days like this and I’ll be under my first big goal of 200 lbs in no time. Then only 25 more until my goal of 175.

I started my current fitness regime on November 20, 2009 and have lost 18.2 pounds so far this time. I’ve been changing my body composition slowly but surely. Nearly 1/2 way there! So how are your fitness plans coming along in 2010? What is working for you? Send along any tips you would like to share?

203.6

Posted February 4th @ 8:27 am by James Ledoux

My weight dipped to a recent low of 203 but a few days of late night snacking creeped it back up to 203.6. Just over 1/2 a pound could be a naormal weight flucutiaon but I might need to adjust my daily intake timing a bit since being hungry before bed might be a sign of not getting enough to eat during the day. And next time I need to grab a huge glass of water and just suck it up.:-)

You can watch my progress via my scale’s Twitter feed. I am hoping to crack 200 pounds in the next 2 weeks.

Desert Island Exercises

Posted January 23rd @ 1:15 pm by James Ledoux

My fitness trainer Brandon O’Connor wrote an excellent article on his five favorite desert island exercises. 1.

  1. Reverse Crunch
  2. Dumbbell Chest Press
  3. The Pull-up
  4. The Barbell Squat
  5. The Dead lift

We have been working on these five a lot lately and I’m making good progress. The reverse crunch and pull-up are my current weakest exercises but in the past few weeks as I’ve lost 16 pounds I can see these two becoming easer and easier fove the coming weeks.light of the

204.8 > My Withings Scale Now Online

Posted January 20th @ 12:07 pm by James Ledoux

My new Withings Wi-Fi scale is now online. It synchs up to thier website and allows me to view my progress online, via their free iPhone app, or post to Twitter. The scale is stylish and ultra functional. It is also expensive at around $159 on Amazon and in the Withings online store.

It may be overkill to have such an expensive scale but it keeps me honest, engaged, and motivated. All 3 key for reaching any important goal.

Check out my weight loss progress at www.twitter.com/james_scale.

I weighed in at a recent low of 204.8 this AM. That is down from 220 on Nov 20th and only 29 lbs to reach my current long term goal of 175. In the short term, I hope to be int he 190s by my birthday near the end of February.

208.6!

Posted December 15th @ 11:09 am by James Ledoux

Weighed in this AM at 208.6. For those keeping score at home this is 12.1 pounds lost since November 20th.

Might have been a tad dehydrated but none the less I’ll take it. The trend is what i”m most excited about, not the daily weight.

Jobbed for about 25 minutes last night and only stopped twice. Covered about 2 miles. Not setting any land speed records but felt good despite the rain and 45 degree temperature. A month ago I would not have run that long never mind the cold and rain.

Still aiming for sub 200 by New Year’s Eve.

Special thanks to my wife Val for buying good organic food, Brandon for his encouragement, and fitbit.com for making it fun/easy to track it all.

Though I’m not in the position to offer advice, the key for me this time around has been tracking my intake vs calories burned. (A hard task if you re not using an online tool like fitbit.com!)  So far I’m averaging about a 2k eaten versus 3k burned via daily walking, every day activites, and spurts of intense activity (basketball, running, and weights.)

Lost and Found Weight

Posted December 11th @ 9:10 pm by James Ledoux

After working so hard to get down 27 lbs to 200 I let things slide. A year and a half later and I had climbed back to 220. Not good. Not good at all.

With the help of my new fitbit, my wife’s healthy grocery buying, and Brandon’s training I’m back down to 210. Nearly 11 lbs in 3 weeks. Remind me to stay in shape once  I get back there this time!

My short term goal is 200 by New Year’s. Long term I’m aiming for 175.

In other news, Brandon has a new blog over at www.brandonoconnorfitness.com. He has lots of new content and is going to be positing more soon.

Will be blogging about it here, tracking my progress on Fitbit.com, posting on Facebook, and probably Twitter too. Daily food/exercise tracking and quick adjustments are the key.

Resolution To Reality

Posted January 1st @ 4:13 pm by James Ledoux

During the end of the year and the beginning of the next, many set out with good intentions to make change. But alas changing isn’t always the easiest thing to do. This article on The West Milford Messenger website tackles the tricky subject of transforming your resolutions to reality.

This article was timely as I’m working on a 30 day fitness experiment to kick start my fitness in the New Year. More on my goals and resolutiosn to follow.

225

Posted December 17th @ 5:35 pm by James Ledoux

As you can tell by some of my last few and sporadic posts I’ve had a rough spot in my workouts but am climbing out of it. I’ve been working out 2 times a week with my fit friend Rob in Dallas and Fridays with my trainer Brandon.Have also been playing basketball 1-2 times a week which is my favorite form of exercise.

While Brandon has me focusing on perfect form during my Friday workouts, I’ve done a few old school power workouts Rob during the work week. (Old school - The last time Rob and I worked out regularly I got really strong and was able to put up a max bench of 265 and 275 with minor help)

While I no longer am focused on my bench - I must admit that lifting 225 this AM really gave me a mental boost. 4 plates on the bar just looks heavy.

It was the first time in a long while that I’ve lifted more than my body weight with my upper body - which felt great. (10-11 pounds more for those keeping score!) I don’t plan on obsessing over the bench press though it was nice to recapture some of my raw strength during the past month.

I must admit it would be nice to get strong enough to lift 300 pounds once. But only if it was very all-around functional strength.

214

Posted November 12th @ 2:30 pm by James Ledoux

So after making much progress the first half of the year, the second half has been a slow decline.

As a recovering workaholic I have to really guard agaisnt letting my work life balance get off. Once I noticed the problem I took steps to find a new job that allowed more time for family and fitness.

My 3 week notice is up and I’m off to a new job. Much closer to home and less stressful.

I weighed in at the start of the week at 214 - 14 lbs heavier than my low earlier this summer of 200. Not good but at least I’ve taken positive steps to halt the decline.

This week’s workouts:
Sunday - 2 hours of basketball
Monday - travel day, off
Tuesday - upper body weights
Wed - 40 minutes of cardio (eliptical and bike)
Thursday - off
Friday - full body weights and basketball

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