Day 2: Hilton Head Challenge, Complete

Oh man, what a day. I can hardly type. I can hardly focus on the screen. I'm barely awake. Today was intense. I couldn't fall asleep last night, as I was up talking to some great people and also, was just wide awake. Also, I had taken a nap earlier that morning. Anywho, I finally fell asleep around 4:30 am, and woke up around 11. I didn't eat breakfast because honestly, I forgot, and by the time I remembered, it was lunchtime. So I went down to the basketball courts and shot some hoops for about 20 minutes, just enough to work up a sweat and get the ol' heart-rate going. I came back to the condo around 12:30 and fixed my standard lunch: turkey sandwich, two reduced fat cheese sticks, and a handful of pretzles. Oddly enough, it really filled me up. Then I headed down to the beach with the rent's, we sat out for about 3 hours and although I applied gratuitious amounts of sunscreen, I look like a tomato on one side of my body right now. Tomorow I'll have to lay on my stomach for awhile, just to even things up. And boy, does going to the beach make you humble... there are so many perfect people walking around, its like watching an episode of Laguna Beach or something. Oddly depressing but stranger still, nice to know that one day I will be one of those Calvin Klein models walking around in the little world of physical near-perfection. Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of people out there much worse off than me, but it was still a little unnerving to take off my shirt, though my progress visually I think is great. It was a nice dose of perspective. Anywho, we ame back to the condo around 5 and I headed off for another round of basketball... probably played for 30 minutes that time round. Then my parents went out o dinner and I opted to stay home, during which time I went to the gym. Today was chest and abs, and I got a solid hour and a half of lifting in as well. Not bad for no music, doing it by myself. They had no bar for bench, so I did freeweights, which I discovered are INSANELY MORE DIFFICULT than traditional bench press, incline, and flys. I was planning on doing some pushups afterwards, which I tried to do, but I couldn't even hold myself up. Needless to say, I maxed out the muscles I set out to max, and that is a great feeling. Oh, and since I've been reading so many great tips and articles on all your blogs, I decided to incorperate cadrio into my nightly workouts, beforehand. Tonight was the first night doing both cardio and lifting, I did a sort of variation of HIIT in my head for twenty minutes, and it was the perfect amountof warmup... 2.5 miles on the ski machine at multiple speeds. That will definitely be a part of my weekly workouts from now on, even though my construction job knocks the crap out of me and I will probably have to jog, jumprope o play basketball with Mike once I get home. No pain, no gain... right? But enough about me, its time to make some dinner and CRASH. On the menu: Chicken breast sauteed in olive oil, asian spice, and a bit of garlic powder, topped with a generous pinch of sharp cheddar, and some broccoli on the side. And I counted today, which I consider an average because I didn't change anything. On average I drink about fifteen 12oz bottles of water a day, and maybe a diet coke or two. I've never had a problem with the whole getting enough fluids thing... weird. But yes, anothe perfect day, and one step closer to completing this vacation better than I started. My spirits are high, and I hope your are too. Goodnight everyone, have a great rest of the week!

Day 1: Hilton Head Challenge, Complete

Ah, my first full day at HH is over... and it was a great one. This morning me and the rent's went to the grocery store, from which I was able to stockpile all my food for the week... which is great. After we got back, I walked over to the basketball court and shot some hoops for about 20 minutes... and in the 90 degree, 100% humidity, it was quite strenuous. I came back to the condo, took a nap, and then it was off to dinner for fathers day. We went to the Aqua grill, and despite the many temptations I was able to find something on the menu to fit my requirements. I had 7 grilled shrimp, about half a cup of green beans, and maybe a quarter cup of rice. I only ate about half the rice they gave me, but it's pretty hard to judge the exact amount as I don't often make rice and it it smaller before you cook it. And I had a diet coke/water to drink... which was definitely the hardest par what with my entire family drinking gallons of alcohol all around me. And, I said no to the bread. It was suprisingly a very filling meal... probably because I've been eating such small portions as of late. Then we came home, chillaxed for a bit, and Dad opened his Father's Day gifts... I got him the Die Hard Quadilogy, and he was mucho pleased. Then around 9, I headed over to the gym and did another 30 minutes of elliptical, just to keep pace with what I do during the week. The machine said I burned something like 450 calories over the course of 2.75 miles... but I don't know if that is entirely accurate. I was sweatin', thats for sure. And as this was my second night, I saw the same guy in the gym as last night. Though I can't remember his name, he plans to be there tomorrow too so at least I will have someone to talk to during my workouts this week... which should make things easier. Anyways, tomorrow is chest and abs, and hopefully another perfect day of eating. I sat down and did the math today, and I have to eat roughly 2300 calories or less if I want to weigh 185 pounds by September 24th. It's a pretty big goal (2.7 ppw) but I think with enough effort and focus, especially with my construction job, it is attainable. I will make it. And I'm doing Jared's 60 day missouri challenge, unfortunatly I have no way of uploading the picutes I have taken this past week, but I do have my camera here and will continue to do so until I get home, at which time I will upload every day since the 15th. High point of the day: The guy I met at the gym thought I weighed 190 pounds. YEAH, right. I'm 222 give or take (I weighed myself at night, after I ate) which I know is terrible of me... but still he thought I looked 32 pounds lighter than I actually am. Rock on. Well... time for bed. Good luck this week everyone, make it a great one!

Finally made it.

Well, we finally made it t HH at about 9pm. I kept with my food all day in the car by bringing everything I needed with me, and tomorrow I'm going to the store first thing in the morning to get all my supplies for the week. I'm going to try and avoid eating out with my family as much as possible, but I will go along with them to the restaurants. I will get fish for dinner if I have to. As soon as we got here, I went to the fitness center, which turned out to be really nice. They hav a ton of machines and free-weights, so I should be able to get in most of ym exercising come monday, but I didn't see a bench which means I will have to find some other excercises for chest... most likely pushups and freeweight press. I got in half an hour of cardio tonight, so I'm feeling good about getting at least a little exercise after sitting in the darn car all day. But now, I'm off to bed.. tomorrow is supposed to be a hot one. So tired. Here's to another great week of getting fit! Intensity, focus, drive and commitment. Can' wait.