The start of the journey

What's up everybody, this blog is about the journey that I have gone through (and continue to go through) to lose weight, become healthier and more fit.

Throughout the existence of this blog, I will post the workouts that I am doing and let you all out there know how my progress is coming along. Feel free to take some of my advice, do what I do and make it work for you.

Although this blog is new, my journey is not. So here is a little history on where I have come from so that you may understand the place I am at, what I have done and where I'm headed. If you don't want boring history, feel free to not read and just wait for the workouts :)

If you ever have any questions about the details of my workouts, nutrition or the exact exercises I used, please feel free to ask.

So my journey really started in January 2010 when I weighed myself and realized that I weighed 225 lbs while 5'10", which for me meant that I had gained 19 lbs in that past year from bad eating habits and lack of exercise.

• Realizing this, I started working out. My initial workout consisted of 10 min cardio warm-up and 1 hour of weightlifting (primarily high weight / low rep) about 4-5 days/week (Here, I committed Mistake 1: If you want to lose weight while maintaining muscle, 10 min of cardio is insufficient!)

• I maintained this workout until May, making sure to alternate lower body and upper body workouts (Alternating is very important, both upper and lower body need to be worked). 

• When summer came around, although I had lost a fair amount of body fat, due to my muscle gains, I weighed 232 lbs). After much research and spending hours a day on www.bodybuilding.com (an excellent resource!), I designed myself a new 6-day workout plan that consisted of the following:
• Monday: 2 mile run + Upper body - low weight / high rep (15-20)
• Tuesday: 20 min of Interval Cardio set + Lower body - high weight / low rep (6-8)
• Wednesday: 30 min of elliptical + Upper body - medium weight / medium rep (10-12)
• Thursday: 2 mile run + Lower body - medium weight / medium rep (10-12)
• Friday: 20 min of Interval Cardio set + Lower body - low weight / high rep (15-20)
• Saturday: 4-5 mile run + Upper body - High weight / low rep (6-8)
• Rest on Sunday

• I followed this workout from May until December, while switching up the days and the exercises (for muscle confusion) but still keeping the same overall structure of the workout, and making sure to be careful to eat healthily and use the appropriate protein supplements (Whey after workouts, Casein at night, in my case).

• After that leg of my journey, in January 2011, I weighed 193 lbs, was stronger and faster than I'd ever been.

• On January 17th, 2011, I started the Beachbody Insanity 60-day fitness program  (taught by Shaun T) with two of my best friends; we are in the middle of it right now. I am getting faster, stronger and slimmer and notice it more and more every day. Plus, I get the best workout of my life! It's insane, but I love the extreme intensity of it. If you're looking for something insane, it's the way to go. So anyway, I'm currently in Phase II of the program with 3 weeks left to go. I will continue to update as we go along.