Ok. Here goes. I have been exercising for a while, but am not sure exactly how long or much. It is rather sporadic.  Fresh start.  I’m going to begin with the 7 pounds in 7 days routine first.

Day 0 - weight-255lb (255^...........................................................................180lbs)
Tomorrow morning is Day 1.  I have just returned from the grocery store with next weeks grub.  1500 calories per day (5 - 300 calorie meals). This shouldn’t be too difficult as I have been eating ~1800 calories/day for 6 weeks now, down from 2800 on average prior (that was a difficult drop). Deep breath ... here we go!

Enjoy the 7/7 challenge! I just got done and it was great! I dropped about 3 pounds and 1% body fat. You’ll do awesome!

Welcome to the 100 days challenge as well!

Bree

Thanks Bree, and nicely done on your week. I’m not sure I will drop much in my first week. I tend to put it on a little before it starts to come off.  If I break even, I will be happy.

I have modified the program a little. Since it is Saturday, I started on Saturday’s routine instead of Monday’s (otherwise I may get lost).  It will still get done, just not in the order Scott listed.  Also, there is a fair amount of mass here and not much muscle tone. Not wanting to hurt myself, I decided on a floor program for my abs instead of the ones Scott listed.  Once I have built a bit of strength, I will do the 7/7 again and do the execises he listed and see if there is much of a difference. Let’s say at the start of May.

Day 1 - weight-254lb (255.^..........................................................................180lbs)
5x walk up and down stairs
5mins gentle stretching (entire body)
5x walk up and down stairs
2x15 vertical crunches
2x15 reverse crunches
2x15 core crunches
2x10 oblique crunches (1 left and 1 right counts as 1)
2x10 oblique hip rotations (while in vertical crunch start position)(1 left and 1 right counts as 1) - these are difficult
20min walk - 1.86 km (1.16mi)
total - 45 mins / 250 calories

This was challenging. All reps were eventually done, albeit with small rests mid-set. My stomach feels tight, but not sore. I can really feel it in my legs from the walk.  I wanted try again this afternoon with the cardio, but that may be it for today. There’s always tomorrow, too. Perhaps Tuesday I can do all reps /set without stopping.

You’ll soon start noticing that you can do more reps without a pause than you did today.  I am building my ability to do squats.  My trainer said 20 reps per set - a month ago I could only get to 15, now I can do all 20 with the addition of a 25lb bar as well!! Good Job on Day 1 - I know you will repeat tomorrow!!

Awesome Catherine!! I bet your grin was from ear to ear when you first did all your reps.

great start Derek, I’m sure you will do great!

Thanks Shawn, and welcome to my thread.  Kind of a garbage day in Calgary today.  Snowed 3” last night. Heavy wet slushy snow. Real slippery to walk on.  Temp was -2C (28F).  That’s ok, 10 bucks gets me into the Y for a couple hours.

Day 2 - weight-254lb (255.^..........................................................................180lbs)
Warm up - light yoga (10 mins)
Followed the 7/7 leg plan for Sunday.
30min on exercise bike - 9.65km(6.0mi)
Cool down - 5mins on bike at much slower pace followed by stretching
Total - 70mins - ??? calories (lots of calories, probably lost a pound just in sweat)

My legs were quite shakey after todays workout, but I stretched them out well afterwards.  They are much stronger than I thought. I was able to do max reps in max sets, no stopping mid-set.  I had no idea how I would finish, so next time I will add weight to the leg routine, but slow down on the bike and go for a full 60 mins.  Get the time in then go for more speed. I am definitely gonna feel this in the morning.

I bet I drank a gallon of water today. It was also a struggle to eat all 1500 calories, what with all the water I drank.

Breakfast - A handful each of chopped mushrooms and asparagus in a 2 egg white omelett, 1/2 cup of fat free plain yogurt with some fresh orange stirred in, the rest of that orange on the side, and a cup of earl grey tea

Snack - A banana and a few slices of cucumber

Lunch - 4oz of low sodium, water-packed tuna seasoned with black pepper and balsamic vinegar on a slice of 12 grain bread, raw cauliflower and sprouts

Snack - forgot about this

Dinner - 5oz grilled chicken breast seasoned with Emeril Legace’s Essence and a dash of paprika on a bed of raw spinach, sliced radishes, grated carrot, and red onion all tossed with a couple spray bottle squirts of my special dressing. The dressing consists of filling the spray bottle 1/4 to 1/2 full with equal amounts of garlic and jalapenos each cut once and then immersed in equal amounts of extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar.  If you find this too hot, remove the jalapeno seeds before placing them in the bottle. Refridgerate in bottle for a week, shake well and spray on your salad and toss.  1 or 2 squirts is more than enough. Very intense flavour. Ultra low calories too.

I promise I won’t put my menu in this thread anymore, but I will post a few recipes in the proper forum at another time. Cheers.

Good stuff Derek, you can post anything you want in your 100 day thread(even better if it relates to the challenge, like your diet). If it helps you it’s all good!

Cool! Thanks Shawn!

Paint me green and slap me silly ... I actually dropped a couple pounds.  I started at 252 last week and after the normal couple gained, I’m back down to 252 again, and the week’s not quite half over.  Must be all the water I’m drinking.  I ate nowhere near my 1500 calories today ... 1050. Left about a third of each meal and snack uneaten, and not by choice. I am filling up on water. Time to cut back on the amount I drink before meals. I really don’t want to get sick.

Day 3 - weight-252lb (255...^........................................................................180lbs)
Warm up - easy walk(5 mins)
Followed the 7/7 Chest & Back Plan for Monday.
25min Walk- 2.17km(1.35mi)
Cool down - stretching
Total - 55mins - 275 calories (walking)

The Chest & Back exercises were too easy, I need way more weight with them.  Will have to play with that.  It would appear that my abs are what’s really weak. My strength is rather unbalanced. I will finish this week off as planned and get a feel for where I need to be with weights.  I will then take a couple rest days and do this 7/7 challenge again right away, with more of the proper weights and focus on building up my stamina with the LSB and strengthen my abs by increasing the workout (double up on cardio day). See where that leads.  I can get into a more steady routine after that.

Inspiration struck me today on the freeway, hence my new signature.  I think its a keeper.

Good job Derek!

Work can be so demanding.  I just spent 2 days driving round trip to spend 2 hours onsite.  My legs are sore from sitting in my SUV for 28 hours.  I guess we will call these rest days.  I am wiped and going to bed.  Another 7/7 challenge starts tomorrow.

Day 4 - weight-251lb (255....^.......................................................................180lbs)
Forced Rest Day

Day 5 - weight-251lb (255....^.......................................................................180lbs)
Forced Rest Day - listing yesterdays weight ... no scale with me

Welcome to the 100 Days Challenge, Derek. Seems like you’ve already withstood a marathon--of driving. I can’t imagine doing that much driving that quickly.

Good luck with your program.

That sucks Derek, maybe you could throw some weights in the back of the car???

I just didn’t have any time. Drove most of the night to get there, worked, napped, and drove most of the night again to get back for a meeting. Normally I fly, but when things are last minute sometimes there’s no room on the plane. Either way I am caught up with work now and look forward to getting back at ‘er in the morning.

Day 6 - weight-250lb (255.....^......................................................................180lbs)

On a positive note, I have dropped another pound. Day 7 will prove to be my best day this week.

Good job on the shrinking Derek!

You’re doing great Derek. Congrats on the weight loss. I am also doing the 7#7Day challenge. So far so good. It really has helped me re-focus myself on why I am even here. What an eye opener. And I know what you mean about some of the ab exercises in Scott’s plan. I attempted the Hanging knee move with no gloves on and I really messed up my palms. Now that I have a pair of weight training gloves I’m going to give it another try tomorrow. Last time I could only do 2 sets of 5. I wonder how many more I’ll be able to do this time. Those are very hard!

You’re doing great! Keep it up!

Doing awesome, Derek! When school lets out for me I’m going to do as much of it as Scott lists at the gym, but I did my own home version. With my results, I can only imagine the success on the “real” plan!

Keep up the awesome work, Derek!!!

Bree

Thanks for the support folks. I really appreciate it. I am listening to a daily boost as I type this out. I have about 4 minutes and then a movie date on the sofa with the wife.  Been very busy the last couple days. Had to travel again, but this time I got to fly. The hotel had a gym and a pool, so guess what I did. And the rooms all have scales in them ... nice!!!

Day 7 - weight-252lb (255...^........................................................................180lbs)
warm up-5mins light on execise bike
light stretching
did the 7/7 Friday shoulder exercises with weight good workout, I felt tired but not sore afterwards
20 mins on exercise bike. It was not the fancy electronic anything version, but an older model
30mins swimming in pool

Day 8 - weight-250lb (255.....^......................................................................180lbs)
5 mins on bike
stretched
Ab workout as per Saturday on 7/7
30 mins in pool
---Worked, flew home---
35mins on bicycle (outside)

I’m not sure about the above weights, cause after my bike ride i weighed 248lbs. Maybe the scale in the hotel reads higher than mine at home.

Good job on keeping up with those workouts while traveling Derek!

Day 9 - weight-250lb (255.....^......................................................................180lbs)
warmup-5min walk, stretching
Legs - hit it with weights this time
squats with 70 pounds - this a bit much
curls - 20 pounds
extentions - 70 pounds
40 mins - bicycle

Day 10 - weight-249lb (255......^.....................................................................180lbs)
warmup-5min walk, stretching
Chest and Back
40mins exercise bike

Day 11 - weight-250lb (255.....^......................................................................180lbs)
Got up early this morning.  Have company coming over tonight, so no time to work out then.
warmup-5min walk, stretching
ab workout - got it all done, but this is really difficult. Its an improvement nonetheless.
35min SLB - 20 min walk, 15 min jog (could have done more, but didn’t get up early enough for that)

My weight is up today. Went to movie last night with the family and we had popcorn.  It must be the salt. I will watch that more closely.

Looks like you’re keeping up great!  A shift of a few pounds from day to day isn’t a big deal.  It happens to the best of us, and it’ll probably be back down tomorrow.  Keep up the good work!