This plan comes in three phases.  The first is the conditioning phase.  This is where I am right now, in the last week of this phase.  I’ll give you this phase now and will come back to the other two when we get there.  One week on this phase and you’ll understand the conditioning part.  Your goal is to do at least one warm-up set, maybe two if you’re lifting heavier.

The numbers:

In week one, you want to do 4 sets of 15 reps.  This is a little tricky to get started.  It may take you a workout or two to get the number right.  Basically, when you hit that 60th rep, you don’t want to be able to push/pull number 61.

In week two, you want to increase the weight by a little bit, 5-10 lbs depending on the exercise, and decrease reps to 4 sets of 12.  This week is much easier for me compared to the first.  Maybe it is the drop from 60 reps per exercise to 48.  Endurance has never been a strength of mine.

Finally, in week three, you’re increasing the weight again, 5-10 lbs, and increasing reps back to 15.  This week is killer.  At this point, you’ve increased the weight a total of 10-20 pounds per exercise over your first week.  This is where we are as of the writing of this post.

The exercises:

We get our bodies moving with 10 minutes of treadmill walking every day.  It gets the blood flowing and the heart rate up a bit to prepare for pushing all of this weight.  The order is key on these workouts.  They are designed to fatigue muscles in a particular order.  Remember, every exercise gets the required number of reps—4×15, 4×12, 4×15.

Chest

• incline bench press (bar)
• flat bench press (bar)
• flyes (we use the machine, I get a better squeeze than with dumbbells)
• pushups (to failure).  We skip the pushups and do 3-4 drop sets of decline bench.  Pushups to failure would be about 2 at that point.
• We finish the day off with 4×15 crunches (I use the decline bench)

Back

• wide-grip rows
• single-arm bent-over dumbbell row
• straight-arm lat pushdown
• wide-grip lat pulldowns (to chest)
• dumbbell shrugs
• smith machine shrugs
• back hyperextensions

Legs

• squats (bar)
• stiff-legged deadlifts
• seated leg curl
• leg press
• leg extensions
• standing bar calf raises
• machine (seated) calf raises
• decline crunches (again)

Arms

• straight bar bicep curls
• preacher curls (ez curl bar)
• hammer curls (dumbbells)
• tricep pushdowns (rope—pull the ends of that rope apart for a great squeeze!)
• skullcrushers (keep these under control so they don’t result in actual skull crushing)
• dips (we use the machine)
• leg raises (I do hanging raises)
• (even more) crunches.

Shoulders

• dumbbell shoulder press
• Arnold press
• dumbbell lateral raise
• reverse flyes (deltoid flyes)
• We do these on arm day so no more crunches necessary

This is a whole week’s worth of exercises.  We do one body part per day, except for shoulders.  We’re going to split those up to shorten our Friday workout a bit.  Arms and shoulders are too much for one workout.  Shoulders suffer because we’re too exhausted to push too much weight, not to mention the workout hits close to two hours at this point. That is simply too long to lift.  We workout Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.  On Saturday, I try to get a few walking miles in to keep my legs from being too sore on Sunday.  Thursday and Sunday are rest days.

Each of these workouts burns approximately 500 calories with my heart rate averaging just over 100 bpm.  Obviously, your mileage will vary depending on your height, weight and age.  Rodney’s average is probably around 120 for each workout.

If you have questions about any of these exercises, please leave a comment and ask.  Persevere. This is hard, but it is worthwhile in order to build endurance for the coming strength weeks.  60 reps over 4-6 exercises makes for a long, but very satisfying workout.  I’ll post the next section before you have a chance to complete this three week cycle.  Keep me posted on your progress and lift hard!

So, what is “too much?”

For starters, I actually do have a big frame.  I have always carried my weight very well.  Most people would not have guessed that I weighed 343 at my heaviest.  Most people would not guess that I still weigh 239 pounds.  Many people that I ask think I’m in the 180-190 range.  My weight loss goal is 225, right now.  That may change as I get there, but for now, that is my goal.

I am 74″ tall (or, more accurately, 73.5″ after two back surgeries), putting my “normal” weight range at approximately 150-190.  I do not believe that my frame is built for those weights (who do you think I am, @mhenslee?).  190 would be just about the lowest that I would want to weigh at this point, especially with the weight lifting that I’m doing right now.  At today’s weight (239.2), my BMI (30.7) remains in the obese category.  225 will still leave me in the overweight category, with a BMI of about 29.  For reference, 19-24 is a “normal” BMI range.

That is a long way around saying, that I believe my numbers are justified.  225 should be a good number for my height and weight.  As I get there, I may try to have a real body fat percentage assessment done so that I know where I should aiming.  Until then, I just plan on continuing with my weight loss until I hit my goal.  Goal, evaluate.  Goal, evaluate.  I know where my numbers should be and will stay in a healthy range.

On to the good numbers!

Total weight loss at this point is 103.9 pounds.  My blood pressure is better than ever—after weight training and lunch, it was 110/70 as I was preparing to give blood.  I was borderline XXXL shirt, today I am very comfortably wearing an XL.  I am off to buy some new pants this weekend.  I am wearing 44″ pants that have no hope of staying up without a belt.  I have a pair of 36″ pants that fit very well.  I’m looking forward to having some clothes that fit!

Thank you for all of the encouragement that you have all offered!  This has been a tough journey, but one that is very worthwhile.  Several of you have asked about my workouts—I’ll have more info on them later.  The gym is your friend!  Well, most of them are.  My “non-judgmental” gym calling me a “meathead” isn’t very nice.  Anyone want to buy me a better gym membership?

Many of you have read these two narratives multiple times and can probably give the gist of the story off of the tops of your heads.  Maybe this is my issue.  I know the stories a little too well. Until I read that article in my research, I never connected these two events together.  Let me remind you of the two stories and I’m sure you will understand exactly my argument before I make it. Both accounts pasted below are from the ESV.

Genesis 11:1-9

1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.6 And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.”8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

Acts 2:1-13

1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome,11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

What we see in the Babel passage in Genesis is too much cooperation and scheming between the people of the earth.  They are developing a way to make a corporate name for themselves and to become known for their works and achievements.  In response, God confused their language and dispersed them all over the world into their own nations.

In the Pentecost passage in Acts, God sends his Spirit on his disciples and allows them to speak in a variety of tongues.  In fact, Luke gives a long list of people that heard speech in their own tongues.  The story of Christ was able to be told to all of the nations of earth from Pentecost on.  The Gospel was for all people.

In Genesis, sin divides people.  Read through the rest of the Old Testament and you will read of frequent battles and wars between nations.  The story of God was told through the chosen people of Israel.

In Acts, the Good News of Christ unites people.  Much of the New Testament is a testimony to the unifying power of the Gospel and its spread to the nations.  Ultimately, those with faith in Christ look to full restoration at his return.  This is where Christians will come together in the New Jerusalem at the culmination of this age.

These two stories are indicative of the overarching story (metanarrative) of the Bible.  Sin breaks everything; Christ restores everything.  Because of Christ’s work on the cross, salvation is possible for those that have faith.

Hebrews 2:10-11

10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers

Christ is the better prophet, priest and king.  He paid the price for a debt that we could not pay.  He restores everything.

Hebrews 11:1-3

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.2 For by it the people of old received their commendation.3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

I know you’re tired of hearing about this one.  I’ve been trying to hit 100 pounds lost for 2 or 3 weeks now.  I think my body is finally adjusting to the workouts.  Thanks for all of the encouragement!  Only 16.7 pounds until my goal of 225.

Trusting God

There you have it—my first full batch of Greek yogurt.  A lot of people have asked about it, so I’m sharing the process with you.  It is pretty simple if you can follow directions.  These are the tools you’ll need:

• milk
• yogurt starter or plain Greek yogurt
• stove/microwave
• oven or other incubating heat source
• stockpot (stove) or mixing bowl (microwave)
• thermometer
• measuring utensils
• For Greek style yogurt, some straining materials—cheesecloth, mesh colander, chinois

This site has the process that I used.  She has made much more of this yogurt than I have and has done a great job of explaining the process.  She has several posts on the process, so read them all if you have questions.

If you don’t like the tanginess of Greek yogurt, don’t remove the whey.  She uses the bouillon strainer (chinois) to strain hers down to the Greek style yogurt. The way she talked about the cheesecloth, I thought I was going to be in for a huge mess to clean up.  It wasn’t bad at all.  Yes, it took a few minutes longer, but I can deal with that if I don’t have to spend over $100 on a strainer.

One thing she does not tell you: 1 gallon will make a total of approximately 64 ounces of yogurt (1 gallon=128 oz).  In other words, the milk reduces to about half of its original volume in order to produce Greek yogurt.  If you do not want the Greek style and prefer to stir the whey back into the yogurt after it has set, your volume will obviously be a bit more, closer to 3/4 or more of the original milk volume.

Now, the good part of that.  I paid $2.79 for a gallon of skim milk that will make 1/2 gallon of yogurt.  1/4 gallon of Greek yogurt is generally around $5.  For slightly over 1/2 of the cost, I get twice as much yogurt.  Sounds like a great deal to me for a little bit of my time.  If you love yogurt and eat a bunch of it like we do, this is certainly a better deal.  The 32 ounce container of Chobani plain, non-fat yogurt will last me 4 days at a cost of $5 (8 oz per day).  Those same 4 days of my own yogurt cost me $1.40 and about an hour of my time (this did occupy my oven for about 20 hours as it incubated with just the light on).  Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy the Chobani yogurt and the convenience of just opening the container and measuring out what I’ll eat.  But for the price difference for as much as we eat, this is worth it.

What you see in the picture above are four 8 ounce servings of plain yogurt.  This is about all I have the equipment to be able to produce at one time.  I haven’t experimented with flavors yet, because I generally like the plain anyway.  I’ll add blueberries and quick oats to this before I eat it so Ido not really need other flavors.  If you do experiment with other flavors, let me know what you tried and whether you liked it or not.

Do you have questions about the process?  Maybe I can help.  Leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to answer your questions.

• Gradient Pro—Makes CSS gradients
• Barcode Maker Express—As it says…
• DaisyScanner—Discover and free HDD space

Enjoy!

This is Easter of 2011.  Yes, my son is blurry.  My wife does call him the blur.

It is hard to appreciate how different things are until you see where you’ve been.  The funny thing is I’m still wearing this suit.  It was tight in this picture.  It is very different now.  As of this writing, I still have about 20 pounds left to lose until I hit my ultimate goal—at least as of right now.

I’ll post some after pics when I hit 100 pounds lost.  Hopefully very soon.