Morphemass morphs some mass

Believe it or not the name has nothing to do with body-building or dieting - I had an idea for an algorithm a few years ago which would improve searching by using morphemes (essentially the smallest part of a word which still has meaning).  Anyways, it didn't work out (great idea, no backing).

22/06/2010 : I thought I ought to update my introduction :

I'm 38, have been out of shape since my mid 20s which got worse in my mid 30s because of chronic pain caused by gallstones which meant that my lifestyle was *extremely* sedentary (staying still equalled less pain). It took 2 years to get the surgery on the NHS (by which point the condition was actually life threatening) but becoming pain free was a new lease of life for me. Over those 2 years though I went from an unfit 13 Stone (@80Kg) to an obese 16 Stone (@100Kg). I could possibly have ignored this since I knew I was heavy but always thought a lot of it would be muscle - until I used one of these fitness machines at the local pool and it came back with a BMI of 33 and the word "Obese" written on it (hideously, in RED!!). I knew it was time to sort myself out and I no longer had any excuses not to do so!

So at the start of 2009 (a good 10 months after my surgery but a point at which I felt capable of doing so) I started to keep an eye on my calories and trying to get more exercise. I began by cutting out the obvious things; sugary drinks and foods, fatty foods, trying to cut my portion sizes etc. I casually did exercise, tried to run on occasion, would walk a couple of days a week to work or the nearest town, bought a set of weights and would pick them up when the fancy took me. In other words I wasn’t focused but I still managed to lose nearly 20Kg over the course of the year.

Then late on in 2009 I saw this chap walking towards me with the most amazing abs under his t-shirt (ones which I would now describe as good rather than amazing) and I suddenly thought to myself..."I want to look like that!". I don’t know why, I've NEVER had the slightest desire to be "ripped" before, but this desire *stuck* with me and so I started to research bodybuilding which eventually led me here. It was a relief to find a free site with some common sense advice; even better for it to come from an engineer whose opinion I can respect. And even better one with a great community And so I've stayed here and worked through 3 months of the beginner’s routine and am now 2 months into the intermediate routine.

I probably should have stayed with the beginners routine longer - I might have had a few fewer injuries that way (just because people give good advice doesn’t mean we have to heed it *sigh*) but I've seen some noticeable gains in my physique and dropped from 82Kg in March to nearly 70Kg at the end of June. I don’t have my 6 pack yet, but I   DO have muscles that I never even knew existed (seriously, I could look at my puny lats all day long). I can’t out-race a fit youngster, but I can keep up (almost) with my 14 year old son. And I've enjoyed the journey from there to here and am glad to look forward to the road ahead.


NEW GOALS : TARGET JANUARY 1 2011!
1) Make it into the success stories section of the website!
2) Gain & maintain BF% < 10% (currently @ 12%)
3) Curl 20Kg
4) 10x10x10 Pull-ups.
5) Run 10Km, once a week for 4 weeks. Decided this one isn't realistic due to lack of time.
6) DB press 25Kg (per DB)
7) 10x10x10 leg raises.

AM : 30 minutes cardio : 1/2 kilometer weighted fast walk, walk/jog @ 1 Km, + 5 minutes rowing.

Pushup (PU) : 8 : 6 : 6 - I do hate these!
Abs : 30:20:20 - lower back pain is holding me back from doing more reps.
Lunges : 2x6 (7. 5kg) - Pain in quads intense enough to convince me to stop.

+

Barbell rows : 3x6x18Kg - I think I need to lower the weight here.
Dumbbell flys : 8x6x8x5Kg
Dumbbell press : 3x10x7. 5Kg - I suspect I could up my weight here.

Weight : Back on the scales this AM and was looking at 80. 4Kg.  Almost tempted to shave completely to see that magic 79. 9 flash up on the scales!

79. 5Kg this AM.  1/2 a Kg over 2 days is a little scary and I am assuming that I didn't get my true low weight a couple of days ago. . . believe me I am not starving myself with yesterdays menu consisting of 3x25g whey milk shakes, 2(!!)x chocolate protein bars (these are a real treat as far as I'm concerned - I feel guilty eating them since its like having a bar of chocolate!), 1x wheatabix, 1 large pastrami salad with 150g of cottage cheese, 1 x plate of risotto with a healthy layer of parmesan cheese! If anything that's more than I used to eat when I was 97Kg!

Exercise wise I've been maintaining the cardio, walking to and from work (4Km fast pace) although yesterday since I finished late I skipped the return journey.  To make up for it I did the beginner set and some mixed DB exercises primarily concentrating on my lats and chest.  Push ups are difficult for me (10x8x8 being great for me yesterday) and pull ups impossible so at least another month on those 2 areas will hopefully yield rewards. 

Hi Morphemass, welcome to the forums!

Your journal looks great, and I only have one suggestion: don't weight yourself everyday! Scales can really cause alot more problems rather than solving them. Weight yourself only once per week - remember that your weight differs from day to day because of water weight and stuff like that. So I'd say its only realistic to weight yourself once every week.

Good luck!

Just tucked into a bacon and egg sandwich for lunch  Of course, grilled back bacon with the fat removed, poached egg, low fat spread, and a single slice of toasted brown bread. I almost didnt mind the lack of butter Nice change from the tuna and butterbean salad I've had the last couple of days (absolutely incredible meal btw since I sprinkle Ume boshi (plum) seasoning on that).

I've been maintaining the cardio and have even upped it to a 2-3 Mile walk in the morning. Having decided to leave even attempting to jog I'm compensating by making my daily sessions longer (its a little less than an hour to do the school "run" and a walk afterwards). My legs arnt aching for days afterwards as they were when I first started this so I can only assume I'm getting used to it.

My workout routine is a bit of a mess atm since I've been shortof time to fit it in; ended up doing abs yesterday and having to add some weight to feel that I was working them. Sadly this isnt because they are incredibly in shape, its because back pain (muscular I think) forces me to stop far before I feel like I've really pushed them Have just done a set of 20x20x20 press ups (knees on pillow) since I also feel with the press ups that I am "walking before I can run" and would prefer to do more but will probably mix these in with normal press up (even though I hate them).

Additional excercises :
Fly dbs 3x10x5Kg - will up the weight to 7.5Kg next time.
DB Press : 3x10x12.5Kg - Was struggling at the end, feels like the right wieght to work with for a while.
DB curls : 3x6x12.5Kg - Impressed myself there, curling these massive DBs...shame they are vinyl
DB Rows : 3x8x12.5Kg - really struggling on the last set, should probably stick to 10Kg for a while.

Routine shot to pieces at the moment due to needing to get a major piece of work in at the end of this week. Actually missed the cardio yesterday (unless typing 6,000 words counts!) so made up for it today by breaking my resolve to not run by....RUNNING! Well....jogging really. I did a shorter route than usual and actually felt like trying it so let myself....huge improvement on normal since after a 4 minutes I wasnt feeling ragged as I normally would. Sadly I seem to have hurt something in my calf. I dont think I've strained it...but I did end up hobbling home. Maybe one day.

Diet still good although slower losses than normal; I had my first cheat day in months on Friday...massive Kebab and with my wifes cooking over the weekend I was quite happy to weigh in the morning at 79.3Kg.

Training wise just the usual db excercises, push ups and crunches and its really getting a routine with these that is suffering so I think next week I will have to take urgent action. Paper first though

Stupid Stupid Stupid!

I was determined to get my morning cardio in today since I've not had the time on 2 of the last 3 days. Walked 2 miles and then felt like running...and MY GOD! I ran over a mile. I have NEVER done that before and only had to stop because of a slight pain in my calf. Walked another 1/2 mile and decided to turn around and head for home.Well I started jogging back again since there was a errrm nice view in front of me  and then again got into my "running rythm" and suddenly OUCH! Intense pain in my calf! I had to stop and hobble a mile back to the nearest bus stop

What did I say to myself about learning to walk before running?

Anyways to remind myself in the future, I managed to run by getting into a rythm with the music that was playing; I wasnt jogging, I was bouncing along. Oh and MY GOD! did it feel GOOD! I used to alway think people who said "I feel good when running" were absolutely bonkers, for the first time I understand EXACTLY what they mean. My old PE teacher has a lot to answer for :/

Anyways, RICE for me for a week or two it sounds like and back to dance for the cardio.

Have just about been maintaining cardio the last few days but coursework out of the way (well 1 more piece left but this is 14 pages vs 150 page hence a little more managable) so will have the time to ensure I get in 40 mins to 1 hour again. Sadly though any attempt at running is causing calf strain which is annoying because I'd like to run further than this is allowing me to do(oh and yes I had given it a weeks rest, been doing stretches; I'm going to try some heel pads see if that helps).

Diet, I was worried about hitting 78Kg so quickly so I've been increasing the amount Im eating and will aim to just lose 1/2 Kg per week for the next few weeks.

Other excercise: Pushups I've been managing 15x12x12 (huge improvement although the last few are a real effort); abs excercises - Im still limited by back pain so am adding weight which allows me to do the same number (@20) but feel some "burn"; still no bar so am doing 15Kg or 7.5Kg db rows depending on how I feel.

Plan for next week: Join the gym, get a plan in place!