TBone14;1856719 wrote:I did my first HIIT cardio session today on the recommendation of Automatik. My old way was to just go as long as possible. 40 minutes on the elliptical would be better than 20 or 30, etc. It would take my 10 minutes to break a sweat at a moderate pace and by the end of 40 minutes, I'd have a nice sweat going.
Well, I did a 20 minute HIIT today on an elliptical and you can feel the difference. I was dripping sweat by 8 minutes (including the 3 minute warm up) and after 20 total minutes (including cool down) I was drenched and spent.
3 hours later I can still feel the work out whereas a typical 40 minute elliptical session I would feel nothing by now.
I'm going to mix in some spin cycling next and then the treadmill and maybe some work on the indoor track or just running lines on the basketball court just to keep it different.
A little over 3 months since this post and I'm down 33 lbs (about 4 months overall). Been consistently in the gym 4x (sometimes 5)x a week at lunch. I've replaced my typical lunches with Premier Protein shakes after my workout. I usually have an apple or banana around 10 AM, gym at noon, protein shake around 1:30. I have some nuts in the afternoon. That is a pretty typically Monday-Thursday. Friday depends on schedule.
Dinners on Monday-Wednesday are very clean. I've cut out the random 2 or 3 IPAs I would typically drink while I grilled chicken, steak or pork chops. Thursday night-Sunday are hold on for dear life. Thursday I have golf league after work...automatic drinking. I've tried to have something prepared for when I get home (I would typically get fast food on the way home after golfing and drinking 10 beers) that I can just warm up.
Weekends just depend on plans. I still drink when I want. I've drank more vodka this summer (mixing with water or club soda) as opposed to beer. Not sure if it's any better but it feels better.
On average this summer, I still have drank 3-4 days a week but I've been super, super clean with lunches and have really limited carbs at BBQs/Pool Parties/etc.
Overall, pretty happy but I still have more to go. I've made some lifestyle changes and sacrifices but not to the point where I want to kill myself and life isn't worth living. I know diet is more important but the key for me is getting to the gym. If I can get there, it helps me immensely in the evening stay disciplined.