100 Pushups : Final Week? (Day 3)

Tonight’s sets were as follows. The first 4 sets were an increase from previous sets. By set 4 though my arms were shaking like jello. I only eeked out a miserable 60 for the max set. My total was slightly higher than my last day.

Set 1 : 70
Set 2 : 70
Set 3 : 60
Set 4 : 75
Set Max : 60

Total=335

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100 Pushups : Final Week? (Day 2)

I bumped the sets a little more today. Sets went well, but I could definitely tell I was hitting my limit. My max set was lower today than last time. It was a struggle to hit the 80; I do believe this was still a step in the right direction. I’m so close now.

Set1: 55
Set2: 70
Set3: 55
Set4: 60
Max: 80
Total = 320

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100 Pushups : Final Week? (Day 1)

As I mentioned in a prior post I have strayed from Week 6 of the program as it just hasn’t been working for me. I started by repeating Week 6 Day 1 a couple of times, then mixing in some more difficult push-up variations (one-armed/inclined/etc)... but without a solid direction.

Eventually I decided since what was working for me about the initial weeks of the program was the gradual increase of reps per set that I would just tack on some of my own days that just have higher per set reps than Week 6 Day 1.

So today’s sets were as follows.
1) 50
2) 65
3) 50
4) 60
Max) 90!

Total=315!

Today was amazing and a huge accomplishment while simultaneously a incredible frustration! When I was performing my max set I was feeling a serious burn by 75, sheer determination kicked in telling me that I could do more reps than last time. At 80 the pain was sort of hiding in the back of my mind while this loud voice was screaming in my head, “You are going to get the 100 tonight, do it! DO IT!” As I was pushing out the next ten though my arms turned into a jiggling screaming mass. The last 2 reps were a totally incredible feat and I literally rolled onto my back and screamed out loud in frustration knowing that the 100 just wasn’t going to happen tonight! :(

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100 Pushups : Week 6x2 Day 1

So it has been a while since I posted, but I have still been hard at work on the program. I made it through Week 6 ok, but I still wasn’t quite prepared for the 100. I’m having a bit of concern regarding this 6th week as well, because I’m not 100% sure that it is the best way to achieve the 100. The first day of the week has larger reps in the sets which I believe helps with the strength gains and endurance needed to hit the 100 better than days 2 and 3. I know that days 2 and 3 have a higher number of total reps, but it is my personal feeling that the extra rests are not allowing me to build the needed endurance.

That said I started Week 6 a second time, but I have changed several things to try and help myself close this final remaining gap to the 100.

1) Rather than going straight through Week 6 again I have just been repeating Day 1 and trying to increase my reps each time for the max set.
2) Mixing in some very small sets of one arm push-ups on off days since since they require more strength.
3) Performing an extra max set of modified push ups following the normal max set to help increase endurance.

So today I did Week 6 Day 1 again and the sets were…
Set 1—45
Set 2—55
Set 3—35
Set 4—30
Max —75!!!

Total-240

Two things I take away from this so far. This is let push ups total than I was performing on Week 6 Day 2 and Day 3, however 75 is my highest max ever! That is even higher than my highest max test which was 68; so I think I’m doing something right here.

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100 Pushups : Week 6 Day 3 (First try)

Tonight went pretty well, but I didn’t quite make the minimum of 60 for the final, max, set.

My sets were as follows.

26
26
33
33
26
26
22
22
56

TOTAL=270

I think I would have hit the max ok, but today was a bit crazy on the exercise side. I skipped my lunch trip to the gym today since I was so busy at work. Tonight I started my new evening Yoga class, and since I had missed my lunch workout I went ahead and did a 1/2 hour of back exercises, pull ups, and cardio before yoga. Then after an hour of yoga I did a full upper body workout at the gym. Then I came straight home from the gym and started my push ups :) I was pretty well ready to drop before I started my push up sets.

So this finishes out my first go at week 6. Now I’m going back to Week 6 Day 1 and repeating the week before I try for the 100.

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100 Pullups : It's Been a while

So it’s been 4 weeks since I last posted on this goal. As before, this has still been secondary to hitting my 100 push ups, which are now very near.

However, I have still been working at the pull ups here and there just to improve a bit in the meantime since my initial showings were so terrible.

Tonight I did 20 pull ups. These were broke out into 4 sets 7,5,3,5. This isn’t great, but it’s an improvement for me!

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100 Pushups : Week 6 Day 1 (First try)

Today was KILLER!

The first set of 45 was no problem.
The second set was supposed to be 55 and I dropped at 40 :(
The third set I was dying at 30; it took every ounce of energy to hit 35.
My arms were shaking going into the fourth set, but I managed to eek out the 30.
The final max set was supposed to be 55 minimum. I gave it everything I had to try and make the 55, but I dropped at 51; there was no way I was going to make it.

Total=201

This was a big jump from Week 5 Day 3; primarily because each set is a much higher number. Transitioning from less reps over more sets to this is fairly difficult in my opinion.

On the plus side this is week 6! Once I make through this I’m done with the challenge! Then I can finally put this behind me and get started on the one arm program :)

I’m going to just press on to the next day since the set spread is so much different for Day 2 and Day 3. If I hit all of my numbers at Day 3 I’m going straight to the 100 test. If I don’t hit the numbers on Day 3 I will repeat Week 6 before taking the final test.

For posterity’s sake I plan to record my 100 test and put it on YouTube.

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100 Pushups : Week 5 Day 3

20,20,24,24,20,20,22,53
Total=203

So my sets went fine today. Last set was a struggle, but I did pass the 50 mark. Overall I actually did 5 less push ups total than my last attempt, but I was more fatigued going into the final set with the new increased sets.

Looks like it’s time to start the sixth and FINAL week!

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A1C of 5.7!

My last A1C was 5.9 and my most recent one was even lower at 5.7. That’s translates to an average blood glucose of around 111. Since I have maintained such a good level on my A1C they are going to drop the dosage on my Metformin.

On one level I’m glad to decrease my meds, but on another level I wonder if this doesn’t just make it harder to keep my blood glucose in line and set me up for failure? I know that my current levels are good, and I want to keep them that way. I’m not sure how much more I can do naturally to make things better? I’m already going to the gym very regularly and eat much healthier than before…

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Week 5 Day 2 (Destroyed!)

So this has been a long time coming. I’ve done this day 4 times already! I was super busy at work the last couple weeks (even worse than usual)! Since I was already discouraged I was using any excuse I could to not work out this week yet again. I know, shame on me :(

Tonight I figured it was time to get back on track before I totally fell off the exercise wagon, which it’s something I really don’t want.

I figured I would do badly since the last time I did my sets was last Sunday, but maybe that break was just what the doctor ordered. Now on to the sets!

19,19,22,22,18,18,22

The initial sets all went well except for the second set of 18. When I fit 15 I felt like I was going to drop dead, but I was able to push through to the full 18.

I took about a 2 minute break before trying the 22. By then I was just fine.

And then it was time for the max. I felt just sure going into it I wasn’t going to make the 45. Once I started though I totally had a huge rush of adrenaline. When I hit 40 I thought to myself, “Holy crap I’m going to make this easy!” Then 45 came and went and I hit 50! At 50, I was like, “I think I can eek out a couple more!” I pushed on to 60! At 60, I was thinking, “I don’t have much left in me, but it would be cool as hell to reach 75 so I’m not stopping till I drop!” At 65, I knew I wasn’t going to make that 75, but I pushed out every last one I could and dropped at 68!

So, I know that was a lot of drama, but that was huge for me. I can’t believe I hit a 68 max, especially following the normal sets! I’ve never been close to that high even on a max test day.

For the first time I really believe that the 100 is in my reach. I can almost taste success! WHOOO-HOOOOOO!

Total – 208

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lower my blood sugar : Blood sugar is good; not so sure about my mental health...

I’ve been managing my blood sugar pretty well lately. My 7 day average on my meter is 97. That should put by A1C count below 6, but I’m going in for my 3 month blood work this week, so the truth will come out after that…

Saturday was pretty rough for me. I went to a software conference with some friends. Breakfast was donuts, lunch was chips and white bread hoagie sandwiches, and the after party was liquor and fried foods.

I ate as healthy as I could and avoided most of the offerings, but it left me feeling a bit depressed like I was the odd man out. Today I slept half the day and I’m not sure if that was from being depressed or due to this sinus infection; maybe it was a bit of both.

I also have this terrifying fear these days that my blood sugar will go low while I’m sleeping and that I’ll go in to a coma. I had this extremely vivid nightmare last where I had gone in to a coma. In it I couldn’t move my body and I was trying to scream for my wife to help me, but nobody could hear me, because my body was totally paralyzed and I was really only screaming inside my head.

I wonder what a coma is really like, In my nightmares though I am totally aware of everything, but all I can do is lie there and no one knows that I’m fully aware of everything. That would be hell on earth.

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100 Pushups : Week 5 Day 2 (Fourth try!)

I’m quite tired of this program right now… I will be glad when the 100 is past.

My sets today were 19,19,22,22,18,18,22,42. Total was 182. If I wasn’t feeling like crap from a sinus infection I think today would have been the day :(.

This past week I also have skipped the gym for the ENTIRE week :( This was solely due to the fact that I had a large project at work that had to be ready to go live this coming Monday.

This coming week will see me back in the gym and back at my regular routine. Tomorrow I’m going to start out with some time in the sauna to try and cook out this sinus infection and then get in a good workout session to get my energy level back up.

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100 Pushups : Week 5 Day 2 (Third try!)

This started out good, but ended badly.

My first 6 sets were easy. The 7th set was a bit difficult.
19,19,22,22,18,18,22

My max set was a total bust tonight.
I dropped at 27.
27

Total—-167 :(

Ouch! These 45 second wait times are killer.

This was so horrible in my opinion, that I then took a bit longer break and tried an additional max set.

I hit 50 on the final set, and the last five were absolutely hell.

Nightly Total—-217

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100 Pushups : Week 5 Day 2 (Second try!)

Today went a bit better, but still not quite there. The first six sets went without a hitch, then there was a bit of struggle for set seven. Then, I totally flubbed up and repeated set seven for an eighth set as I forgot that set was not supposed to be doubled up. I then only hit 42 on the final set instead of the minimum 45 needed. So now I think if I hadn’t done an extra set by mistake I probably would have made it.

I’ll do this day one more time, I’m pretty confident it will go off without any issues next time.

My sets tonight were as follows.

19,19,22,22,18,18,22,22,42
TOTAL=204

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100 Pushups : Week 5 Day 2 (First try!)

This went real well until the last set.

19,19,22,22,18,18,22

The max set was supposed to be 45; I dropped at 32.

I threw on an extra set of 30 after a minute rest.
Looks like I’ll be doing this one again Monday.

202 pushups total tonight.

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100 Pushups : Week 5 Day 1 (First try!)

Week 5 started off with a bang! The first 4 sets went by without any issues. 36,40,30,24

I could feel the burn going into the fourth set though. At 30 I was really feeling it and wondered if I was going to make it, but I did push through to 40. I probably could have done a couple more, but I felt like I was near ready to collapse.

Friday will bring Day 2 and the move to 8 sets instead of 5. I’m curious if it will feel more difficult since it is more push ups total, or if it will be easier since the set reps will be lower for each set. I guess I’ll find out soon enough…

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100 Pushups: Most Recent Max

So today I did a new max test before starting Week 5. I maxed at 46. I was disappointed with this as I was hoping to get 50 at the very minimum. I think this is probably because I did a full upper body workout and hit my abs real hard during that (I did V-ups, the captains chair, and the alternating bicycle), so my core was pretty tired for this. :)

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Drink more water : Been doing great

I’ve been doing a lot better with this lately. Averaging between 40 and 60 oz each day, and I’ve really cut back on the coffee. I’ve only had one cup in the last 5 days. Previously it was 5 cups in 1 day…

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drink more water: 60 oz today

I’ve drank 60 oz of water today. I’m going to try and quit coffee too starting tomorrow…

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100 Pushups : Week 4 Day 3 (Getting closer)

I still didn’t make it today, but it was much better than my previous attempts.

My first 3 sets were fine.
29,33,29.
Fourth set was a strain, but still made it 29.
By the last set my arms couldn’t take anymore 25.

Total: 145

It’s a bit depressing, but a huge improvement from Monday. I think I’ll get it soon.

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100 Push Ups: Week 4 Day 3 (Failure Again...)

So I took 4 days off for rest. Went and saw the chiro, icy hotted my right shoulder and wrists. Went back into the gym today pumped for success, and I let myself down!

First two sets went off fine 29,33. Then on set 3 I only made it to 21. After that I finished the rest of my normal upper body workout. At the end of it I did another two sets of pushups. 29, 31. I had considered backing up to Day 2 if I failed at this again, but I’ve decided to just keep at Day 3 until success. While it still seems a ways off, it is definitely pushing me to my very limits right now.

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100 Push Ups: Week 4 Day 3 (Total Failure)

This was an awful and discouraging day. My first two sets were fine 29,33. Then I failed on the third set! I’m not sure if I should go back and try day 2 again, or if I’ve been over training lately. I’m feeling completely wiped out and have no motivation. I’m going to stop all exercises until Monday. Then I will retry Day 3. Hopefully I just need some RR to let my body recoup. If I’m not there on Monday I will back it up to Day 2 for another couple of times. Blah :(

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100 Push Ups: Week 4 Day 2 (Success)

So it only took 3 tries to get this one… And it was still a struggle. My sets were 25,29,25,25,36. Everything was good until set 4. At that point I was really feeling tired. Then for the final set I was absolutely dying. By the last 3 my arms were quivering like jelly; there was no way I could have made it past 36 and 36 was the minimum max out, so I barely eeked by.

Usually I would repeat a day like this at least once more so I felt truly up to snuff, but I’m really thinking of just pushing on to Day 3.

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197 off of a small bowl of granola!

Cereal really does a number on me. This morning I had a small bowl of granola cereal for breakfast. It was right around 45grams of carbs total, so 3 carb servings. My recommended carb servings per meal to control my blood sugar is supposed to 4-5. Just one hour later I was up to 197! I high tailed it over to the gym before work and hit the treadmill for 15 minutes. Just that 15 minutes on the treadmill dropped me back down to 80.

I’ve played around with a multiple cold cereals and Wheaties seems to have the least affect on my blood sugar, but even that is putting me up to 160 at the one hour point. That is still too high.

This is always my worst point in the day. I really need to get up early enough to cook some healthy for breakfast or to workout after eating.

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Week 4 Day 2 (again)

My sets this time were 25,29,25,25,27! This was worse on my final set than last time! I’m not too broken up about this though, I took shorter breaks in between sets this time and I did a full upper body workout yesterday so I don’t think I’ve had enough rest.

This weekend I’m going to do some more ditch work, some cardio for sure, and possibly some leg work. That should give me time to recoup and for Monday so I can finally make the cut for Week 4 Day 2.

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Upper body

I did an hour of upper body today. Chest, shoulder, back, triceps, biceps.

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Week 4 Day 2

My sets today were 25, 29, 25, 25, 32. I couldn’t quite make it to that 36 minimum for the last set! Week 4 has been really discouraging for me, but I am determined to keep at this until I make the hundred! So I guess Friday will be Day 2 again :( This is the longest week for me by far…

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Week 4 Day 1 (Yet again...)

Sets 21,25,21,21, Failed on Max at 25 :( Added another set of 7 to make my “minimum 32”.

Then did 50 consecutive knee pushups for full exhaustion. I had already done V-ups and leg lifts so I’m surprised my core held out that long. Looks I will be doing Week 4 Day 1 again on Saturday…

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3 Months and Adjusting

It's been 3 months since my last post now. During this time I've been making a lot of changes and just trying to adapt in general. I still have moments of weakness and sometimes general anger over what has happened, but overall I'm doing really well.

At my last blood test my A1C was down to 5.9. For those that don't know, this is excellent! 5.9 means my blood sugar average level is within range of normal non diabetics. I have taken this very seriously, and my lower blood sugar is owed to a combination of things.

1) Religiously taking my medications.
2) Tight blood sugar control.
3) Significant diet changes.
4) Increased activity.

Tight blood sugar control basically means I check my blood sugar often especially when trying new foods and adjust my diet accordingly to maintain a normal blood sugar level.

I have decreased my carb intake significantly. I have also reduced my intake of saturated fats significantly and reduced my trans fats to trace levels. I have all but given up on salt, and have replaced refined grains with whole wheat whenever possible. I have also been replacing fatty meats with more lean meats (chicken, turkey, fish). Gradually I have been making the switch from skim milk to soy milk. It's been difficult to make the switch to soy milk due to the total change in flavor and texture, but I'm confident I will switch over 100% some time in the future.

I am going to the gym usually 3 or 4 times a week and am loosely following the Body For Life program (exercise portion only). Additionally I'm doing the hundred push-up challenge from hundredpushups.com. I'm currently in Week 4 of that program and am doing a little over 100 pushups every other day.

I've been using 43things a lot lately to track my progress on some of these things, and am going to start using the blog publishing feature there so that my progress will get published here to the blog as well. Currently these are focusing more on my exercise program, but it does cover some of my diet slip-ups or achievements as well.

Week One With Diabetes

How did we find out?

Six months ago my wife and I decided it was about damn time we got life insurance. To do this we had to have some blood tests run. When everything was said and done we both were covered, but I ended up in a higher risk group and paying more. It turned out the blood results came back showing extremely high triglycerides. At that time they were around 900; normal triglyceride counts are below 150. Something was wrong!

So I went to the physician and they ran more tests and put me on Gemfibrozil to help lower my triglycerides.

Over the last few months though I continued to feel more and more tired, have begun urinating with greater and greater frequency, been extremely thirsty, and am starting to have problems with blurred vision.

All of those symptoms are classic of diabetes. So this past Monday I went back in to have more blood work. Tuesday the doctor's office called and told me my FBG (fasting blood glucose) came back at 260 and my triglycerides were still way up at 825. The nurse then told me that I was diabetic and that I needed to get in asap to see the doctor.

Wednesday morning Chelsea and I went in to see the doctor. He ordered more blood work and a urinalysis. This time they were going to test for my A1C count; this is a test to determine what your average blood glucose levels are for about the last three months. My mother is also hypothyroid which can cause out of control triglycerides, so upon my request they were also going to screen me for my thyroid as well. The doctor prescribed Metformin for the diabetes and more Gymfibrozil for the triglycerides.

The doctor had a horrible bedside manner though; he told us at great length how both of his parents had died from complications of diabetes, that since I wasn't overweight there probably wasn't much I could do to change things, and that since my triglycerides were so high "your blood will turn to sludge, your pancreas will give out, and you will die" is how he put it. Chelsea was in tears, and I was not in the best shape either to say the least!

Wednesday evening the doctor's office called and said that my TSM count was at 12, so I am also hypothyroid and another prescription was called in for Levothyroxine.

What we've started doing

Since then we have been reading as much as we can to learn about controlling diabetes, and making changes to our diet as we are learning. I also signed up on diabetes.org and have visited the forums there so I can discuss with other people that have similar health issues. Everyone there has been very informative.

I purchased several books on diabetes, "Diabetes for Dummies", "Type 2 Diabetes The First Year", and "Diabetes Food Carbohydrate & Fat Gram Guide" to start off.

Chelsea has been googling all kinds of information and she also setup an appointment with an internist/endocrinologist for later this month.

I already started exercising at the gym several weeks ago, and will continue that. Chelsea is going to join the gym as well to help keep me on track.

We are starting to eat more white meats and vegetables and so far I have cut out any types of sweets or processed foods like chips, crackers, etc... and caffeine. Cutting out caffeine is the hardest part for me. I am so addicted that I have had a caffeine headache for the past 3 days.

For breakfast this morning I had an omega 3 egg scrambled with spinach, onion, and cheddar with a glass of soymilk. We read that soymilk was better than real milk when you have diabetes, but I wasn't sure how well I would be able to take that. Surprisingly, the soymilk isn't bad. It is slightly on the sweet side, but it will definitely be one of the easier adjustments.

More to come...