Build Me - An Ongoing Journey

Tuesday 12/23/08
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Weight: 145.0 - down 0.5lb
Body Fat: 6.9% - down 0.4%

Diet:
Breakfast:
1 medium Pear
1 medium-large Apple
½ cup Oats
1 large “pan sized” Egg Beater Omelet with Ham, Pepper, Onion
Lunch:
1 medium Apple
1 bowl Lettuce Spring Mix, Cucumber, Bell Pepper (Light Low Ginger Soy Dressing)
1 Low Calorie Wrap with Ham (less than usual), Cottage Cheese, Baby Spinach, Bell Pepper, Spicy Hot Salsa
2 slices Whole Wheat Bread [no HFC] with Turkey, Tomato, Onion, Lettuce, No Fat Low Calorie American Cheese (Mustard)
Dinner:
1 plate Striped Bass, Roasted Vegetables
1 small plate Salmon, Potato, Cabbage Mixture
1 small bowl Cottage Cheese (Cinnamon, Fennel Seed)



That was my diet.




The Day:

There really isn’t much to say today. As usual I wasn’t in the mood for cardio until I actually started running and then became motivated to finish. Again I was able to complete the mile and a half without breathing through my mouth. I’m very satisfied with this accomplishment as it means a progression is soon to be in order. The rest of the workout went well despite a reordering of my activities (had to do treadmill walking before elliptical). I actually ended up burning slightly more calories than normal because I had to spend some extra time walking on the treadmill before one of the elliptical machines opened up. Also on the elliptical I burned 65 calories this time instead of 52 last time. Besides maybe a slightly margin of 1 or 2 RPMs, the two instances should have been identical. I really don’t get this calorie estimations that the machines gives. I just don’t.

Later on I went out to dinner. I tried to eat as much as possible; but still it wasn’t enough. To compensate, around a half an hour prior to bed I decided to eat a small bowl of cottage cheese. Afterwards I brushed my teeth and went to work on those pushups and sit-ups. It was tougher than usual for whatever reason (probably just an off day). Unlike my bedroom, at my dad’s house (where I am now staying) the ground is hardwood not carpet so my tailbone started to hurt again on the sit-ups. This made it increasingly difficult as well. I also tried to push myself further by increasing the speed of my sit-ups with some success (I was only able to make a noticeable difference on the first set which I think caused my other two to weaken in quickness). I ended the nightly routine with a burn in all the right places. For that reason, it was a good day


That was the day.




This concludes Entry #19.
 
Wednesday 12/24/08
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Weight: 143.5 - down 1.5lb
Body Fat: 7.3% - up 0.4%

Diet:
Pre-Breakfast:
1 small bowl 2% Fat Cottage Cheese and Honey Wheat Germ
Breakfast:
1 medium Egg White Omelet with Lox, Onion, Lettuce, Tomato (Ketchup)
1 bowl Oatmeal
1 very small bowl 2% Fat Cottage Cheese and Bee Pollen
2 medium Apples
Post-Lunch:
A few spoonfuls 2% Fat Cottage Cheese and Wheat Germ
1 medium Apple
Lunch:
1 small plate Salad with Lettuces, Cabbage, Apple, and Other Vegetables/Fruits (Vinaigrette)
1 plate Chicken, Vegetables, a little Potato
Post-Dinner:
5-10 Baby Cut Carrots
1 small bowl Oatmeal
Dinner:
1 small bowl Chinese Chicken and Corn Soup [light broth]
1 plate Chinese Bass and Vegetables [light sauce]
1 cup White Rice
3 Baby Cut Carrots
5 Almonds



That was my diet.




The Day:

I weighed myself this morning and the results were not favorable. I lost weight again probably from not eating enough last night. Even worse is my body fat percent went in the opposite direction. I really got to get on top of this eating thing for traveling. I simply am not eating enough when I’m out at restaurants or basically anytime I’m not at a buffet or cooking myself. My resolution is simply to try and make the scale go up now instead of staying in the middle point. By the scale going up I will be able to tell at which point is too much eating and then balance it with what I know now to be too little. Using these two pivot points I think I will become better able to release myself from the constrictions of a non standardized diet plan.

For my workout today I went down to my dad’s gym which is located conveniently inside his apartment building. The gym sucked. There were two different types of ellipticals that I could try for my HIIT. At first I tried the one that looked the most similar to my previous experiences. It was an utter failure. Once the first high intensity interval began I immediately knew that this wasn’t going to work. The machine did not provide enough resistance, but if you tried to increase the magnetism it would become impossibly hard to move. There was no good linear progression for each resistance level. Basically it was terrible for HIIT.

I moved onto the next machine, restarting the HIIT activity. It too had issues. The design was very uncomfortable as it inclined my feet way too much causing pressure on the balm of my foot; also causing my foot to slide forward on every step. It also had linear progression issues as for whatever reason it was too easy for almost every level except the last two which became almost impossibly hard (I nearly collapsed on the last interval because of this). To top it off, even with all the exertion I gave, I still only burned 287 for 20 minutes of HIIT. That’s way way below my normal. Just for the records incase I’m ever needing to be on the same machine again (hopefully never) my rest intervals were at approximately 140-145rpm while my intensity intervals were at 180rpm. The only good thing about today was that all the calories added up because of trying out the different machines means I still burnt my normal amount if not more than it. Also, there’s the fact that I completed the movements. That’s always good.

At night it was pushup time and I really did ****ty. My form was bad and my pace was terrible. I almost didn’t complete the reps or the sets. I feel like this lack of energy is most likely due to my diet. But, my sit-ups at least were all right, the normal. Hopefully the changes I made will carry and tomorrow I will awake with a much needed boost in performance.



That was the day.





This concludes Entry #20.
 
Thursday 12/25/08
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 145.0 - up 1.5lb
Body Fat: 6.9% - down 0.4%

Diet:
Breakfast:
1 medium Pear
1 small-medium Apple
1 large “pan-sized” Egg Beater Omelet with Ham, Pepper (Mustard)
1 small bowl Oatmeal
Pre-Workout:
1 medium Apple
Lunch:
1 medium Pear
2 slices Whole Wheat Spelt Bread with Turkey, a little Roast Beef (Mustard)
1 small slice Whole Wheat Spelt Bread with a little Roast Beef (Mustard)
2 GG Scandinavian Crackers [very low calorie] with a little Turkey (Mustard)
10-15 Baby Cut Carrots
Pre-Dinner:
1 small glass Tomato Vegetable Juice (Tabasco sauce)
1 GG Scandinavian Cracker [very low calorie] with a little Ham (Mustard)
5-10 small Almonds
Dinner:
1 plate Lettuce Salad, Tomato (Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar)
1 slice Tomato with Buffalo Mozzarella
1 plate Tuna Steak with German Potatoes


That was my diet.



The Day:

Today was a little crazy. I had a good amount of energy to work out, at least at first. But then, it being Christmas and me not caring because I’m Jewish, I realized the gym problem. The downstairs gym in the complex is closed, nor does it have any barbells in the first place. Figuring the best case would be the JCC I decided to walk the city blocks. Upon arrival (and I should add I did try to call them, but they didn’t answer) I found out that the membership office is closed (but the gym facilities are open). What does this mean for me? It means ****! I couldn’t get a guest pass even though they do offer them because the office that hands them out was closed. It was ridiculous really. Either way, I wasted a half an hour walking back and forth. Now my motivation was plummeting, but I kept with my search. After various phone calls, and a small argument with my father, I found the solution.

I had to pay a 15 dollar fee, but that was hardly an obstacle. And so I began my workout. I still had little motivation, and this time unlike usual that did not change. I burned a little over 60 calories on the elliptical, below normal most likely because of the machine. I then stepped up the flights of stairs to the fourth level where the free weights room was located. It was barely a room. So small, it was me and 5 to 10 other people squished into this tiny sweat aroma filled area. I had to wait numerous times for all the lifts I needed to complete. With that said, even though my mind wasn’t where it should have been, I did complete all the lifts. The best thing I take away is the burn I felt from the squats today and the increase in weights with the deadlift. I still don’t feel great about the day though. I know tomorrow that feeling will pass. Tomorrow I will wake up with the energy I so long for. But for now, I am depressingly uncomfortable.

At least I can say with a little more confidence that my diet is getting in check again. I still, naturally from my overweight days, worry that I am eating too much when it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to estimate (even more so than before because of all the eating out and inconsistent meals). But: that is getting better. I guess as a counter to my melancholy attitude to lifting today I can say that my diet improved. Meh, but I still can’t deny that nagging sensation that I’m not eating right. OK, in all honesty, neither of my attitudes today are that great. It’s simply not a good day. Tomorrow will be better: I can feel it.


That was the day.




This concludes Entry #21.
 
Friday 12/26/08
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Weight: 143.0 - down 2.0lb
Body Fat: 6.3% - down 0.6%

Diet:
Breakfast:
1 medium Pear
1 small-medium Apple
1 large “pan-sized” Egg Beater Omelet with Ham, Pepper (Mustard)
1 bowl Oatmeal
Post-Workout:
2 GG Scandinavian Crackers with Turkey (Mustard)
5-8 Baby Cut Carrots
Lunch:
1 small-medium Apple
2 slices Sprouted Wheat Bread with Turkey (Mustard)
1 small slice Sprouted Wheat Bread with a little Ham (Mustard)
1 GG Scandinavian Crackers [very low calorie] with a little Ham (Mustard)
1 bowl No Fat Greek Yogurt with Honey Wheat Germ
10-15 Baby Cut Carrots
Pre-Dinner:
2 Vitamin C Pills [10 calories]
3 Baby Cut Carrots
Dinner:
1 small plate Lettuce Salad (Vinaigrette)
1 plate Cod, Ratatouille, French Beans, a little Trout
Post-Dinner:
1 bowl No Fat Greek Yogurt with 10-15 Almonds (Cinnamon)
1 small plate Roast Beef (Mustard)
3-5 Baby Cut Carrots



That was my diet.




The Day:

I wasn’t in a particularly motivated mood for running today. I usually never am in the mornings it seems. I feel like that will never go away. Regardless, I felt a certain necessary uplifting from yesterday and that helped. At around 10:00am I changed for the gym.

As only a treadmill and an elliptical were necessary today, I conveniently was able to simply go down 8 levels on the elevator and arrive at the gym. The small room was packed with an abnormal amount of people, but luckily one of the treadmills was open. The run itself was fairly good. I was able, as is now the standard, to run the 1.5 miles without breathing through my mouth (though it was still a good workout and I was sweating by the end). The only snag I ran into was my Zune kept shutting off randomly. It did this once, a long time ago, but I haven’t seen that behavior since. I had to keep restarting it to keep the music pumping in my ears. If anything this exerted a little extra energy which means more calories (yay!). After that I started on the elliptical.

Meh, like yesterday, it sucked. All I can say is meh. Since the machine measures in strides per minute instead of rpm I will use those figures to give you, fellow reader, an idea of what I did. I started at 135-140 strides/min and increased every 5 minutes by 5 strides/min (the same way method used for rpms). The entire movement, all 20 minutes of it, felt more difficult than usual. The worst part is that it wasn’t more difficult in a physical exertion sense, but more just uncomfortable because I didn’t like the elliptical’s particular way of moving my feet and legs back and forth, up and down. From those 20 minutes I burned near 237 calories, if my memory serves me correctly. I’m not even going to bother complaining about the low number: I now realize without being consistent with one machine’s method of counting the idea of keeping track of calories burned per exercise is useless. Either way, there’s the number for the hell of it. On another similar discrepancy of calorie counting, the treadmill workout (4mph at 6% incline) to top off the routine clocked me in at 108 calories burned. Obviously a treadmill should have no inconsistencies between another treadmill; so, how there is a change there I have no idea, no explanation. I am happy to say that this will be the last day, at least for a long time, I have to use these ****ty gyms of late. Tomorrow I will be off to my aunt’s house where from experience I know exists two fairly well equipped gyms. I’m excited.

After the workout I decided to eat a post-workout meal. This is different than normal because usually I end my cardio routine right around lunch time. Today it was not so. I ate a fairly low carb, high fiber, snack with an emphasis on protein. From what I researched this is the best diet plan for post cardio. Speaking of eating, my body fat and weight took quite a plunge today. I’m not sure what caused it as I felt like I ate a decent amount yesterday. In all honesty, I am happy to see the numbers go down simply because this time body fat went down as well. I do think I should eat more though as I have to be careful to stay at maintenance or slightly above if I went to gain strength while losing body fat.

A little later on in the day, following a nice lunch, I went for a walk. It turned out to be quite a walk. It was fairly leisurely, but I was moving for at least 2 hours straight. I’ve found this kind of exercise to be the best fat burner so I’m happy to have done it. It was a nice time to relax as well. After the walk it wasn’t quite dinner time yet so I decided to get something in me. I ate a few carrots figuring they would hold me over till the restaurant reservations. I also felt the stirring malaise of a cold while on my walk so I decided to take a few vitamin c pills as well. I only had the chewable kind, for that reason I counted the calories (though I admit it barely matters, but hey why not include them?). It was a nice afternoon.

Following the afternoon came noon and with it dinner. Dinner was small. The food was decent, but the portions tiny. I was still hungry as I left the building and I knew I would have to eat more if I was to stay at maintenance. A little later, back in the apartment, I decided to eat my post dinner meal. It wasn’t a lot, but I hope it did the job.

And I ended the night with my routine pushups and sit-ups. It was interesting this time. For the pushups I again changed up my form after noticing that I really wasn’t leaning over my chest enough. This change pushed me to the brink. I completed the first set of 33, but failed at 29 on the 2nd set and at a lowly 15 on the last set. I am proud, nevertheless, of this performance. Why? Well for one because of the awesome pump this gave my chest. But also, because I finally realized why I have been lacking motivation for this nightly exercise. It was because I knew I was cheating myself on the number of reps I could do and that I would have to continue to cheat myself every night. Now I know I don’t have to anymore. Next Sunday I will make sure that my form is impeccable in every way I know. I need a real assessment not this masquerade of a performance I have been putting on recently. As for the sit-ups, there is nothing wrong there. I am improving nicely as I should be for the near failure I push myself to. I am excited as well for Sunday in this regard as I expect a new maximum for my sit-ups. Overall it was a nice way to end the night, a nice conclusion to a fulfilling Friday.


That was the day.





This concludes Entry #22.
 
Saturday 12/27/08
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 142.5 - down 0.5lb
Body Fat: 7.2% - up 0.9%

Diet:
Pre-Breakfast:
1 medium Pear
1 small-medium Apple
1 small plate Egg Beaters with Peppers (Mustard)
5 Baby Cut Carrots
Breakfast:
1 plate Egg Whites with Lox, Ham, Leeks
1 bowl Porridge
1 slice 7 grain Toast
Post-Breakfast:
1 small-medium Apple
Pre-Lunch:
2-3 Handfuls Beef Jerky
Lunch:
1 McDonald’s Southwestern Chicken Salad [grilled, half the dressing, no cheese, no tortilla strips]
Dinner:
1 plate Lettuce Salad with Peppers, Walnuts (Sherry Vinaigrette)
1 plate Haddock with Tomatoes
1 small plate Butternut Squash



That was my diet.




The Day:

I was surprised to see my weight go down and sadly my body fat go up. I tried to eat a good amount yesterday and felt like that extra meal after dinner would pack on enough calories to counter for the mediocre portions I talked about. I guess not. I feel like my body fat going up is most likely just a standard fluctuation that is cyclical, but I could be wrong here as well. It is clear, whatever the reasoning, though that I must eat more. Today is a travel day so it is not the ideal time to pursuit this goal. But, I will do my best.

And the best I did. I ate all the rest of the fruit at my dad’s house before leaving for the road. I also happened to find some beef jerky to take along with me. I’m not going into details since it really is all outlined above in the diet section, but I feel like there was nothing more that I could have done. I ate as much as possible. I fear in the end it probably wasn’t enough, but again; I did my best. I should also take to the time to give fair warning that tomorrow’s diet, in fact the next few days, may be a little off because of my polite courtesy I must give while at my aunt’s stay (meaning I’m not going to go around demanding we go food shopping for the foods I need as she graciously offers me her hospitality).

OK, enough talking about the diet. Today I did get some moderate exercise in (yes it is a weekend so I am resting here as well). I just thought I should mention that I walked a good amount after breakfast, if that matters. Well, that’s it for that.

I will end this entry on the psychological side of my life. For whatever reason I was graced with a motivational uplifting and feel more determined now to really push myself in every area. Especially so did this pulse of energy hit me with the future thought of pushups. I now am focused and see myself attaining those goals I reread every day. I feel like some of this week has brought me down somewhat on the mental side. Well, I’m back.



That was the day.





This concludes Entry #23.
 
Sunday 12/28/08
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 144.0 - up 1.5lb
Body Fat: 7.3% - down 0.1%

Diet:
Breakfast:
1 large Pear
1 plate Egg Whites and Turkey [less than usual size]
1 bowl Oatmeal [more than usual]
Lunch:
2 small Apples
15-20 Baby Cut Carrots
1 small slice Whole Wheat Bread [no HFS] with Ham (Mustard)
2 slices Whole Wheat Bread [no HFS] with Ham, Turkey, Lettuce Salad Mix, Tomato (Mustard)
1 bowl Lettuce Salad Mix, Cucumber (No Fat Balsamic Vinaigrette)
A small sample Mushrooms and Onions (sautéed in Pam and a little Olive Oil)
Pre-Dinner:
5 Baby Cut Carrots
½ Chicken Breast
Dinner:
1 Lean Cuisine Spaghetti & Meatballs
2 small Tuna Burgers
1 large Chicken Breast
1 small plate Broccoli
1 small bowl Salad (Light Ceasar Dressing)
3 Baby Cut Carrots


That was my diet.



The Day:

Before I begin I want to let you know that I did not forget. I did take a picture of myself today. The reason it wasn’t posted (and won’t be posted for a few days) is my laptop with the camera’s software is not with me at the moment. On Tuesday I will arrive back home and at that time will upload the photo. Regarding the details and progress of it, well I’ll leave that dialogue for when I actually post the picture so you can see what I am referring to.

I woke up in my aunt’s house this morning and promptly began to raid the kitchen. I made do with what they had. I feel like I really need fruit these days for the energy so I was lucky that they had these ginourmous pears which made up for the 2 pieces of fruit I usually eat for breakfast. They also luckily had some deli meats so I was able to get a good deal of protein (though less than usual) through the turkey and some egg whites that I got from whole eggs (no egg beaters here). Lastly they had some Quakers instant oatmeal. I had 3 packets of it. It wasn’t nearly as good as the old fashioned stone ground, but it was edible enough and did its job as the starchy complex carb of the mornings.

After breakfast my aunt graciously gave me some money for food shopping (as she knows I am a foody) and I was able to acquire all my staple eats. I picked up some more turkey as well as some ham. I also got a decent sized bundle of apples, egg beaters along with some sweet peppers, some good whole wheat bread with no HFS, lettuce and cucumber (for salads), and of course some mustard to accompany everything. Breakfast and lunch for the next few days is now secured.

Dinner tonight was late and unplanned. I, along with my aunt and uncle, went to see Benjamin Button which turned out to last longer than expected. Because of this I had to compensate and forgo a dinner out by instead raiding the freezer and fridge to create whatever concoction I could. Luckily, a lot was found and I think I did good.

After eating my final meal I tested my new maximums. My pushups failed me at the 30th rep. Yes, that’s right: 30. I am proud of the low number because my form was near perfected. Instead of my usual flaws of not activating the chest muscles (I wasn’t leaning far enough forward) or not going all the way down (not nearly getting my elbows perpendicular) I suffered simply from a slight slouch towards the lower back that I tried my best to self correct. I am also happy to be able to say that I increased my sit-ups. I now did 37. Both of these new numbers bring along with them new routines. Actually, this isn’t quite true. My sit-ups did increase to a higher 28. My pushups on the other hand calculated around 23 reps. It is interesting because this is what I have been doing anyway (even when I was apparently doing 50 to 70 pushups as my maximum). Just goes to show you that in the end you don’t need a calculator to tell you what feels right. In the end though, it is nice to know now that the two match.


That was the day.




This concludes Entry #24.
 
Entry #24 Correction:


I just wanted to let everyone know that I reread my last entry and found a mistake. My new routine calls for like I said 23 pushups for 3 sets. This is NOT the same as my old routine: it is in fact 10 lower. This actually makes more sense than my other explanation because I don’t think I could do 33 REAL pushups considering my maximum itself is actually less. 23 is possible. I plan to pump them out with vigor.


Goodnight.
 
Sunday 12/28/08
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 144.0 - up 1.5lb
Body Fat: 7.3% - down 0.1%

Diet:
Breakfast:
1 large Pear
1 plate Egg Whites and Turkey [less than usual size]
1 bowl Oatmeal [more than usual]
Lunch:
2 small Apples
15-20 Baby Cut Carrots
1 small slice Whole Wheat Bread [no HFS] with Ham (Mustard)
2 slices Whole Wheat Bread [no HFS] with Ham, Turkey, Lettuce Salad Mix, Tomato (Mustard)
1 bowl Lettuce Salad Mix, Cucumber (No Fat Balsamic Vinaigrette)
A small sample Mushrooms and Onions (sautéed in Pam and a little Olive Oil)
Pre-Dinner:
5 Baby Cut Carrots
½ Chicken Breast
Dinner:
1 Lean Cuisine Spaghetti & Meatballs
2 small Tuna Burgers
1 large Chicken Breast
1 small plate Broccoli
1 small bowl Salad (Light Ceasar Dressing)
3 Baby Cut Carrots


That was my diet.



The Day:

Before I begin I want to let you know that I did not forget. I did take a picture of myself today. The reason it wasn’t posted (and won’t be posted for a few days) is my laptop with the camera’s software is not with me at the moment. On Tuesday I will arrive back home and at that time will upload the photo. Regarding the details and progress of it, well I’ll leave that dialogue for when I actually post the picture so you can see what I am referring to.

I woke up in my aunt’s house this morning and promptly began to raid the kitchen. I made do with what they had. I feel like I really need fruit these days for the energy so I was lucky that they had these ginourmous pears which made up for the 2 pieces of fruit I usually eat for breakfast. They also luckily had some deli meats so I was able to get a good deal of protein (though less than usual) through the turkey and some egg whites that I got from whole eggs (no egg beaters here). Lastly they had some Quakers instant oatmeal. I had 3 packets of it. It wasn’t nearly as good as the old fashioned stone ground, but it was edible enough and did its job as the starchy complex carb of the mornings.

After breakfast my aunt graciously gave me some money for food shopping (as she knows I am a foody) and I was able to acquire all my staple eats. I picked up some more turkey as well as some ham. I also got a decent sized bundle of apples, egg beaters along with some sweet peppers, some good whole wheat bread with no HFS, lettuce and cucumber (for salads), and of course some mustard to accompany everything. Breakfast and lunch for the next few days is now secured.

Dinner tonight was late and unplanned. I, along with my aunt and uncle, went to see Benjamin Button which turned out to last longer than expected. Because of this I had to compensate and forgo a dinner out by instead raiding the freezer and fridge to create whatever concoction I could. Luckily, a lot was found and I think I did good.

After eating my final meal I tested my new maximums. My pushups failed me at the 30th rep. Yes, that’s right: 30. I am proud of the low number because my form was near perfected. Instead of my usual flaws of not activating the chest muscles (I wasn’t leaning far enough forward) or not going all the way down (not nearly getting my elbows perpendicular) I suffered simply from a slight slouch towards the lower back that I tried my best to self correct. I am also happy to be able to say that I increased my sit-ups. I now did 37. Both of these new numbers bring along with them new routines. Actually, this isn’t quite true. My sit-ups did increase to a higher 28. My pushups on the other hand calculated around 23 reps. It is interesting because this is what I have been doing anyway (even when I was apparently doing 50 to 70 pushups as my maximum). Just goes to show you that in the end you don’t need a calculator to tell you what feels right. In the end though, it is nice to know now that the two match.


That was the day.




This concludes Entry #24.





Entry #24 Correction:
I just wanted to let everyone know that I reread my last entry and found a mistake. My new routine calls for like I said 23 pushups for 3 sets. This is NOT the same as my old routine: it is in fact 10 lower. This actually makes more sense than my other explanation because I don’t think I could do 33 REAL pushups considering my maximum itself is actually less. 23 is possible. I plan to pump them out with vigor.
Goodnight.








Tuesday 12/29/08
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 145.5 - up 1.5lb
Body Fat: 7.6% - up 0.3%

Diet:
Breakfast:
1 large Pear
1 small Apple
3 packets Instant Oatmeal
1 large “pan sized” Egg Beater Omelet with Ham, Pepper (Mustard)
Post-Workout:
1 Protein Shake with 1+ scoop Whey Protein Isolate, Berries, Mango, ½ Banana
1 small Apple
Lunch:
1 cup Chicken Soup with Couscous, Vegetables, and Meatballs
1 plate Spaghetti and Tomato Sauce
1 plate Cod and Tomato Sauce
Dinner:
1 plate with 3 Chicken Breasts and lots of Quinoa [low GI grain] (Mustard)
1 small bowl Edamame
1 large bowl Lettuce Salad, Cucumber, Tomato, Avocado (No Fat Balsamic Vinaigrette)
3-5 Baby Cut Carrots



That was my diet.



The Day:

I woke up today to a large satisfying breakfast. It was delicious and filling, the perfect combination. I also woke up to an increase in weight following yesterday’s trendy lead. This means at last that I have succeeded in the destroying the strength sapping weight loss that had been torturing me since my vacation and since the change in eating. I now will attempt to maintain this 145 weight again, as I attempted to before, while lowering my body fat (which sadly seems to be fluctuating more and more these days that it is becoming hard to keep track of any progression). The good thing is tomorrow I head back to my home where I will be staying for the next few weeks (followed by my entry back into 2nd semester college). With that consistency I should be able to establish a more periodic trend that I can evaluate and adjust to meet my needs. At least, that’s my goal.

My workout today was excellent. I was motivated, but it was more than just that. The gym I went to was nice, big, and well lit (I find good lighting can really make a difference on one’s mood). It, the gym, also had everything I needed. But, it was more than just that. The real excellence was that I also found a method to get myself pumped out. I started breathing hard, forcefully hard, getting myself angry as if I was steaming venom. I got myself into this blood lust mood where I felt like I wanted to punch something. While breathing hard with vicious vigor, I grabbed the squat bar, got myself into position, and started the pump.

And that feeling went on. It didn’t stop with the squat. The results were incredible. My mind was focused, narrowed, on my muscles. My strength was rocketing. The lifts didn’t necessarily feel easier, but my mentality was no longer hindering my performance. The workout was purely a war of muscle and metal; that is all.

With that all said, this is how I did. The bench press again still felt a little on the light and easy side. Thursday I will be increasing this. I’m excited for the change. At long last I will now have 35’s on each side of the bar (can’t wait!). Most of my other lifts felt about right. The shoulder press and the rows seemed slightly slightly too easy. I will not be changing them this coming Thursday, but next week I plan to increase the intensity of these two movements as well. After the nice pump from the chin-ups I performed the tricep dips. These had the same feel as the bench press. This calls for the same response and fittingly next Thursday I will be decreasing the offset to a more satisfying 20lb (nearing 0!). That is all for the changes.

There are a few leftover side notes that I should mention. I did the knee raises today using a stability ball as my backrest instead of just a flat pad. It made it harder and I failed a little earlier than normal on my last set (I like failing on ab exercises, it’s an excellent burn – it really tightens them up). I wish I could use this type of apparatus more often, but neither my hometown gym nor my college gym offer it. Oh well, it’s not a huge deal. Meanwhile on the knuckle pushups I failed at the 9th rep on the last set. It was a fatigue that I could feel coming since the 2nd set. I, like last night, made sure I was leaning over my chest more and going all the way down while this time also focusing on not slouching my back. This all lead to a harder exercise. I have no qualms with the failure though; it just goes to show that I have improvements to make. And, I will make them.

Everything went pretty normal today regarding eating. I did eat pasta for lunch for the first time in a very long period. It was OK, but I felt guilty by habit afterwards. In general, I think I will still avoid it because unlike most other foods I don’t know how to measure it (how much is a plate of pasta anyway?). I didn’t feel like I ate too much for lunch, but still that unknowing fear regarding the pasta is enough to keep me away. It’s just one meal though so I won’t obsess over it.

This is an update to the above paragraph. After doing some research it appears that pasta is in fact very healthy for you. I will make an effort to measure amounts to the point where I can eyeball it so in the future I will be able to add it as a further staple to my diet (it’s also a consistent entrée in the college dining halls – a big plus!). I am now happy with my lunch because it opened a door to this long banned food.

I ended the day with a nice meal of chicken, salad, and this new whole grain. Pronounced “keen-wah”, it is apparently very low GI, high in protein, higher in everything healthy basically. It was a good meal to end a good day.



That was the day.




This concludes Entry #25.
 
As promised, it is Tuesday and I have finally been able to upload my latest progress picture. There really isn't much to say. From my personal point of view I look pretty much the same, in fact, exact the same. The shot I noticed has very uneven lighting and therefore highlights some veins, softens up certain parts, and overall changes my physique. Really though these differences noted are still slight and not much is seen from this picture. With that said, here it is for the hell of it.
 
Tuesday 12/30/08
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 147.5 - up 2.0lb
Body Fat: 8.1% - up 0.4%
Lean Mass: 137.52lb – -1.01lb
Fat Weight: 11.95lb – +1.01b

Diet:
Breakfast:
1 large Pear
1 small Apple
3 packets Instant Oatmeal
1 large “pan sized” Egg Beater Omelet with Ham, Pepper (Mustard)
Lunch:
1 small plate Lettuce Salad with Chicken, Avocado (Light Dressing)
1 plate Lettuce Salad with Chicken [some skin] (Light Dressing)
Post-Lunch:
1 whole wheat wrap [1/2 of wrap taken off] with Chicken, Mushroom, Onion (Balsamic Vinaigrette)
Pre-Dinner:
6-8 Almonds
Dinner:
1 small bowl Lemon Grass Chicken Soup
1 plate Chicken and Asparagus Stir-Fry with Onion, Pepper (Light Stir-Fry Soy Sauce)

That was my diet.

The Day:

Today I am disappointed. I have learned a lesson. I rephrase the intro, I am not disappointed: I am enlightened. I can eat too much and I have done it. My body fat reached levels today not seen in a very long time. This lighted a darkened cavern that I had not shed sight on before. It has brought forth a goal that I guess has always been there, but I did not realize. I want 6% body fat. I will have it; that is my goal. It is written.

Because of the numbers observed this morning I also decided to keep better track of my lean mass and fat weight. I won’t go back and edit every post, but I did calculate on my own every journal entry’s lean mass and fat weight. This is to get a better idea of where I stand on my goals for a body recomposition. With this new data I am planning to convert to either client side or online software to keep track of it. I want something that is flexible in that I don’t have to log food or don’t have to log daily activities and count calories. At the same time though I want something that gives me the advanced options to do such things with graphs, charts, the whole nine yards. For instance I want to be able to see a line graph of my body fat percent, but also still be able to write daily entries like today’s with my own simplistic form of diet logging. If you, reader, know of such a service (free please) let me know it’s much appreciated.

Most of today I spent traveling back home (4 hours on Amtrak, 2 hour drive… yuck). But, I did get some walking done as I traversed downtown Philadelphia for a nice lunch followed by a decent post lunch as well. Also I, much later than usual – in fact at night this time, did, with all determination to succeed and disciplined willpower, get to the gym for my Tuesday cardio.

It wasn’t a pleasant gym day. I had the motivation. I had the stamina. But it all went to **** (I love puns). The first annoyance was the fact that breathing through my nose became difficult during my run. For the last few cardio run days, this has become easier and easier. I took this sudden difficulty as a setback. But, really it wasn’t that bad now that I consider it. Most likely it was just due to my body being in a different time of day (late at night versus mid morning). This wasn’t a big issue. But, during the run something else started to stir in the pits of my stomach… literally.

While on the elliptical, my stomach took a lurch. What started as a minor growl during the run was now a full on stampede. I figured this was just the signs of an oncoming cramp due to the fact that I was doing cardio right after eating (I usually always give myself a 1 hour break). I was wrong. I won’t go into much detail, but during the last few minutes of the exercises at the gym I was ready to burst a monster. And I monster did burst, an ugly, liquidity, brown, mess. Luckily, I arrived at the toilet in time. OK maybe I went into too much detail, but I can’t help myself. It was quite an experience; especially considering the gym was closing in 5 minutes so I really had to push myself to get it all out of my system if you know what I mean (I’m sure you do :p).

Anyway, my guess is that it was something in the Thai food I had for dinner. After successive trips, the last being at home, I think it is now officially banished. I did have to do my post stretching at home though (meaning around 15 minutes after actually finishing the workout). Normally I stretch right afterwards, but this time couldn’t because of… well you know. I doubt it makes much difference, but I figured I should mention it. Also, despite the tummy problems, I did go on with the rest of the daily plan and do my pushups and sit-ups.

My pushups, as mentioned in earlier entries, is now set at 23 reps for 3 sets; and this time with perfect form. I gave it my all and succeeded with the first 2 sets (though the 2nd set may have had some slight slouching or the opposite butt raising issues). The last set I fatigued on the 21st rep. I didn’t give up though. I rested for 30 seconds and proceeded to pump out the last 3. I love my determination.

The sit-ups, following the pushups, were a huge success. I did them all, all 27 reps for 3 sets, with good form, isolated focused abs, and no failure. I felt burns throughout the entire movement, but the 27 reps was a perfect stopping point as by the last one on the last set I knew I was on the brink of fatigue. I love that feeling afterwards. I can feel that moving blood.



That was the day.



This concludes Entry #26.
 
Wednesday 12/31/08
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 144 – -2.5lb
Body Fat: 6.8% – -1.3%
Lean Mass: 139.68lb – +2.16lb
Fat Weight: 9.79lb – -2.16lb

Diet:
Breakfast:
1 small-medium Pear
1 large Apple
½ cup Oats
1 large “pan sized” Egg Beater Omelet with Ham, Pepper, Onion (Mustard)
Post-Workout:
1 small bowl 1% Fat Cottage Cheese with Cucumber (Hot Salsa)
Lunch:
1 medium Apple
2 slices Whole Wheat “Vermont Bread” with a little Ham, a lot Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion (Mustard)
1 Low Calorie Wrap with Ham, 1% Fat Cottage Cheese, Pepper (Hot Salsa)
1 big bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Onion (Low Calorie Balsamic Vinaigrette)
15-20 Baby Cut Carrots
Dinner:
2 Caraway Crackers
6-8 Almonds
1 small bowl 1% Fat Cottage Cheese (Hot Salsa)
1 bowl Black Bean Soup with Tomato, Onion, Carrot
8 Crab Legs (****tail Sauce)
1 plate tons of Shrimp (****tail Sauce), 2 pieces Squash [cooked with a little syrup]


That was my diet.



The Day:

Before I begin my log I should report that I am very happy with my stats today. It seems that yesterday’s weight and body fat were flukes. This morning I found myself back to a good normal that I welcomed with an open smile.

Today was in every way an average day. The workout was, as said average (though I am happy to report that there was no issues down below this time). I burned 313 calories on the HIIT portion at the gym. I think I can up this amount. Next Wednesday I plan to try and hit 90+rpms for my sprints. Normally I do 85-90, but after experiencing the difficulty of these elliptical machines at home (the ones at college are more intense) I think this change is very possible and beneficial.

The only setback during my workout was that my Zune complete froze. Apparently there is a Y2K9 bug going around (no I’m not being funny; seriously google it). It wasn’t a huge issue though, I just plugged my headphones into the Cardio TV receivers and watched the news. Time flies by while I do HIIT anyway, so I was done before I knew it.

Afterwards I had a quick snack of protein. I’ve been struggling to find a way of having a very high protein snack with low carbs and low fat that tastes good. Today I tried cottage cheese and salsa. It’s a wonderful combination and I am glad to have discovered it. I will be using it in the future.

And finally there were the last exercises of 2008. Tonight was an odd night. My pushups, contrary to yesterday, were performed without failure. I successfully pushed through all 23 reps on all 3 sets. Psychologically I feel like the only explanation for this was an error in form, but I didn’t actually notice anything of the such. Is it possible to gain that much performance in one day? Maybe the body doesn’t do smooth transitions… Maybe it jumps? I don’t know. The sit-ups this time were harder. I’m not sure if it was mentally more difficult or maybe just all in my head (in a similar, but opposite situation to my pushups). I didn’t fail though; like the pushups I completed all the movements with passion. This was a good way to end a good year.



That was the day.





This concludes Entry #27.
 
Thursday 1/01/09
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 147.0 – +3.0lb
Body Fat: 8.0% – +1.2%
Lean Mass: 141.65 – -1.97lb
Fat Weight: 11.76lb – +1.97lb

Diet:
Breakfast:
1 medium Pear
1 medium Apple
½ cup Oats
1 large “pan sized” Egg Beater Omelet with Ham, Pepper, Onion (Mustard)
Post-Workout:
1 Protein Shake with 1 scoop Whey Protein Isolate, ½ Banana, Frozen Blueberries
1 medium Apple
Lunch:
1 medium Pear
2 slices Whole Wheat “Vermont Bread” with a little Ham, a lot Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion (Mustard)
1 Low Calorie Wrap with Ham, 1% Fat Cottage Cheese, Pepper (Hot Salsa)
1 big bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Onion (Low Calorie Balsamic Vinaigrette)
15-20 Baby Cut Carrots
Dinner(ish):
a whole bunch of ****tail Shrimp (a little ****tail Sauce)
Deli Turkey
1 small plate Lettuce Salad with Cheese, Walnuts (Heavy Balsamic Vinaigrette)
2 small pieces Breaded Chicken
1 small piece Lightly Breaded Tuna Steak
1 small bowl 1% Fat Cottage Cheese (Hot Salsa)


That was my diet.



The Day:

And it looks like my weight is up again. Maybe I’m obsessing too much over these daily numbers. One change that I am going to make though is to stop trying to force feed additional food. I don’t usually do this except at nights where I feel like my dinner is not enough so I respond by adding some extra dishes on the side. For example last night my mother made a dinner of black bean soup, squash with maple syrup (I should have skipped this; don’t know what I was thinking) and shellfish. I thought this would be under eating so I decided to add a bowl of cottage cheese and some almonds. From now on I will stop doing things like that. We’ll see what the results are.

Around an hour after my standard breakfast I was off to the gym. I got myself all pumped up using the same techniques I talked about on my journal entry for Monday. It worked. I feel like the squats were still too difficult to increase the weight for next week. My deadlifts on the other hand are improving at a very fast rate. Next week, next Monday, I plan to increase the weight on these again by another 10lbs. This should bring the total weight to 165lb. I really want to feel that burn. Next Monday, as mentioned earlier, my shoulder presses and bent-over rows will be increasing by an increment of 5lbs. I’m excited for that as well. After the deadlifts I was on to my new maximum for the bench press, a hefty 115lbs. I pushed those puppies out with brute force. It was awesome to have those nice sized 35’s on both sides. Hell, I remember when I would turn to the left and see 2 small little 10 pounders. Ah, good times. Actually today really was quite a day for improvements. The last needed change I found was on the pull-up. It was difficult, but I think I can push myself further. Next lifting day I will be decreasing the offset from 70lb to 60lb. The pull-up is an exercise that I really want to master so this increase in strength is very pleasing to me. So, that was pretty much the gym. One last thing to mention is this time I did all 10 reps for every set of my pushups. I barely made it through the last push, but made it I did with an angry smirk on my face.

I’ll scoot forward now to dinner as it is the only other event worth talking of. There was no dinner. It was more just like food at dinner time. This is because I went to my cousin’s birthday party where dinner was served in the forms of sandwiches, a salad bowl, and a bunch of fatty mayo mixtures that I did not try. The sandwiches were around 90% bread and the salad was quite clearly full of sugar as the dressing was more akin to syrup. My plan of attack was to dissect the sandwich to eat the miniscule morsels of turkey inside. I also had a little of the salad, until I realized how absurdly heavy it was. The only good thing was that ****tail shrimp was served as an appetizer both before and after the so called main entrée. I really dived in on these shrimp just to get some satisfactory feeling. After all of this I drove back home and was presented with some of my step-dad’s cooking. He made some tuna for himself that I was all too happy to down. I know I said in my last entry that I wouldn’t do this, wouldn’t add on to meals; but, I think it is clear that today is the exception. Following this exception I finished the day with some cottage cheese. The end feeling was that of being full, but nowhere being stuffed. I hope tomorrows results on the scale will fairly grade my diet performance of today as I tried my best in a turbulent environment to strike the right balance.


That was the day.





This concludes Entry #28.
 
Friday 1/2/09
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 146.5 – -0.5lb
Body Fat: 7.1% – -0.9%
Lean Mass: 136.10lb – +1.36lb
Fat Weight: 10.40lb – -1.36lb

Diet:
Breakfast:
1 medium-large Pear
1 medium Apple
½ cup Oats
1 large “pan sized” Egg Beater Omelet with Ham, Pepper, Onion (Mustard)
Lunch:
1 medium-large Apple
2 slices Whole Wheat “Vermont Bread” with a little Ham, a lot Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion (Mustard)
1 Low Calorie Wrap with Ham, 1% Fat Cottage Cheese, Pepper (Sweet Onion Salsa)
1 big bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Onion (Low Calorie Balsamic Vinaigrette)
10-15 Baby Cut Carrots
Post-Dinner:
10 Baby Cut Carrots
Dinner:
1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Avocado (Vinaigrette)
2 plates Flounder [sautéed in Butter and Olive Oil], Quinoa [contained Nuts]



That was my diet.



The Day:

Not much to report today. The numbers this morning looked good and I was happy to see that. My diet was in check for the most part. I did have to have a post dinner snack of carrots simply because I was too hungry. I don’t think the extra 30 calories is going to make any difference (hell, it’s not like I keep track anymore anyway). I guess I just care by old habit. I cooked tonight for dinner as it is one of many New Year’s resolutions of mine. The flounder turned out slightly overdone, but it was my first time. With practice, it should turn out delicious. Tomorrow I plan to continue this new venture into cooking (besides breakfast) by making lunch out of some skinless chicken breasts and the last night’s left over quinoa.

The gym was a zoo today. I did get all my calories burnt out of my body, but not without waiting a frustrating amount of time. First I had to wait 5-10 minutes just to get one of the treadmills which I’ve never seen completely booked. That sucked. Then during my running I found out that hard disk mp3 players, such as my Zune, don’t do too well on crappy treadmills because this treadmill shook so much at 8.3mph that my Zune would simply shutoff every 30 seconds. I had to run without music. That sucked. After my run I was all pumped to hop onto an elliptical, but someone up above said no again. All the ellipticals were full. Trying not to make a big deal out of routine breaking I simply decided to do my 10 minute 4mph walk that would normally act as my finisher. After 8 minutes my mom (who was at the gym with me) got off one of the elliptical, opening it up for me. Instead of waiting the extra 2 minutes, I decided to snatch the opportunity and immediately started my 20 minutes on the elliptical. That went well as I could now listen to my music since I was on a machine that didn’t act like it was in a constant state of ecstasy. To finish the gym day I decided to complete those missing 2 minutes and hopped back onto the treadmill for just that amount of time. This way I could walk away saying I got my complete workout. Which I did; and it felt great.

Later on it was standard pushups and sit-ups time, the last exercises before my weekend rest. The pushups, as stated in previous entries, are getting easier. I’m definitely expecting now a new maximum, determined on Sunday, as that seems to be unquestionably where the trend is directing. The sit-ups don’t seem to be going at the same pace though. At 27 reps they are without a doubt almost increasingly difficult everyday. Today I literally was afraid of muscle failure on the last set. I made it, but it was not without every ounce of mental will to drive those fibers to contract. Like I always say though, that burn afterwards makes it all worth it. And now I get to enjoy a relaxing weekend.


That was the day.





This concludes Entry #29.
 
Saturday 1/3/09
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 146.0lb – -0.5lb
Body Fat: 7.4% – +0.3%
Lean Mass: 135.20lb – -0.90lb
Fat Weight: 10.80lb – +0.40lb

Diet:
Breakfast:
1 medium-large Pear
1 medium-large Pear
½ cup Oats
1 large “pan sized” Egg Beater Omelet with Ham, Pepper, Onion (Mustard)
Lunch:
15-20 Baby Cut Carrots
1 medium-large Apple
2 small slices Whole Wheat “Vermont Bread” with a little Turkey, 1 piece Chicken Breast, Lettuce, Tomato (Mustard)
1 big bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Onion (Low Calorie Balsamic Vinaigrette)
1 plate of 3 pieces Chicken Breast, Quinoa with Salsa, Bell Pepper (Mustard)
Dinner:
1 small plate Lettuce Salad with Tomato, Carrot (Ginger Dressing)
1 small bowl Miso Soup
1 small bowl Mushroom Seafood Soup
1 plate Sashimi
3-4 pieces Tofu and Broccoli (Black Bean Sauce)


That was my diet.



The Day:

There isn’t too much to report on as it is a Saturday, a no-gym day. With that, I’ll keep this against my usual style and will make this daily summary brief.

I attempted to make some chicken breast in a brine today. It came out miserably salty. It was my first time so I feel no remorse for the fault and will try again, maybe tomorrow. I believe the saltiness derived from a possible number of errors. One is that I forgot to rinse the chicken breasts after removing them from the brine. The other is I could of brined them for too long. Or maybe it was simply the wrong amount of salt in the brine itself. I will adjust all these factors the next opportunity I get to see what works best. My new devotion to cooking is not staggered. I learn from my mistakes and I will learn from this.

After lunch I went on a nice long walk with my mom. We walked around a 6 mile circumscribed lake. The pace was set by my mother as she is the slower of us. It was still a nice walk, but not in any way an intense workout. This is good though considering today is a rest day and I should be doing just that. In all it took us about 2 hours to finish. It was nice to get out of the house and do something. Normally the weekends can become quite lethargic without the gym giving me that daily high. This made up for that somewhat. I am grateful for that.


That was the day.





This concludes Entry #30.
 
Today is Sunday and that means progress pictures. Sadly I am still seeing nothing. It's been a month now so I should expect to see something, but no. Nothing. If anyone has any advice for me please let me know. It is becoming increasingly frustrating to not see changes (though I know I am getting stronger from performance results). I've been reading "Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle" and it has begun to dawn on me that I probably have a strong endomorph component of my body type. Is it possible to ever see abs if your an endo? I don't know. I won't be quitting on that goal: I don't quit. But, it would be nice to know what is in reach and what is out of reach. Meanwhile, until I figure that out, I decided to also post a flexing shot just for some mentality booster. I have no idea how to pose, but I just gave a quick stance and figured it was good enough. Anyway, no more talking. Here are the pictures:
 
Sunday 1/4/09
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 146.0lb – +0.0lb
Body Fat: 7.1% – -0.3%
Lean Mass: 135.63lb – +0.43lb
Fat Weight: 10.37lb – -0.43lb

Diet:
Breakfast:
1 medium Pear
1 medium Apple
½ cup Oats
1 large “pan sized” Egg Beater Omelet with Ham, Pepper, Onion (Mustard)
Lunch:
1 medium-large Apple
8-12 Baby Cut Carrots
2 slices Whole Wheat “Vermont Bread” with Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato (Mustard)
1 big bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper (Low Calorie Balsamic Vinaigrette)
1 piece Chicken Breast
1 Low Calorie Wrap with 1 small piece Chicken Breast, Pepper (Sweet Onion Salsa)
Dinner:
2 plates Chicken Breasts [cooked with Olive Oil and Red Wine] with Pepper, Eggplant, Carrot, Olive, Capers, Celery, Chili Pepper and Potato Skins [cooked with Olive Oil and Garlic]


That was my diet.



The Day:

Today was a pretty relaxed day. I did get out for a little bit; doing errands, going to an art gallery, but overall there wasn’t a lot of movement in my motions. A lot of my day was actually planned around eating.

I cooked, literally cooked as in with fire not toasting bread, for all 3 of my meals today. I tried brining my own chicken breasts for the 2nd time today and it worked out beautifully. They were slightly salty so next time I will decrease the period of submersion slightly. The saltiness was irrelevant when compared to how tender the fillets were. It was a well worth it effort. For dinner I made a real meal. I followed one of Mario Batali’s recipes and made this delicious spicy chicken dish with all these good healthy vegetables. It came out great and I will most certainly be making it again. Meanwhile, while cooking, I was contemplating the meaning of life.

OK, so maybe not that dramatic. I was actually thinking about my goals. I’ve been reading more and more of “Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle” and I’ve now come to realize I have no set in motion guide for where I’m heading. I know the end result, I want those abs. What I don’t know is which path to take: do I eat a lot and bulk, do I cut? Obviously I’ll need to cut if I bulk, but is the end result a better result, is it worth the extra time? What if I don’t have that genetic makeup to see those abs, even after a cut (as my Omron is showing me at a body fat level that should indicate cut abs). All these questions and I have no answers. I’m going to keep reading, and obviously never stop working out. For now, I won’t be changing anything. But I do know one thing, sometime in the future I will have to make that decision. When that time comes, I’m going to make sure I tread in the right direction.

To end my Sunday, I tested my new maximums. With ideal form I pumped out 44 pushups before failing at around the 50 second mark on my 45th. This is definitely an increase that I am extremely pleased with. It means that my new workout will consist of 33 pushups. Am I up to it? No, but I’m ready to laugh in the face of muscle failure. I love it. Another grand pleasure of the night was my sit-ups. 45 baby! Up from 37! It’s quite a coincidence that my pushups and sit-ups landed within 1 rep of each other. That 1 rep makes a difference though. Come Tuesday I will be curling my abs through 34, not 33, of them. I can’t wait. Oh baby burn, here I come!


That was the day.





This concludes Entry #31.
 
Monday 1/5/09
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 146.5lb – +0.5lb
Body Fat: 7.8% – +0.7%
Lean Mass: 135.07lb – -0.56lb
Fat Weight: 11.43lb – +1.06lb

Diet:
Pre-Breakfast:
4 spoonfuls 1% Fat Cottage Cheese
Breakfast:
1 medium Pear
1 small-medium Apple
½ cup Oats
1 large “pan sized” Egg Beater Omelet with Ham, Pepper, Onion (Mustard)
Post-Workout:
1 medium-large Apple
1 Protein Shake with 1 scoop Whey Protein Isolate, ½ Banana, Frozen Blueberries
Lunch:
1 bowl Mulligatawny Soup with Chicken and some Grains
1 very small plate Lettuce Salad with grilled Onion, Tomato, Carrot, Cucumber (Balsamic Vinaigrette)
1 Tomato Wrap with Tuna Steak, Lettuce, grilled Onion, other Vegetables (Horseradish)
Post-Dinner:
1 medium Pear
1 small slice Whole Wheat “Vermont Bread” with a little Turkey, Lettuce (Mustard)
Dinner:
5 small Turkey Patties
8-10 Marinated Zucchini Strips [cooked in Olive Oil]
2-3 small Whole Spelt Wheat Biscuits
4-6 tiny spoonfuls 1% Fat Cottage Cheese


That was my diet.



The Day:

I really went to town today at the gym. I was exhausted afterwards. I tried to untie my shoes by putting my foot onto a bench, but my leg strength was completely sapped and I ended up stumbling forward. It was awesome.

A numerous amount of activities yielded that result. First my squats were for some reason more difficult than normal. On the last set I felt like I slightly stretched some back muscle that resides along the middle to upper left back. I still feel it right now, but barely. The deadlifts afterwards were also a monster. This is the first time I really feel like I was at my maximum exertion for deadlifts. 165 pounds for me is no joke. The bench press was like the others with just the right amount of intensity so that I can really feel it. I struggled on the last push, but made it through with a nice big grimace on my face. And then came the two changes. I upped both my shoulder press and my rows from 20 to 25 pounds. It certainly made a difference. The discipline I had to find was barely tolerable. But, I did it. I worked at the shoulders until failing on the last set at around the 6th or 7th rep. I attempted to rest for 15 seconds and try to complete it, but it was a no go. My shoulders were wiped. The bent over rows resulted in some slightly higher marks. With much mental willfulness I did complete all reps for all sets. It was tough, but my delts will thank me down the road. There isn’t much to say about the next two lifts: the chin-up and dips were standard. The pushups afterwards were not. On the last set I failed. My muscles gave up around the 9th or 10th rep. Again I tried to rest for a bit, but it didn’t matter. My chest was dead: dead and ready now to be rebuilt. The awesome experience finished with knee raises. I focused my mind purely on the motion of my stomach curling, constricting, together. The burn was fierce. By the end, worms were crawling all over my insides. I love it.

If that isn’t enough to wow you, I also (if you noticed from the writings way above) have changed my diet slightly. I believe after reading more of Tony Venuto’s book that I have set a firm future goal with, this time, a means of getting there. My long term remains the same: those abs. The short term though must change to reach my long term. I am now on a very slow, very clean, bulk. My approach is to reach 10% body fat at which point I will be switching to a cut. I will cut until I see a ripped stomach. I want to see a chiseled stone with veins. I will see that rippling muscle. I will see it.


That was the day.





This concludes Entry #32
 
Tuesday 1/6/09
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 147.5 – +1.0lb
Body Fat: 7.6% – -0.2%
Lean Mass: 136.29lb – +1.22lb
Fat Weight: 11.21lb – -0.2llb

Diet:
Pre-Breakfast:
8 tiny spoonfuls 1% Fat Cottage Cheese
Breakfast:
1 medium Pear
1 small-medium Apple
1/2 cup Oats
1 large “pan sized” Egg Beater Omelet with Ham, Pepper, Onion (Mustard)
Post-Workout:
1 small bowl 1% Fat Cottage Cheese (Sweet Onion Salsa)
Lunch:
1 medium Apple
20+ Baby Cut Carrots
2 slices Whole Wheat “Vermont Bread” with a little Ham, lots of Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato (Mustard)
1 Low Calorie Wrap with 5-6oz Chicken Breast, Pepper (Sweet Onion Salsa)
1 big bowl Lettuce Salad with Pepper, Cucumber (Low Calorie Italian Vegetable Dressing)
Pre-Dinner:
1 small handful Almonds
1/4 cup 1% Fat Cottage Cheese
3 small Pickles
Dinner:
1 small bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Tomato (Ginger Dressing)
1 bowl ****ake Mushroom Salad with Micro Greens (Sesame Ginger Dressing)
1 small bowl Miso Soup
1 Sashimi Dinner [15 pieces]
1 cup White Rice


That was my diet.



The Day:

I woke up with a set frame of mind and a set of expectations. I like this clarity with clear cut short term goals; it is a much needed boost from simply thinking in the long term. My goal was to see my weight go up (because of bulking) and my fat percentage to stay constant or only go up ever so slightly. This is the ideal clean bulk. Well my weight went up and my fat went down! What a nice way to start the day.

I was a little sore from yesterday’s intense lifting so I wasn’t in the mood to run. Really I’m never in that much of a mood to do cardio, but, like always, I did it anyway. Once I got started it wasn’t a problem. Everything went well today at the gym. I actually ended up doing around 4 minutes extra on the walking portion because I decided to walk at the 4 mph on a 6% incline while waiting for the ideal elliptical machine to open up. It took 4 minutes before one of the guys in front of me hit the clear button and got off. I enjoy those extra calories burnt.

Like I said earlier, this new goal of mine, this crystal clean bulk, has brought about slightly new habits. I have begun to eat a little more as well as more frequently. Setting a standard for all my meal times is tough as I’ve gone through that route before and don’t want to be constricted because of it. I have experienced that annoyance. The lack of activities, of socializing, of having to know every single minute of my life advance, is well… stressful to say the least. I don’t want it. Regardless, doing my best, I am eating more frequently now and am trying not to have that “really hungry, I’m starving” feeling. So far so good.

Along the same lines as dieting talk, I cooked a mean chicken today. I think I have finally begun to perfect the brine. I soaked 2 breasts in a quart of water mixed with 1/3 cup kosher salt for an hour. The result was bliss. The chicken was moist and this time not overly salty. Oh, it was delicious just by itself! I gobbled up one of the pieces circumscribed by a low calorie wrap and gave the other to my sister as they were quite large. I will definitely be doing this again. Bon Appétit!

Tonight was the first night of my new pushup and sit-up scheme. The reps were most certainly miscalculated. I simply think this technique of 75% your maximum is bogus. The 33 reps of pushups were hard as ****. I ended up, against all my will, failing during the 19th rep on the last set. I’m happy I made it that far! Tomorrow I will be decreasing the reps to 30 and testing that out. This is all one big experiment, but hitting failure 3 nights a week and not even during my main strength training routine is not what I had planned before. I am improving without that further burden. And I plan to continue to improve. My sit-ups performed similarly, though slightly better. I completed the first 2 sets, but failed at the 29th rep on the final finish. For this reason I am going to try a less aggressive approach and change the rep number to a still heavy 32 (not like 30 pushups is light either!). It is nice though to simply fail. At least now I know my limits. I know where to push myself to, and I will push myself. I plan to see another increase in maximum reps next Sunday. You can plan on it as well.


That was the day.





This concludes Entry #33.
 
Wednesday 1/7/09
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 149.0 – +1.5lb
Body Fat: 7.4% – -0.2%
Lean Mass: 137.97lb – +1.68lb
Fat Weight: 11.03lb – -0.18lb

Diet:
6:45am:
1/4 cup 1% Fat Low Sodium Cottage Cheese
8:00am:
1 medium Pear
1 medium Apple
1/2 cup Oats
1 large “pan sized” Egg Beater Omelet with Ham, Pepper, Onion (Mustard)
10:30am:
6-8 Almonds
6-8 tiny spoonfuls 1% Fat Low Sodium Cottage Cheese
12:05pm[Post-Workout]:
5-7 Baby Cut Carrots
5-7 tiny spoonfuls 1% Fat Low Sodium Cottage Cheese
1:15pm:
1 medium Pear
3 Pickles
1 big bowl Lettuce Salad with Pepper, Cucumber (Low Calorie Balsamic Vinaigrette)
1 Low Calorie Wrap with Ham, 1% Fat Low Sodium Cottage Cheese (Sweet Onion Salsa, Chile Hot Sauce)
2 slices Whole Wheat “Vermont Bread” with a little Ham, lots of Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato (Mustard)
4:00pm:
1 bowl Snapper Soup [thick, but not creamy]
7:00pm:
2 bowls Chicken Egg Noodle Soup [thickened slightly with coconut milk]
1 plate Cucumber Tomato Salad (Olive Oil) and Eggplant (drizzled with a little Olive Oil)

That was my diet.



The Day:

I woke up to a surprise. My weight really shot up today. Most likely it is just the temporary jolt on my body of eating more than normal. I don’t expect these results to continue. Hell, I’m not going to actually say that I gained 1.68 pounds of muscle in a day: that would be ridiculous. With the weight gain, my body fat went down again! I’m like this trend, though I am not setting myself to be disappointed. Like the weight gain, I doubt this nice balance of losing fat and gaining muscle will continue for much longer. But, one can hope.

I had a good workout today. I broke a new record on the elliptical machine by hitting 328 calories in 20 minutes during my HIIT. I was able to maintain high intensity intervals at 95rpm for 1.25 minutes. That was one of my goals! I put a strike through it on my goal list and created a new one right under it. 100rpm here I come!

The rest of the day was fairly average. I ran a good amount of errands while trying to eat fairly frequently. In this regard I believe I succeeded; though perhaps too much as my fears of gaining fat and over eating started to fester once again. Regardless, I put it behind me and I know that if I am to progress I must overcome that old habit of starvation to lose weight. It has been thriving too long. And yet the reality is that I may have very well eaten too much today in which case my close monitoring of the scales and numbers should report back to me long before any weight changes become an issue of concern. Following the last errand, and a little bit of TV, I ended this Wednesday with my pushups and sit-ups.

As I mentioned on my last entry I changed the reps so ideally I would hit near failure, but not quite at it. And that is exactly what happened. Both exercises brought me to that edge, but never forced me to cross it. I had the grand satisfaction of completing each movement in its entirety while also feeling a pump equal to that of muscle fatigue and failure. I am proud of this accomplishment as it shows a definite improvement in my abilities. I am betting myself and seeing the results. What else can I ask for?


That was the day.





This concludes Entry #34.
 
Thursday 1/8/09
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 148.5 – -0.5lb
Body Fat: 7.1% – -0.3%
Lean Mass: 137.96lb– +0.01lb
Fat Weight: 10.54lb – -0.49lb

Diet:
6:50am:
1/4 cup 1% Fat Low Sodium Cottage Cheese (Hot Salsa)
8:15am:
1 medium Pear
1 medium Apple
1/2 cup Oats
1 large “pan sized” Egg Beater Omelet with Ham, Pepper, Onion (Mustard)
11:00am [Post-Workout]:
1 medium Pear
1 Protein Shake with 1 scoop Whey Protein Isolate, 1/2 Banana, Frozen Blueberries
1:00pm:
1 medium Apple
15-20 Baby Cut Carrots
1 big bowl Lettuce Salad with Pepper, Cucumber (Low Calorie Balsamic Vinaigrette)
1 Low Calorie Wrap with Ham, 1% Fat Low Sodium Cottage Cheese, Pepper (Hot Salsa)
2 slices Whole Wheat “Vermont Bread” with a little ham, lots of Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato (Mustard)
7:00pm:
2 Soft Corn Fish Tacos with Grouper/Monkfish, Romaine Lettuce, Onion, Pepperoncini (Low Fat Tzatziki Sauce)
1 plate Grouper/Monkfish, Quinoa with Celery, Pepper (cooked with a little Olive Oil), and Romaine Lettuce Salad with Onion, Pepperoncini (Low Fat Tzatziki Sauce)

That was my diet.



The Day:

There isn’t much to say about the actual day as it was fairly average. I did a few errands, ate when I could, etc. Not much happened. Well, that isn’t completely true. The gym happened.

My workout today was good, but annoying. First of all the good ellipticals were all taken so I was forced to warm up on one of the ****ty awkward feeling ones. It wasn’t too bad though because at least it still had my arms moving (compared to the other machines where your arms just hang there like dried salamis). It ended up telling me I burned 70 to 80 calories, but that probably means jack ****. OK, now onto the actual important part, the lifting. The solo squat rack, which is rarely ever in use, was today in use. Some guy ended up using the various bar placements for 30 minutes doing a plethora of different exercises. Just goes to show you the versatility of this one hunk of metal compared to all these other overused pieces of equipment. Anyway, my routine got completely switched around. It went in this order: bench press, shoulder press, pull-up, chin-up, dip, squat, deadlift, knuckle pushups, bicycles (the abs workout). The switch up didn’t end up effecting my performance too much so the whole situation really wasn’t that bad. Besides, my new found strength on some of the lifts made up for it.

I’m finding the bench press easier and easier these days. I now think the dips and pushups have really added to my results. Before them I was barely increasing the weight, now I’m increasing it so often it is hard to keep track. Next week I’ll be back in college for Monday’s lifting routine. I plan on benching an extra 5 pounds, boosting the total to a nice solid 120lb. I look forward to it. All the movements on the anti-gravity machine were seeing increases as well. Each one, the dip, the pull-up, and the chin-up, are next week going to become 10 pounds more difficult. Well, not completely. Since my dips are already at 20lbs offset, I don’t think it is possible to go down to 10. For this reason I may end up forgoing the offset completely. I am anxious for this challenge. I can’t say everything today was smiles though.

Like the routine switch up I also had a switch up with my squats. On accident I got my weights wrong. I thought I was still placing 135 pounds on my back. The truth is it should have been 145. No wonder they seemed easier today! Oh well, like I said it’s not a big deal. It was still fairly difficult in the end, and on Monday maybe I’ll even come back with more strength. Who knows, I have heard stories of that happening when going back to lower weights and then finding new talent in the higher category.

That’s pretty much all I have to say today. I’ve been getting a few subs recently and just wanted to take the time and say I really appreciate it. The fact that others are reading my posts makes me keep writing them: so thank you! Oh, on a side note that I forgot to add… For my dumbbell shoulder presses I was wondering if anyone had some recommendations to get the weights into the ready position. As I’m increasing the weights, it is getting harder to lift them towards their proper places before I start the press. Right now I can manage curling the 35 pounders to where they need to go, but I fear in the future as things get heavier I may not be able to keep up. Any suggestions?

Tomorrow is my last day at my home gym. It’s sad because it really is one of the best gyms I’ve ever gone to. It is simply conducive to exercise. Now it’s back to the shady basement lifting room that they call a gym in college. I’ll make do though. I did it for the first semester, and I’ll do it again. In the end all that matters is my lifting, not where I do it. Come Monday I’ll be pumping some serious iron, even if it’s in a room that screams leave.


That was the day.





This concludes Entry #35.
 
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