Build Me - An Ongoing Journey

Tuesday 12/09/08
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Weight: 168.8 – up 2.4lb
Body Fat: 7.0% - down 0.1%


Diet:
Breakfast:
2 medium Apples
1 bowl Oatmeal
3 Egg-White Omelet with Ham and Egg Beaters (Mustard on side)
Post Workout:
1 handful of Beef Jerky
Lunch:
1 medium Apple
1 bowl White Rice and Tofu drizzled with Chili Sauce and Soy Sauce
1 slice Whole-Grain Bread with piled with Ham, Turkey, Lettuce, Tomatoes, and Onions
1 bowl Spicy Beef Tomato Soup
1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumbers, Wax Peppers, Carrots, and Garbanzo Beans mixed with Light Italian Vinaigrette
4 Pickle spears
Dinner:
1 plate with 3 small slices turkey, a little Risotto, a little Chinese Asparagus, piece of Chinese Tofu with Pork
1 bowl Lettuce, Bell Peppers, Wax Peppers, and Olives drizzled with Olive Oil and Red Wine Vinegar with some Cottage Cheese and Tunafish on top
1 bowl Lettuce, Bell Peppers, and Wax Peppers with Deli Turkey (Mustard on side)
1 bowl Spicy Beef Tomato Soup


That was my diet.



The Day:

I didn’t add this yesterday to my journal, but it did occur yesterday. I was tired! I said that, yes, but not the full story. Earlier that day I had to take a nap, one hour. Later at night I took a 15 minute nap followed 30 minutes later by a 1 hour nap. I have NO idea what is going on! I was never a “nap” person. I get 7-8 hours of sleep a night always. I simply don’t know what’s wrong. Even more puzzling is I drank more and ate more yesterday than I normally do; so I should have even more energy no? I’m lost, I just hope that it truly was completely temporary. I want my goals; I want PURE energy! But, where is it?

I checked my weight and fat this morning to find my pounds shot up. Not to fear, that kind of change is always a little scary but I know now that it can shoot down just as easily. I am comforted by the fact that the body fat % did not go up with it, meaning it probably is just the odd water weight skewing things.


Today I didn’t have classes (finals week no doubt :/). So, instead of doing my cardio at 10:30, I decided to go a little earlier and make it 9:00. Why not? Everything went well; I ran the full mile and a half in 10:50 exactly. Afterwards I hopped onto the elliptical. But, for some reason, it felt incredibly resistant. After 5 minutes I had enough, something was wrong. Turns out it must have been a faulty machine because I switched onto another of the same model 3 feet to the right of me and immediately felt the difference. The one I was one was at least 5 times harder to push. Besides that one backset (though really it wasn’t much of a backset as I still got the same, if not more, exercise as my routine demands) all went very well. I ended up notifying the gym attendants about the machine: they said they would get someone to look at it.

After the workout I had the rest of my beef jerky from yesterday. I heard carbs offset cardio, so protein is the way to go. And that is the way I went.

After Dinner I was feeling bloated and fat. I had to go to Tae Kwon Do, and afterwards felt much better. It was a good thing because I hate feeling like my stomach is protruding over my entire body. The downside of it all was that I hurt my left food while sparring. Hopefully it doesn’t affect my performance during the HIIT tomorrow.

Later on at night it was time for my pushups and sit-ups. I didn’t have much motivation and was feeling a little lethargic (derived from all the studying I have beyond me – and in front of me). I brushed my teeth though, an activity that always seems to awaken me, and got all pumped up for them. The first set I tore through 35 pushups, but felt winded afterwards. 30 seconds later I did another 35, barely making it on the last rep. Deciding to take a 1 minute break this time, I waited for my muscles to rest. I attempted the last set, but failed at the 25th rep. My muscles simply gave out. I’m not sure if I should adjust the reps or always push myself to failure. I could also increase the rest time to always be one minute; I think I’ll do that first and record the results. Surprisingly, my sit-ups sets were much easier. I expected the exact opposite: easy pushups, hard sit-ups! Shows how much I know. In fact what wore me down at first during the sit-ups was not my abs, but my tailbone. I think it may be time to invest in an exercise or yoga mat. By the last rep of the sit-ups though I was definitely feeling it still, so it wasn’t like they were too easy. For the sit-ups I did increase the resting time to more like 45 seconds (fearing the same results as my pushups). For the future I should do 30 seconds on the sit-ups, just so I really feel the burn.

One a side note regarding the pushups: I am worried they may lead to an overtraining of my chest. I’m not sure if they are the same muscle fibers used to build size (as it seems more of an endurance exercise to me), but either way my chest will be worked 5-6 days out of the week with my current routine. I’m not sure what kind of results I will see from this, but I have to make sure I am progressing. If not, then I’ll have to relook at the whole 3 nights of pushups on cardio days routine. It may just be too much. In that same note, I guess I should consider abs: but, can abs really be overworked that much? I don’t know. Like I said, I’ll have to just keep track, keep recording, and keep progressing.


Throughout the day I didn’t feel that nagging sleepiness that I had yesterday, which was a good sign. I did feel big though. Maybe it was just the back thought of the weight measured at the beginning of the day, I don’t know. What I do know is it caused doubts in me eating more. It seems that people are recommending me left and right to bulk first and then cut to get the abs. I’m scared of the weight gain though! I admit it! It frightens me! What am I to do? I’m trying to face this fear, but you read my story, you now know what I did to get here. The idea of doing it all over again, gaining the weight only to lose it – I can’t picture myself going back there! And at the same time all my heart is into getting that washboard rigged stomach! It’s tug-of-war and it’s hurting my head no matter who is winning. They need a word for this feeling! I look in the mirror, and maybe it’s just me, but I swear it seems my stomach is already less defined. Ugh, I found the word. Lost. I’m lost.



That was the day.



This concludes Entry #5.
 
Wednesday 12/10/08
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Weight: 149.4 – up 0.6lb
Body Fat: 6.9% - down 0.1%


Diet:
Breakfast:
2 medium Apples
1 large Egg Beater Omelet filled with Ham (Mustard on side)
1 bowl Oatmeal (more than normal)
Post-Workout:
1 handful of Beef Jerky
Lunch:
1 medium Apple
1 bowl Rice and Chicken (Soy Sauce on top)
1/2 bowl Chinese Stir-Fried Vegetables, Rice, and Tofu
1 slice Whole Grain Bread Sandwich piled with Ham, Turkey, Lettuce, Tomatoes, and Onions (Mustard as spread)
1 bowl Mulligatawny Soup with Chicken and Rice
1 bowl Spring Lettuce Salad with Cucumbers and Bell Peppers drizzled with a Low Calorie Light Italian Vinaigrette dressing
Dinner:
1 plate 1 lightly breaded Veal Patty with Tomato Sauce, a few tablespoons of Lentils and Grains, and some Zucchini and Squash
1 cup Chinese Broccoli and Vegetables (Soy Sauce on top)
1 bowl Split-Pea Soup
1 cup Turkey and Tunafish with Lettuce and Humus
1 bowl Lettuce Salad, Cucumbers, Bell Peppers, Olives, and Cottage Cheese drizzled with Olive Oil and Red Wine Vinegar

That was my diet.

The Day:

I had a little bit more than normal energy today. It felt good. My weight went up again! But, after reading the forums more, specifically some certain replies to my journal and other threads, my confidence is now with the bulking plan so I should train my mind to see weight gain as a positive. It’s hard, but I’m making progress. It was nice to see the fat percentage go down though, but I doubt it means anything (in fact the sudden gain in weight probably doesn’t mean much either since it happened all over a period of 2 days). In case you missed the other threads. My plan is now to bulk (as implied above). I am going with it, until I hit 10% body fat, and then cutting into what will be in my mind solid rock. The end result? The chiseled abs I’ve been looking for.

The gym workout today was average. I burned, what might be a record breaking, 349 calories doing 20 minutes of my Elliptical HIIT routine. I then finished with a brisk inclined walk on the treadmill, burning another 74.5 calories. I like to see those high numbers, so in that regard the results of today’s workout were above average (but I regress, I can’t take too much credit because it still “felt” completely normal – like any other day).

I spent most of the rest of the day studying, so didn’t have a chance to really get out much. It wasn’t until later that the next phase of the day’s workout routine came into play. The cardio nightly pushups and sit-ups: but this time things were different. First of all, I completed all the pushups, all 35, all sets. Yes! But! It wasn’t really a success. I noticed that actually since the beginning was subpar. I was not going down till my elbows were parallel. If I was, I doubt I would have been able to do it. In that way, it was disappointing. I feel like I may be doing too many. I think I’m going to drop two, and try to keep form better. On the flip side, my sit-up performance went down. I had to help myself through a few reps, and used some swinging motion to complete some others. I believe this is due to strictly attempting a 30 sec resting period (unlike the 1 minute used for pushups). Next time, next Friday, I will be switching to a 1 minute resting period for the sit-ups as well. That should solve the issue.

There’s really not much else to say. On a side note I have been trying to eat more, making all my meals slightly larger. We’ll see how the numbers are looking, how the trends are forming, to get an idea for what I need to adjust. Till then I’ll just keep at it.

That was the day.



This concludes Entry #6.
 
Thursday 12/11/08
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Weight: 150.2 – up 0.8lb
Body Fat: 7.0% - up 0.1%
Diet:
Breakfast:
2 small-medium Apples
3 Egg White Omelet with Ham (more than usual) and Egg Beaters
1 bowl Oatmeal
Post-Workout:
1 small Apple
1 slice Whole-Grain Bread Sandwich with Ham, Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato, and Onion (Mustard)
1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Zucchini and Bell Peppers (Low Calorie Light Italian Vinaigrette)
Lunch:
1 bowl Rice, Turkey, and Tofu (Chili Sauce and Soy Sauce)
1 bowl Beef Minestrone Soup
1 cup Mixed Vegetables
Dinner:
1 bowl Lettuce Salad, Cucumbers, Cottage Cheese (Olive Oil and Red Wine Vinegar)
1 bowl Lettuce Salad, Cucumbers (Low Calorie Light Italian Vinaigrette)
1 bowl Beef Minestrone Soup
1 cup Chinese Stir-Fried Beef and Asparagus
1 small plate Green Beans
1 cup Turkey, Lettuce, Onions

That was my diet.

The Day:

I woke up today feeling pumped. I had my Calculus II test to finish the course later on. I also had my new workout plan. Because of the test my schedule was a little thrown off, so I ended up workout out slightly later today than normal. By that I mean that I left for the gym at 9:15am instead of 8:30am. This actually was beneficial though because it enabled me to use the dining halls to have a real post-workout meal as well as use the dining halls for a lunch. This explains why the lunch meal today is significant smaller than normal, while the post-workout meal is larger by the same degree. But that’s not the full explanation.

I also woke up this morning in confusion; confusion that was to be resolved into soundness and clarity while doing pull-ups. I saw the numbers on the scale. Up in weight, up in body fat. Two ups. I should be happy right? Not quite. At first I convinced myself, that the increases are what I want. That my goal right now is to gain weight. That’s my goal, it is a means to quite a different end, but right now that’s my goal. At least, that’s what I told myself. But, while lifting, I realized that wasn’t true. I have changed my mind, reversed my position. I will NOT be bulking. I don’t want it. Even if it is, as I said, a means to a lean and cut and lower weight end. I do not want to traverse that path. Even if it means I won’t get stronger, won’t get those abs. I know now the truth: I don’t want to see my weight go above 150. Maybe in the future that will change, who can know such things as infinite? But, I do know now, that unequivocally I will not set any goal to be an increase in weight. It is simply not in my interest.

With that said, I am back to my new goal. Staying lean, losing body, recomposing myself (though this may be a slower method), the whole deal. My routine stays the same, my commitment stays the same, my discipline the same. But, my diet changed. I will eat like I used to, conservatively and with regard to proportions. I will not undereat, as I’ve been down that scary path as well. But I will not overeat. I will eat what is right for me, what is right to stay in the 140s. I am satisfied with myself now, and that haziness, that confusion, that “lost”, is gone.


As for my workout: nothing special. The two new exercises were the pull-up and the bicycles for 30 seconds to work the abs. For the pull-up, an offset of 85lb worked perfectly and I really felt it in my upper back. The bicycles also went better than expected once I started to get the rhythm down. My abs were burning by the end and I felt some tension in my obliques as well (an area that doesn’t get hit a lot). Oh, I forgot to mention that I also did the triceps version for dips today as well. I didn’t feel it much in my triceps though. I found out on the last set this was because the dip bars were too wide, it is at this point that I also found out you could adjust them. After adjustment, the exercise went exactly as it should with my upper arms throbbing in the end. And though not a new movement, the last change for today was an increase in weight (from 20lb to 30lb) and a decrease in reps (from 10 to 5) for the dumbbell shoulder presses. I found this a nice variation, and my guess on the 30lb weight was spot on (actually maybe 1-2lb heavier could have worked, but I can’t make adjustments that fine tuned). Overall: a decent lifting day.


I feel light a weight has been taken off of my shoulders. I was so burdened with the thought of gaining weight these last few days. On one side I keep hearing to do it, to bulk, to gain the muscle mass. But, on the other side, my side, that nagging thought of actually going up on the scale did just that. It nagged. And it didn’t go away. Once I saw the numbers starting to actually move it only got worse. I cannot handle that feeling, that looming doubt. I have made my peace now. I will attempt a body recomp by eating at my maintenance calories and still following my weekly routine. If that fails, if I see no results, at least I’ll be happy with my weight and still therefore happy with myself (as I am right now). It feels good to be happy.


That was the day.



This concludes Entry #7.
 
I just noticed that I my original "intro" post does not contain the links I mentioned above because I was unable to post them (due to restrictions from the forums).

I have 15+ posts now on this board so here are the links for those who wish to see what I've been referring to.
 
Friday 12/12/08
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Weight: 148.4 – down 1.8lb
Body Fat: 7.5% - up 0.5%

Diet:
Breakfast:
3 small Apples
Egg Beater Omelet with Ham
1 bowl Oatmeal (less than usual)
Post-Workout:
small handful Beef Jerky
Lunch:
1 small Apple
1 slice Whole-Grain Bread Sandwich with Ham, Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion (Mustard)
1 cup White Rice with Tofu (Chili Sauce, Soy Sauce)
1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Bell Pepper (Low Calorie Light Italian Vinaigrette)
1 bowl Bean Soup – light, not creamy
Dinner:
1 plate Greek Salad with Lettuce, Cucumber, Onion, Olives, Tomato, Feta Cheese (Olive Oil and Red Wine Vinegar)
8oz boiled Red Snapper
2 Grape Leave Rolls stuffed with Rice
a little Spinach and Eggplant Greek Mixture


That was my diet.




The Day:

I don’t have much time today so today’s entry will be short and sweet. I am glad I made the change back. Today I scaled in and lost weight. That satisfactory fact was all worth it to conclusively validate my decision. I did go up in body fat, but a 0.5% increase is simply not possible so I’m putting it into the margin of error category. I would never let eating a little less (not too much less!) hinder my exercise routine, and as such I went to the gym this morning.

It was actually quite a story, freezing rain, broken down trees, faulty power, lights flickering, the whole nine yards. But I won’t get into that. I had a good workout. I completed the full mile and a half, making this the first week where I did that on both running days (yes!). I hit 249 calories on the elliptical today, which is pretty damn good considering it wasn’t even HIIT and it was only 20 minutes. My calories for running I believe was 171.4 and my walking after the elliptical was 72.5. Those numbers are from what I remember as I didn’t write them down, but I am fairly confident in their accuracy. Besides being a decent sweat, this also marks the last day at my college’s gym. Yup, I go home today and as such will be going back to my old workout facilities (which also happen to be much better than what my schooling offers). I’m excited for the change.

I ended the day in a hotel room doing pushups and sit-ups. I changed the reps for the pushups to 33 from 35. This seemed to help as I was able to keep my form better. Truth be told I noticed I’m still not really getting down to parallel with my elbows. This makes me doubt my initial “maximum” I obtained for pushups (maybe it was 45, but under bad form). This Sunday though I will be retesting my maximums which should bring a clearer picture to the situation. Meanwhile using a 1 minute resting period in between sit-ups sets seemed to help a lot. I was able to complete all reps with correct form. I actually felt like the number of reps might have been a little too light as I was feeling the burn, but probably could have gone further. Again: this Sunday the new maximum should shed some better light on that issue as well.

Tomorrow is my first rest day of this log and I plan to take full enjoyment of it with the knowledge that I will be coming back stronger, meaner, faster, leaner, and better, better in every activity. I reread my goals everyday now. They give me strength. I have a future; I can see myself in it. I will become that image.


That was the day.



This concludes Entry #8.
 
Saturday 12/13/08
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Weight: ?? - unmeasured
Body Fat: ?? - unmeasured

Diet:
Breakfast:
a little Whole Grain Toast
1 bowl Oatmeal
1 Egg Beater Omelet with Ham, Peppers, Onions
A Little After Breakfast:
1 large Apple
Lunch:
1 large Apple
2 handfuls Beef Jerky
A Little Before Dinner:
1 small Apple
1 medium Pear
Dinner:
1 bowl Lettuce Salad Mix with Feta Cheese (Low Calorie Light Garlic Italian Vinaigrette)
1 bowl Lettuce Salad Mix with Deli Turkey (Low Calorie Light Garlic Italian Vinaigrette)
½ bowl 1% Fat Cottage Cheese with 1 handful Almonds (Cinnamon)
2 slices Weight Watchers Whole Grain Bread with Turkey, Tomato (Mustard)
3-4 Pickles



That was my diet.



The Day:

Well, the day is here. Resting day! No stretching, no routine. Oh, it is nice to take a break! Time to just sit back and enjoy myself. Normally I would be recording my body weight and fat anyway, but I’m in a hotel right now and don’t have my equipment with me. Oh well, one hole in the graph will not make a huge difference in observing the trend. Tomorrow I will have my stuff and start recording again as usual, first thing in the morning after going to the bathroom.

As you can see my diet was fairly hectic. I had limited options for all my meals except dinner because I was traveling on the road from college back to home. Dinner though, like I said, was the exception. I as able to go food shopping today for the first time in months. I bought all the good stuff and each meal should now be quite original. I might consider even learning really how to cook now that I’m no longer as carb restrictive as I used to be (during my weight loss days). Either way, cooking or no cooking, expect a pleasant variety in my seemingly static diet entries for the forthcoming weeks.

That’s all I have to say for today. Oh one thing. I did look in the mirror around 4 hours ago. I saw abs, 4 of them. I don’t think I’ve ever smiled so broad.



That was the day.




This concludes Entry #9.
 
Sunday 12/14/08
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Weight: 143.5 – down 4.9lb
Body Fat: 6.3% - down 1.2%

Diet:
Breakfast:
1 medium-large Pear
1 medium-large Apple
½ cup Oats
Egg Beaters with Ham and 1 slice Low Fat Swiss Cheese
Lunch:
A little Steak, Pork, Ham, Rice, Chicken, Salad, Mozzarella Cheese, Goat Cheese, Feta Cheese, Cucumber, Asparagus, Carrots, Smoked White Fish, Smoked Salmon, Onion, Balsamic Vinaigrette, Tilapia, and a few other small things
1 cup Tomato Bisque
1 glass Virgin Bloody Mary
Dinner:
2 4-6oz pieces of Chicken
1 small plate Cauliflower cooked in Olive Oil
1 small plate Basmati Rice with Curry (Chicken pieces inside) and Onions cooked in Olive Oil
5-8 jumbo Shrimp



That was my diet.





The Day:

I woke up excited to cook. I made my own breakfast using the ingredients I bought yesterday. It was quite satisfying. I am a little worried about how much I should be eating, estimating calories and all. Like college I think I am just going to go by the scale. If it starts to go up I eat less, and vice-versa. A few days may be all over the place, but within a week I should have a standard down.

I also woke up excited to see my weight. Down! I’m happy I made up for the splurge of overeating when I made the decision, the attempt really, to bulk. Some of the weight is definitely water weight I’m sure since the change is really too big for even 2 days. Still, it is nice to see the number back to where I want it. My abs felt tight this morning as well, which always brings a smile to my face (I mentioned that wide grin I had yesterday when I saw the 4 pack). I am curious to see what happens tomorrow. Most likely it will rebound slightly, but I can’t say I’m not anxious to see my body fat drop into the 5’s. You never know.

Lunch, as you most likely read above, was crazy. It was a buffet and I didn’t necessarily eat tons, but I did try a varying plethora of almost every dish they offered. It was impossible to estimate though so I just listed off the top of my head everything I remember. It looks like too much food, I hope it isn’t. I don’t want to offset my weight loss that much.

On a side note I realize today was supposed to be my picture day. I completely forgot. It’s too late now since I ate already and that would throw off the look. Instead I will take it first thing tomorrow morning after I weigh myself. The one day difference shouldn’t matter nearly as much as taking it before versus after a meal. I will for now on remember that Sunday is Photo Day. I doubt I’m going to see much difference though, it’s only been a week since I changed up my workout routine and since then my diet (a more influential factor) has been all over the place. I want my abs that I saw this morning to peer through the lens though. Hopefully they will.

Dinner was a little iffy. I may or may not have overeaten, it’s tough to tell when you’re eating all new foods. Again, I’ll just have to monitor my weight and body fat strictly and carefully to see how much “home food” I need to take in.

After dinner, now nearing 10 O’clock, I decided it was time to test my new maximums. First were the pushups. I completed 66 of them (up from 45). I am really doubting my form though. I am going to stick to doing sets of 33 until I am sure my form is dead on. Two things might be happening that are worrying me. One is that I’m not going down enough (elbows should be parallel to ground at the bottom position and I just don’t think I’m there). Two is that my but is sagging causing my core and lower back to sag. Sometimes I “feel” this, but can’t see it. I think the only remedy is to do pushups in front of a mirror. Tomorrow, if I can find a good spot, I’m going to do this at the local gym. Next were the sit-ups. It is without a hesitation that I can say my abs are getting stronger. Unlike the pushups, I was not limited by failure, but limited by time. I completed 35 sit-ups in the allotted 1 minute. For the pushups, I failed before the 1 minute mark was even up (actually now that I consider it, this may not be true as I wasn’t checking the time as strictly as I was for sit-ups and did not relook at the watch when I failed the last rep on my pushups). Either way, it doesn’t matter ‘cause like I said I’m sticking with 33 until my form is complete. Going back to the sit-ups, the successful 35 means I should be doing reps of 26. I am also going to try and focus on speed as I do the reps since that is what hindered me, not strength. I am satisfied with both results and especially ecstatic about my new performance record on the sit-ups. It is always nice to see yourself become better at being yourself.



That was the day.





This concludes Entry #10.
 
Yeah back when I counted calories I used many sources like those. It really isn't a matter of finding out how many calories are in WHAT I'm eating. The problem more is proportions and how what I'm eating was made (such as cooked with tons of pork fat, or dry pan seared). Thanks for the suggestion though. Now that I'm back home and cooking a lot on my own, it may be worth it to go back to actual calorie counting. Though I do admit just using the scale to see if I'm gaining or losing weight is much easier.
 
Monday 12/15/08
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Weight: 144 – up 0.5lb
Body Fat: 6.8% - up 0.5%


Diet:
Breakfast:
1 large Pear
1 large Apple
½ cup Oats
1 large “pan sized” Egg Beater Omelet with Ham
Post-Workout:
1 medium Apple
1 Protein Shake (1.5 scoops Whey Protein, 0.5 Banana)
Lunch:
1 bowl Lettuce Salad Mix (Low Calorie Light Italian Vinaigrette)
½ bowl No Fat Greek Yogurt with Wheat Germ
2 slices Weight Watchers Whole Wheat Bread with Ham, Turkey, Tomato, Lettuce Salad (Mustard)
5-10 Baby Cut Carrots
2 Pickles
Afternoon Snack:
10-15 Baby Cut Carrots
5 Olives
1 Weight Watchers Light String Cheese Stick
Dinner:
2 4oz Lamb Burgers
2 tbsp Feta Cheese Spread
2-3 scoops Sautéed (in Olive Oil) Onions and Spinach
8-10 small thin slices Eggplant
1 slice Weight Watchers Whole Wheat Bread



That was my diet.




The Day:

I had lots of energy today. I think it was the experience of being back home: new places, a new gym, everything new. And yet, old. It was just great. I was excited, truly excited, to workout.

At the gym, which I must say really is a pleasure just to be at, I hopped onto the elliptical for my 5 minute warm-up. I didn’t get the elliptical machine that I wanted so instead had to use one with no arm movements. The one downside to the gym is how busy it is: I’ll have to find a time to go when I can get all the right machines that I want (especially for cardio days). Anyway, without my arms moving I only burned around 50 calories instead of my normal 70 something. That’s not really a big deal though. The rest of the workout went great. I noticed especially during the bench press that I had extra strength. I think the increase in my chest workout (incorporating dips and pushups now) helped. Next week, if Thursday shows the same results, I will be increasing my weight on bench press. I’m pumped for that change. Everything else went fairly smooth except for my chin-ups and dips.

I kept hitting the ground on the chin-up offset machine. I didn’t understand it. For that reason I had to decrease the counter weight from 60 to 50 simply because I wasn’t able to go all the way down. It wasn’t until afterwards, while doing the dips that I realized the problem. The anti gravity machine at my local gym is designed so that you kneel, not stand. After this quick change, I completed the rest of my dips at what I found was doable, a lower 30lb offset! Already an increase in strength! Of course, it’s newb gains since the exercise is new to me and I’m sure my muscles are just adapting more than gaining in size. I can’t help but smile though and say it’s nice to see.

I finished off the day at the gym with some Captain’s Chair ab exercises. They really tear up my stomach. It’s great. I feel like I’m getting better at them too since I didn’t have a problem of failing before the 30 seconds were up (which is what happened last week). On another note, this gym has exercise balls so I may do some crunches using them. We’ll see on Thursday what I’m in the mood for; if I want to do those or the bicycle exercise (also another stomach destroyer). Overall, just a great day at the gym.

After the gym I had a decent post workout meal for the first time. Now that I’m home I could use a blender and actually make a protein shake (normally I can’t do this because I have to rush off to classes as soon as my feet leave the fitness center). I had to experiment a bit to get the water to ice ratio right, but give it a few more tries and I should have it perfect. While eating I was talking to my mom about fitness (she gets into it as well) and we started talking about Yoga. The gym near me apparently offers really good classes. She’s going to sign me up for a few. I’m excited about that as well. It seems that this month away from school is going to be a great 30 days to improve my conditioning. I can’t wait for to see the end result.

My meals it seems weren’t quite big enough as I found myself having to eat more in addition to them. Even after dinner I had to eat a few extra carrots to just attempt that full feeling. Experimentation here is key. Give it a few more days and I’ll fully adapt to the point where it will be subconscious when deciding how much to eat and when to eat it.

I almost forgot to mention, but I took a picture of myself this morning. With different lighting conditions I feel like it is deceptive in that I seem actually slightly less defined. This isn’t the case. I’m not going to boast that I’m somehow magically more defined in a week, but the real accurate statement would be that I look about the same. I will try to be more consistent with where I take the photos, but these next few weeks may not be ideal as I will be moving from place to place as my break progresses. Once I am back in college though, every shot will be in the same place with the same lighting. By that time real differences should be apparent.



That’s all I have to say. I’m going to reread my goals now. Get myself in a rebuild the muscle mindset. And that is, to you, a goodnight from me.



That was the day.





This concludes Entry #11.
 
Tuesday 12/16/08
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 142.5 - down 1.5lb
Body Fat: 6.7% - down 0.1%

Diet:
Breakfast:
1 large Apple
1 large Pear
½ cup Oats
1 large “pan sized” Egg Beater Omelet with Ham, Green Pepper, Onion
Lunch:
1 large Apple
1 Low Calorie Wrap with Ham, 1 slice Low Calorie Swiss Cheese, Artichoke Garlic Salsa
2 slices Weight Watchers Whole Wheat Bread with Ham, Turkey, Tomato, Spring Mix Lettuce
10-15 Baby Cut Carrots
1 Pickle
1 bowl Spring Lettuce Salad Mix (Low Calorie Light Garlic Italian Vinaigrette)
Dinner:
1-2 cups White Rice
1 plate Sautéed Chicken and Vegetables
5 large pieces Tofu in Curry
1 small bowl Low Fat Cottage Cheese, No Fat Greek Yogurt, Whey Powder, 5 Almonds (Cinnamon)


That was my diet.



The Day:

I wasn’t much into the gym mood today. Of course, I went anyway. It was a near “fasted” type of workout since I left for the gym at around 11:00am, right before lunch but nearly 4 hours after breakfast. As soon as I got onto the treadmill I knew it was going to be a good workout. My home gym has these running machines that offer fans to blow air in your face as you run in place. It’s great. I completed the mile and a half in 10:59. I ran at my full 8.3mph, it just took 9 seconds longer because the machine took a slightly more amount of time to speed up than the ones back in college. I then hopped onto the elliptical, which I must say is far superior in motion and feel to any other one I’ve tried and I’ve used a variety of elliptical. I burned 252 calories in 20 minutes on that. It was easier I felt than normal, next time I may increase the speed intervals by 5rpms for every range as these machines I definitely felt like I could push myself (even though it is a moderate workout after the run) further. After that I went back onto the fancy fan blowing treadmill and started a random hill routine. Again it seemed too easy. I switched to manual after a minute and forced it to restart the 10 minute workout at a level 6 incline going at 4mph. This was much better and for now I will stick with this level of intensity instead of the randomness I approached earlier. By the end of the workout I was in euphoria. It was such a switch from my pre-workout listlessness that I was truly shocked. Just goes to show you how a nice time at the gym can completely turn around your day.

On the other side of my fitness life, my diet seems to be needing of a checkup. It appears that I am not eating enough. This is joyful news to me as it means, yup, I get to eat more! Who would turn down such an offer? We’ll see how my weight fluctuates within the next few days to see if this increase in calories is going to help me maintain energy and maintenance. I should note that I’ve been eating a few things on the side in between meals. Nothing junky, but just for observation and clarification sake I did munch on some baby cut carrots and a few olives, maybe a couple almonds, in between lunch and dinner. Now you know as I know.

I have one side note before the continuing with the conclusion of today’s workout. As it is break I did not have Tae Kwon Do today, nor will I have it on Thursdays. Tae Kwon Do, in all honesty, is not too much of a workout. But I should note that it will be missing as a form of cardio from my weekly routine until I return to college. I, as well as you, must take this into consideration when speaking of my daily activity levels. In that same regard another small change crops up. I am not nearly walking as much these days due to the lack of a campus, a backpack stuffed with books, and a good deficit of classes. Again, now you know.

And back to working out. I did the pushups and sit-ups this night, just a few minutes ago actually, using my new maximums (to an extent) for a reference guide to number of reps I should do for 3 sets. It was tough. For pushups I still have to work on form as I just don’t think I’m going low enough. And even if I was I barely pushed myself up on the last rep on the 3rd set. I think I am improving though since my form is getting better (though again not yet where it should be). Meanwhile on sit-ups I attempted a new record for doing 26 reps on 3 sets. Notice I said attempted. For the truth is I failed on the last set. I completed a meager 16, than one more by cheating, until muscle failure on the 17th rep. My basis for choosing 26 is I took my new maximum and did 75% reps of it. This method did not seem to work. For this reason I will be decreasing the reps slightly to 23. Tomorrow we will see how this goes. I am going to end on a good note though as the real truth here is that I am improving in both areas. Pushups: my form is getting better. Sit-ups: I am massively increasing my endurance as seen by the switch from 15 to 26 reps. I am improving. And that, that is what matters.



That was the day.




This concludes Entry #12.
 
Wednesday 12/17/08
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 144.5 – up 2lb
Body Fat: 6.2% - down 0.5%

Diet:
Breakfast:
1 medium Pear
1 medium Apple
½ cup Oats
1 large “pan sized” Egg Beater Omelet with Honey Glazed Ham, Green Pepper, Onion
Lunch:
1 medium Apple
1 small bowl No Fat Greek Yogurt and Wheat Germ
1 Low Calorie Wrap with Ham Artichoke Garlic Salsa
2 slices Weight Watchers Whole Wheat Bread with Ham, Turkey, Tomato, Spring Mix Lettuce
5-10 Baby Cut Carrots
1 bowl Spring Lettuce Salad Mix, Cucumber, Bell Pepper (Low Calorie Light Ginger Soy Dressing)

Dinner:
1 large bowl Lettuce Spring Salad, Roasted Red Pepper, Onion, Gorgonzola Cheese (Balsamic Vinaigrette)
1 plate Chicken Marsala and Risotto
1 small bowl 1% Fat Cottage Cheese and Almonds (Cinnamon)



That was my diet.





The Day:

I didn’t have a bubbling amount of energy this morning, nor this afternoon, and definitely not at night. I think it’s because I’m not eating enough. I really got to try and increase my caloric intake. I have a feeling it is truly effecting me.

I completed my Wednesday Cardio workout regardless of this lethargy. The atmosphere at my home gym helped. I clocked in at 309 calories for the Elliptical HIIT which is way below my normal. I believe this can be due to two different things. One is that the machine is different than the one back in college and may count calories differently. Two is that the resistance settings may be weaker meaning I’m not actually working as hard. Either way though there is the issue by the fact that I back when I used to go to my home gym regularly I would burn 310-320 calories on the exact same elliptical most likely going at even slower RPMs. For this reason I also believe my increase in age and decrease in weight probably is leading to slightly lower calories burned throughout the activity. In the end though it’s such a small difference that it really doesn’t matter. I’m not worried about it. I will work harder anyway as I do feel like I can push myself past the speeds I was obtaining, maybe even past the resistance. Calorie counting or no calorie counting, I will improve myself.

For my diet today I tried to eat more each meal, but I’m still feeling hungry. I may try to switch back to 5 meals a day, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to maintain it and I don’t want to get used to such a dramatic change if I am forced to quickly adapt and switch back to 3. I’m not sure what I can do except simply try and eat more on each meal. I tried snacking a little bit (as mentioned in my recent journal entries), but snacking frightens me on how easy it is to go overboard. It’s only been a few days really since I’ve made the trip home; truthfully, I am still adapting. I’ll get a hang of this, just wait.

Now to the frustrating nightly workout… It is so hard for me to get motivated to complete reps right before I hit the sack. It is especially so when I know that one of those reps may be at failure. I am seriously considering switching my pushups and sit-ups so that they are done at the same time as my cardio. Meaning, they are done at the gym. Maybe this will improve my results? Though, it is not I am not improving. Just a few minutes ago I performed them regardless of my seemingly vacant desire to go through with it. And I improved. I did not get to failure on my pushups, and have in fact gotten further away from that near failure feeling that I used to feel. Furthermore, my form I believe is getting better as I am noticing myself having more strength now to seriously focus on getting those elbows parallel. I also further enhanced my sit-ups. After following the advice from yesterday’s entry I was able to successfully complete the full 3 sets for 23 reps each. It felt good.

And now I’m tired, exhausted, and ready to fall into a nice bed. Goodnight.



That was the day.





This concludes Entry #13.
 
Thursday 12/18/08
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 144.5 - no change
Body Fat: 6.5% - up 0.3%

Diet:
Breakfast:
1 large Pear
1 large Apple
¾ cup Oats
1 large “pan sized” Egg Beater Omelet with Honey Glazed Ham, Green Pepper, Onion
Post-Workout:
1 medium Pear
1 Protein Shake with 1.25 scoops Whey Protein Isolate, .25 to .5 cups Blueberries
Lunch:
2 slices Weight Watchers Whole Wheat Bread with Ham, Turkey, Tomato, Onion, Lettuce (Herb Paste)
1 Low Calorie Wrap with Ham, Sundried Tomato, Artichoke Garlic Salsa
5-10 Baby Cut Carrots
3-4 Pickles
1 bowl Spring Lettuce Salad Mix, Cucumber, Bell Pepper (Low Calorie Light Ginger Soy Dressing)
Dinner:
1 plate 4-5 medium Chicken Breast pieces in a Marsala like sauce, 5-10 Asparagus, 4-5 small to medium Roasted Potato pieces, Onion and Mushroom in an Olive Oil and Apple Schnapps sauce
1 bowl Spring Lettuce Salad Mix, Bell Pepper, Sundried Tomato (Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar)



That was my diet.




The Day:

Unlike the last few days I was excited for the gym this morning. I was energized by the fact that I would be lifting, not exerting the same movement for an innumerable amount of times. Fittingly, I performed well. Not only was my bench press easier (as was the case in my last workout as well), but now my squats and deadlifts seemed slightly on the lesser side of heavy. This was only the beginning! I was soon to find that my new compound movements, the chin-up and pull-up were also in need of some adjustment. Adjustment for the better! I lowered my offsets on my pull-ups to 70 from 80 and my chin-ups to 50 from 60. Even my dips felt slightly easier (but not easy enough to increase the weight). Next week, for all the great improvements above, I will also be adjusting my weights on the squat, deadlift, and bench press. I can’t wait! What a great day at the gym!

To compliment the nice workout, as you can see above, I did eat more today. As I said yesterday, this was a goal of mine as I believe the switch from college life to home life has made me adjust my diet to a lesser quantity of food. Inheritably, I believe it has affected my cardio workouts. Not that the actual workout is harder, but my recovery seems elongated as I started to become more lethargic both before and after the exertion. I hope this fuller feeling will counter act those negative consequences I have already started to feel.

Besides the workout and the diet, not much else happened today. It was a nice relaxing schedule with not much to do. I am really enjoying the nothingness: it’s the perfect vacation from college chaos.



That was the day.





This concludes Entry #14.
 
Friday 12/19/08
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 144.0 - down 0.5lb
Body Fat: 7.6% - up 1.1%

Diet:
Breakfast:
1 large Pear
1 medium Apple
½ cup Oats
1 large “pan sized” Egg Beater Omelet with Ham, Onion
Lunch:
1 medium Apple
1 small bowl Cottage Cheese with Honey Wheat Germ
1 bowl Lettuce Spring Mix, Cucumber (Light Low Calorie Ginger Soy Dressing)
1 Low Calorie Wrap with Ham, Reduced Fat Feta Cheese, Artichoke Garlic Salsa
2 slices Weight Watchers Whole Wheat Bread with Ham, Turkey, Tomato, Onion, Lettuce, No Fat Low Calorie American Cheese (Mustard)
10-15 Baby Cut Carrots
2 Pickles
Dinner:
2 plates Roasted Turkey Breast, Rice, Lentils, Asparagus cooked in Olive Oil, very little Potato
1 Cracker with Pate
2-4 small pieces Gouda Cheese
8-12 Almonds



That was my diet.





The Day:

I do have energy this morning, but I’m not excited to workout. Just not in the running mood I guess. No matter, I’ll do it anyway and I’m sure feel better once I am actually in the motion. Meanwhile I checked my weight and body fat this morning as I always do. There must have been some fluke in the body fat test. Maybe it was the fact that I used some hand sanitizer right before gripping the handles of the analyzer? I don’t know. What I do know is there is no way I went from 6.5% to 7.6% within 24 hours. With that in mind, I’m just going to push this figure out of my head.

What a great conclusion to a great week. I ran the 1.5 miles today and for the first time didn’t feel weak while doing it. By the end, I actually had the energy to keep going. I wasn’t even breathing through my mouth yet! It will be interesting if I can obtain the same performance next week as well. Maybe it’s time to increase the difficulty in my cardio as well as my lifting? That would be awesome.

But it didn’t end there. As I mentioned earlier the elliptical here either has less resistance than the ones back in college or I am just getting that much stronger. Either way I increased my workout on the machine today by incrementing my RPMs by 5. Meaning my starting 5 minutes was at 65-70rpm (of which I kept in the upper range) and my ending 5 minutes was at 80-85rpm (also keeping the motion in the upper range). My calories burned this time was 253. I simply don’t understand why I didn’t see a significant increase from last time (252 calories burned). What I do know though is that it was a harder workout and I did it: that’s all that matters.

Later in the day it was about time for me to go to sleep when I remembered I had my pushups and sit-ups to do. I wanted to do them during cardio, but completely forgot. Now, as I’m completely ready to fall asleep, I have to get up and perform myself until exhaustion. This is the exact reason I was supposed to switch this routine so it combines with my gym workout. So much for that! With very little motivation, I complete the pushups. I still feel like my form is lacking. For my next max test this Sunday, don’t be surprised if the number goes down. I want to test my TRUE max with perform execution. This way when I say to people I can do 70 pushups in a minute, it’s real not some half truth. Afterwards I completed the sit-ups having a little more dedication this time as my blood was flowing waking me up from the droopy eyed mood I was ready to fall into. The sit-ups are definitely getting easier and unlike the pushups I have no qualms to say that the number will go up as I test my new maximum.

OK, now it really is time for bed. Goodnight.



That was the day.





This concludes Entry #15.
 
Saturday 12/20/08
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 143.0 - down 1.0lb
Body Fat: 7.5% - down 0.1%

Diet:
Breakfast:
1 medium Pear
1 medium Apple
½ cup Oats
1 large “pan sized” Egg Beater Omelet with Ham, Onion
Lunch:
1 medium Apple
1 bowl Lettuce Spring Mix, Cucumber, Bell Pepper (Light Low Calorie Ginger Soy Dressing)
1 Low Calorie Wrap with Ham, Artichoke Garlic Salsa
2 slices Weight Watchers Whole Wheat Bread with Ham, Turkey, Tomato, Onion, Lettuce, No Fat Low Calorie American Cheese (Mustard)
10-15 Baby Cut Carrots
2 Pickles
Dinner:
Pickles
1 small slice White Sandwich Bread with Turkey, Roast Beef (Mustard)
1 small slice Rye Sandwich Bread with Turkey, Roast Beef (Mustard)
1.5 small slices Kugel
1 small Latka [potato pancake]
1 small spoonful Coleslaw
2 bowls Lettuce Spring Salad with Walnuts, Cheese (Vinaigrette)



That was my diet.





The Day:

Not much happened today. I was happy to enjoy no gym obligation: I must admit that. I woke up completely relaxed and ready to do nothing. At the same time I realize that without going to the gym for 5 days in a row, that feeling would never exist. That’s the paradox. And that’s what makes it all worth it. Well not all, but it’s definilt a benefit.

The only thing really to report on is that dinner tonight was fairly crazy as it was my familys Chanukah party. Yes, I know Chanukah technically isn’t until a few nights, but this was the day we decided to come together for the social aspect of the holiday season. Anyway, the food was buffet style and I tried my best to estimate a standard meal of mine. Really it came down to just eating until that full feeling hit me. I may have ended up eating too much, I’m not sure as sometimes just the fact of not knowing makes me feel like I overate. In the end though I could use some overeating from the way my weight is going (down!?!?).

On the same topic as my weight, my body fat still suddenly seems to be staying the mid 7’s. I really don’t understand this. Either I’m getting faulty readings two times in a row, or I’ve been getting faulty readings for a while previously because honestly it should not be possible to jump a whole percentage point in one day. Maybe, just maybe, it is because I’ve been crapping in mornings these last two days as well as pissing. Could that throw off the analyzer? I don’t know. I’ll keep reporting on this though: we shall get down to the bottom of this mystery!

Well I’m off to bed. Tomorrow morning, unlike last week, I won’t forget and will be taking my picture. These last few days I have noticed some more definition in my abs, but I don’t have my hopes up that they’ll show up on camera. It could still be too slight of a difference to see through a lens. It would be nice, though, to see some progress from maybe a comparison of the original picture to now. But, I regress, I don’t have my hopes up.

Goodnight, and Goodluck (to my picture taking :p).



That was the day.





This concludes Entry #16.
 
As promised here is my updated progress picture for this week. And as predicted, no real noticeable change. I am slightly saddened because for the last few days my abs have been showing, but this morning they disappeared. My guess is from the dinner last night bloating me slightly. Either way though, I doubt you would have seen the difference on camera. So, without further ado: myself as taken this morning at approximately 7:00am.
 
Sunday 12/21/08
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 146.0 - up 3.0lb
Body Fat: 7.3% - down 0.2%

Diet:
Breakfast:
1 medium Pear
1 medium Apple
½ cup Oats
1 large “pan sized” Egg Beater Omelet with Turkey
Lunch:
1 medium Apple
1 bowl Lettuce Spring Mix, Cucumber, Bell Pepper (Light Low Calorie Italian Dressing)
1 Low Calorie Wrap with Ham, Spicy Hot Salsa
2 slices Whole Wheat Bread [no HFC] with Ham, Turkey, Tomato, Onion, Lettuce, No Fat Low Calorie American Cheese (Mustard)
10-15 Baby Cut Carrots
Afternoon Snack:
10 Baby Cut Carrots
5-10 Almonds
Dinner:
2 bowls Wild Rice Soup
1 plate Top Round Steak (a good amount), Brussels Sprouts
2-4 slices Deli Turkey



That was my diet.

The Day:

I was a little scared to check my weight this morning, fearing some dreadful consequence of last night’s too fulfilling dinner. Yup, upwards on the scale. I realized afterwards, after seeing the number 146, that it didn’t bother me that much. I know it isn’t truly a representation of who I am and that I could use a little weight gain anyway (as I talked about yesterday). I promptly took my body fat measurement afterwards and was pleasantly surprised to see the numbers go down. This made up for the gain in body weight since if I’m gaining weight and my body fat is going down then the only possibilities are good ones. Now please, I know that this type of analysis is quite fraud because daily changes, in fact in forms of even giant swings, are a common occurrence. Regardless, it makes me happy to think that they actually matter. It makes me happy to believe that those numbers do mean I just gained 3lbs of muscle. So don’t try to take that away from me: it keeps me motivated.

Later on in the day I went to the gym. Not to workout or anything, but instead to first of all try one pull-up (see if I’ve made any progress) and to go in the sauna and steam room as I’ve never been in one since I was a very little. To start, the pull-up: unsuccessful. I was able to go further up than initially, or so I believe (the difference could have been purely psychological). When I come to think about it I realize that it has only been two weeks and that I have progressed since my offset weights have decreased. Knowing that I know in the future I will be able to pull myself up. After the initial grimace, I left the lifting area with a smile on my face.

Then I put on a towel. First I tried the sauna. Apparently you are supposed to take off your jewelry (something I never realized), because within a matter of minutes I felt a scalding burn upon my neck. Promptly leaving the room I realized what it was and found the wound to be barely red upon my skin so it was nothing. Regardless, I decided to not try the sauna again and went instead into the steam room (after taking off the metal of course). I really enjoyed the steam room. It was relaxing to breathe slowly and calmly letting myself become a moist mop inside those stone walls. I spent again around 10 minutes in there. To dry off I chose to go back into the sauna. This time I stayed much longer (not having to worry about being burnt and all) and by the end of my stay I was completely dry. So, was it all worth it? I’m not sure. I don’t think I’d do it every day and I definitely wouldn’t have time to anyway. But, on the weekends, when I can leisure around, why not go into these two harsh climates and relax?

Right before going to sleep, after brushing my teeth, I tested my new maxes. For pushups, the number went down. I did 54 reps before my muscles failed right around the 1 minute mark (at which point I would have had to stop anyway). As predicted, this is less than last time. BUT! I did these reps with form! Considering that, I am very satisfied, very uplifted actually, by my results. This new number, 54, gives me a calculated routine of 3 sets of 40 so reps. Knowing that I am having difficulty doing the 33 at the moment with perfect form, I will wait on that change. Meanwhile, my sit-ups are staying at a constant 35. I believe the issue to be speed as unlike the pushups I am not fatiguing, but merely running out of time. This next week I will focus on doing my 23 reps as fast as possible. My goal is for this new focus on time to lead to an overall improvement in my numbers next Sunday’s test.

Tomorrow is an exciting lifting day. Most of my lifts have gone up, or going to go up, in weights. I’m pumped and ready for it. Goodnight.



That was the day.





This concludes Entry #17.
 
Monday 12/22/08
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 145.5 - down 0.5lb
Body Fat: 7.3% - no change

Diet:
Breakfast:
1 medium Pear
1 medium Apple
½ cup Oats
1 large “pan sized” Egg Beater Omelet with Ham, Pepper, Onion
Post-Workout:
1 Protein Shake with 1 scoop Whey Protein Isolate, ½ Banana, Frozen Blueberries
Lunch:
1 medium Apple
1 bowl Lettuce Spring Mix, Cucumber, Bell Pepper (Light Low Ginger Soy Dressing)
1 Low Calorie Wrap with Ham, Spicy Hot Salsa
2 slices Whole Wheat Bread [no HFC] with Ham, Turkey, Tomato, Onion, Lettuce, No Fat Low Calorie American Cheese (Mustard)
2 Pickles
Dinner:
1 plate 3 shrimp cakes, roasted potato, sweet potato, carrot, onion, fennel
2 bowls Baby Spinach and Romaine Lettuce Salad (Casesar Dressing)
1 small handful Deli Turkey
1 small bowl 1% Fat Cottage Cheese



That was my diet.




The Day:

As usual for my lifting days, this morning I was excited. Even more so than usual because I was changing the weights, changing them in a good way (that is I was adding to them). The results were very good. I squatted at a new plateau of 145. The squat out of all the changes today was the hardest. But, I made it with a big grin on my face as I pushed through the last grimacing rep. The deadlift afterwards on the other hand was easier than the squat, though still difficult enough for me to get a good pump. I feel strong enough though so I think an extra 10 pounds on the dead may be worth it: I’ll try it out next Thursday. I then went on to the bench press where I was happy to successfully complete 3 sets of 5 reps with 110 pounds above me. I actually think for this lift I can go slightly higher, meaning next week (not this Thursday) I will increase to 115 (at last 35’s on each side!). The rest of the lifts all went well. I chose to do the captain’s chair (aka knee raises) for abs. I really tried focusing on isolating the muscle and it created a great burn. On the last set I was barely able to keep my knees in motion towards my chest. I love the feeling of my muscles shaking in frustration, vibrating in fury.

Later on in the day I suddenly had an onslaught of sleepiness befall me and took a small nap. I felt better afterwards. Normally I’m not the napping type so maybe it was the harder than normal workout today. It could have also been boredom, a feeling that I’m truly grateful now for having after graduating from a semester of college.

One last note about my diet and this is just as much as it is for you as it is for me so that I can keep track of any changes I make. I have been adding some additional dishes to dinner on some nights because I simply don’t feel full enough from whatever my mom or restaurants provide. I am comparing this full feeling to what I would feel like after eating in college. It should be taken to consideration that if any unfavorable changes start to occur that this may be one area to look at and revise as we all know feelings can be quite unreliable.



That was the day.





This concludes Entry #18.
 
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