BT2k9

Ok, so my right lat seems to be pretty much on the mend, which I’m very happy about. I still get light pain during certain movements, but elsewise it seems to be fine.

I had my friend come over this weekend and take some photos of me. Previously, all my photos have been taken by myself with rinky-dink camera phones or webcam shots. I wanted a good set of reference photos for ‘posterity.’ Long story short… I don’t look good. I look so bad, in fact, that these photos have been the most sobering wake-up I’ve had in awhile, which is good. I think I needed this ’shock’ in order to get me back on track in a serious way. I’ve posted photos previously which aren’t much better, but I’m not going to post these until I’ve reached a more satisfactory appearance, they’re that bad.

So Yoda mode - do or do not, there is no try.

What I’ve been DOING:

1. Going to bed earlier, no more midnight / 1am bedtimes. I’ve been consistently getting to bed at 10-11. What seems to help is keeping the TV off… no more firing up the DVR when I’m trying to go to sleep.
2. Keeping away from junk food, just not even bringing it in the house. This has been the toughie for me - that sugar craving is a bastard.
3. Consistent eating - I’d really broken away from eating every few hours and had gone back to the 3-a-day breakfast-lunch-dinner model. I’ve gotten back on track with eating every 3-4 hours with a goal of 5 meals a day.

So that’s what I’ve been up to. This week is still realigning my train back on track. I’m a bit short this week funds-wise, so the gym is unfortunately going to have to wait. I’m going to be doing cardio and stretching at home, however. I’m not bothered by not being able to get back to the gym right away - I’m pretty happy with the mass I have and am NOT concerned about losing any. I’ll be back next week, which will also give my right lateral muscle that much more time to mend and be 100% on the return to weight training.

Yet another injury, though this one wasn’t gym related. I was on the way to work Monday morning and when I was twisting a little trying to move out of someone’s way, my right lateral muscle hurt a bit. I didn’t think much of it, but a bit later on it was hurting quite a bit. I couldn’t do anything without it really hurting. I was really worried, and had a hard time going to sleep. I bought some pain pills that day and those helped a bit, but the next morning it was still pretty bad.

So Tuesday night, I decide that if it’s not getting any better by Wed., I’d schedule an appointment with the Dr. Tuesday night I took a muscle relaxer and a really strong pain pill and was knocked out by 8:30. Wed. morning rolls around and I can tell that it’s already MUCH better. I can still feel pain, but I can actually walk around normally and take care of normal things. I repeat that night with a muscle relaxer and get to bed, and we arrive at today where it’s a TON better. I feel tinges and twinges, but I can tell that it’s nothing permanent, which I’m ecstatic about.

But, my fitness for the week has been completely derailed, which is unfortunate, but at this point I guess I’m kind of used to dealing with injuries. It’s amazing to me, though, that I never knew just how much your lateral muscles are involved in even the most simple movements you do. I literally couldn’t walk without harsh pain. Getting up and down out of my chair was a chore; getting up out of the bed was an ordeal.

Anyway - this weekend if I’m feeling like it won’t exacerbate this latest injury, I’m gonna try and get a couple of stretch sessions in and some cardio.

Numbers don’t lie, and I’ve not only regained everything I lost last year, I’m actually heavier than when I first started.

So this week I’m on a budget. Tomorrow and Tuesday I will be doing cardio at home and stretches. Wed. - Sunday, I will be lifting weights and doing cardio at the gym.

What can I say? I simply have no excuses. I fell off, but am back again.

No motivational crap this time - I’m in Yoda mode - do or do not. There is no try.
Workout days will still be Wed. thru Sunday. This time I’m gonna keep lifting the same amount of weight for a maintenance style approach, with the focus on getting rid of this fat through consistent cardio and dieting, which, I’m sad to say, continues to be my major issue.

So I think I need to get back on my dietary budget. I’m just gonna have to knuckle down and track each and every bite of food that I take.