This is It….My Obnoxious

Some folks have asked about my diet and what supplements I’m currently using–so here it is, the most boring meal plan ever! My present goal is to continue losing fat, while putting on lean muscle mass–so I’m chowing down the customary 6 meals, totaling about 2200-2800 calories per day.

Coffee…

3-4 servings of my own 100% Kona Peaberry per day (12 ounce mugs), served black or with a little ‘Coffee Mate.’

Proteins/Fats–I select about 4-5 of these ‘meals’ per day (all consumed individually as I don’t like things complicated, nor the taste of too many combined flavors)…..

1/4-1/2 cup Macadamia nuts

1/2-1 cup pistachio nuts

1/2-1 cup sunflower seeds

1/4-1/2 cup peanut butter

One 12 oz. can of chicken with 4 Tbsp. Ranch Dressing

6-8 deviled eggs with full-fat mayo

3-4 oz. cheese (any full-fat variety)

1-2 cups cottage cheese (once or twice a month maybe)

6-8 oz. raw Ahi (fresh tuna) with soy sauce

Broiled Steak (size varies)

1 or 2 Broiled Chicken legs (whole with skin)

One or two 4 oz. Salmon burgers fried in olive oil

2-4 eggs fried in olive oil

1/2 of an avocado

1/4 of a small coconut

Green and/or Leafy/Cruciferous Veggies–I’ll decide upon 1 or 2 of these ‘meals’ per day (in ‘addition’ to the 4-5 Protein/Fats meals listed above).  My veggie meals are quite large so they count as 4-8 servings each (based on size alone)…..

I head of Romain lettuce (heart), 4-6 Tbsp. full-fat Ranch dressing, 6 oz. canned chicken.

10-12 oz. of brussel sprouts, 1 Tbsp. butter

12 oz. broccoli, 1 Tbsp. butter, 3-4 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

12 oz. asparagus, 3-4 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

Once or Twice a Month Cheats...(maybe one of these every now and then, or never)

Two cups of strawberries

Sugar-free Jello Pudding (entire box)

Strawberry smoothie made with strawberries and whole milk

Low-Carb Protein Bar

Supplements…(never boring!)

CL’s Purple Wraath–one scoop during workouts for endurance, strength and that ‘STOKED’ feeling.

CL’s Green Mag creatine–One half scoop taken daily (pre-workout), for strength and ‘dry’ gains.

Vyo-Tech’s Oryx Goat Whey–2 or 3 scoops taken daily

4-6 ‘Fiber Choice’ Tablets taken daily

Multi Vitamin–taken daily (brand varies).

Plus…

1500 mg. –Conjugated Linoleic Acid daily
1000 mg. –Calcium daily
500 mg.   –Magnesium daily
500 mg.   –Choline daily
500 mg.   –Inositol daily
1500 mg. –Glucosamine daily

Water–I gallon daily.  Combined total used in coffee, with Purple Wrath, with creatine, with whey or taken straight.

That’s it, I haven’t eaten anything else for years. I also hate cooking or over-thinking my food (I would have made a great cave-woman), so the less variety the better for me. Also, this plan has helped me put on lean muscle mass, while continuing to lose fat without much real effort.

Demetria

I don’t know how many others have experienced this phenomenon, but whenever I miss a workout I get this strange sensation that my muscles are ‘wasting away.’  My arms definitely feel and look smaller, my shoulders appear suddenly minuscule, my lats look narrowed, my leg muscles seem dwarfed, soft, or as if they’ve completely vanished, and my stomach looks as if it’s never seen a crunch in all of my good days on this earth.  I end up feeling that my physique (in only one short day), has reverted back to it’s former self–leading me to mirror-check and re-check my body obsessively, or to reluctantly seek out the almighty ‘tape-measure validation’ in an effort to ensure that I’m not losing either my muscles or my mind. 

Logic tells me that I shouldn’t feel this way, but the guilt that comes with missing a workout just hammers away at my psyche, causing me to sometimes see and feel things that just aren’t there.  I asked my brother in law (who’s a competitive bodybuilder), whether I’m going nuts or not, and he assured me that he also sometimes feels this way–that he gets anxious whenever he misses a workout, or when he’s on vacation, or anytime he’s too far away from the gym.  My sister also confirms that on these ’skipped days,’ my brother in law will walk around the house compulsively dropping his pants and removing his shirt, then harshly critiquing his physique in the mirror, or even demanding to know whether his muscles have somehow deteriorated or not.  Whew, thank goodness I’m not the only paranoid one!  Maybe this is a typical phenomenon, something we all encounter every now and then in our journey toward a better physique.  Or maybe it’s even a type of override mechanism that ensures we don’t get too comfy with our appearance (or on that couch), and that we keep longing (despite the reasons), for additional workouts and even greater results.  I don’t know what it is, but I’m feeling it now because I’m one workout short this week.  And if it’s guilt (or even fear), that drives me to pick up those weights today, so be it! 

And while on the topic of madness, I’m also experiencing some form of strange supplement-induced mania (if there is such a thing).  I was sure that I had a half container full of whey tucked in the back of my cupboard for use in case of an emergency.  Well, the emergency struck this morning when I realized that I’m down to my last few scoops of my favorite goat whey (not available here in Hawaii).  And why didn’t I notice this earlier?  I went looking for my back-up stash, but it’s mysteriously vanished!  And silly me, for a moment I actually believed that it was stolen, or that maybe my roosters took it and that’s why they look so big these days and are fighting all the time.  I then rushed over to the BB.com store to place an order before it was too late to get it sent out today, but now I’m already feeling somewhat anxious that it won’t arrive in time before my last precious scoops run out (in fact I know it won’t).  So again, will my muscles shrivel away in the meantime, will I revert back into a wimpy girl?  Should I call my bother in law for psychological reinforcement?  Do I have rabies, or could it be that I am indeed going crazy?  Hopefully not, lol!

Demetria

Hello fellow enthusiasts, I posted this in the supps forum (my first ever product review), but also feel the urge to ‘Blog’ this because the love is strong!

I received a sample of CL’s Purple Wraath (Purple Lemonade flavor), and decided to give it a try based on all the good things I had heard about it. So yesterday (Saturday–8/9/2008), was a good enough day to try it out because not only was I NOT in the mood to train, I was also quite physically exhausted. I literally dragged myself over to my workout station, hoping that at least I’d be able to go through the motions so that I wouldn’t feel so guilty before my scheduled rest/cheat day (Sunday–8/10/2008)

But before working out I mixed up some Purple Wraath (about 2/3 of the sample pack or 8.2 grams), and combined that with about 20 ounces of water. I started drinking up and then laced up my Puma’s hoping for a mediocre workout at best. I hit my first set of dumbbell bench presses, but was rather alarmed that not only did I push a lot easier, I was also able to do more reps than usual. Strangely, I also felt that I needed to increase the weight because I moved though the first set a little too easily. So I bumped the weight by an additional 5% and found that I was also able to take that with relative ease in addition to pushing a few more reps over my usual limit. However, the shocking part for me was that I wasn’t just going through the motions as I had expected, I actually felt an extraordinary surge of mental, as well as physical strength, I was stoked!

After my third set I was beginning to feel the pump that I would generally experience much later in my workout. This delighted me because I had never felt this strong so early on, it must have been the Purple Wraath! My muscles simply did not want to slow down, nor was there any of the usual burning or muscle fatigue that I encounter when lifting. I found that my lungs tired before my muscles did, causing me to push stronger with heavier weights throughout the remainder of my workout. My arms literally felt as if they would explode! I also noticed that I needed less rest between sets, I was anxious to pick up the weights again soon after putting them down–strange for me since I will often find myself daydreaming between sets, sometimes allowing too much time to elapse. Subsequently, my workout was shortened because I had moved more swiftly through my sets although I had lifted heavier and with more enthusiasm.

Lastly, I always measure my arms at the conclusion of my upper body workouts, somewhat as a barometer to see whether I had reached my ideal pump or not–a half an inch pump on my arm measurement meant that it was a good day, anything less meant my heart wasn’t in it. Well, my Purple Wraath pump was 3/4 of an inch–an all-time record for me! So despite my usual skepticism toward products and their various claims, CL’s Purple Wraath had come through for me. Something had happened–it was real, it was measurable and most of all it felt good! So as a result (and because I prefer my workouts hardcore), I’ve just placed my order for Purple Wraath’s full size and can hardly wait for it to arrive–and with BB.com’s track record of speedy deliveries, that should be right soon!

Demetria