The Best is Yet to Come

….and they hurt like a mother-f***ing beyotch!!!!!!!!

Good golly, I forgot how bad the DOMS is after taking a few weeks off from lifting.

I did 2 sets of 8 at 115 instead of 110. I was too lazy to put the 5’s and 2.5’s on the bar and just settled for 10’s instead. This was after my warm-up set of 5 at 95.

Then leg press with calf raises worked in….1 warmup set of 8 at 90 lbs, then 2 sets of 8 at 160.

Leg extensions - warmup set, then 2 sets at 80 lbs, and then 1 drop-set at 40 to failure.

Leg curls - warmup set, then 2 sets at 65 and a drop-set to failure at 35.

I chatted for a while after my workout with Martin Hric (maxi4 on bb.com) about my progress…..I haven’t seen him in about a month and he was able to notice a difference, Woohoo!!!!!!! Gave me some more Cardio, Cardio, Cardio motivation as well!

Alrighty, here is the planned workout for tonight. I am finally getting back in the gym for some lifting after spending about a month focusing mainly on cardio. I’ve had enough. Now I’m ready for more iron. I’ll be doing a modified 8-week powerlifting cycle, with weights only two days a week instead of my previous three in order to keep improving my running and still focus on the cardio, as well.

So, tonight’s workout is as follows:

(I start every exercise with a warm up set of about 5 reps and half or a third of the weight)

BB squats -      2×8 @ 110 lbs
Leg Press -       2×8 @ 175 lbs - I’ll also work calves in between presses
Leg Curl -         2×8 @ 65 lbs, and then 1 set of reps to failure at lower weight
Leg Extension-  2×8 @ 72 lbs, and more lighter weight reps to failure
Abs                 2×8 @ 40 lbs - this freaking machine is PAINFULLLLLLL

I’ll follow that up with 45 minutes on the elliptical for my cardio.

…Oh Noes, I’ve Got to Keep On Moving……..

So I’ve got some major sinus congestion going on today, and instead of my morning run, I stayed in bed with a cold washcloth over my eyes trying to get some relief.

Going to hit the gym after work for the following:  (sorry, have to go do some work - will post workout later in the day!)

So, last night I ran 3.3 miles, at 13 minutes per mile. So far, that is my best run yet. Yeah, I know it pales in comparison to other people, but remember that I also pretty much have not run in over a decade! The tendinitis is really aggravated this morning….I’ll have to buy some new shoes and look into other ways to deal with it, as well.

Also, I am three dress sizes away from my goal! Currently in a 14….so I’ll go to a 12 (which some of my stuff already is), then a 10 and finally reach 8! Yay!

And, my cousin’s wedding is just 3 weeks away! Yes, I have some work cut out for me before then, I know.

Ate breakfast at home this morning and made my lunch. That is ALWAYS a good thing, and helps me to avoid picking foods that SEEM healthy but really aren’t. Which brings me to my rant in this post. WTF is the deal with so many restaurants purporting to be healthy and nutritious, and then WAY overdoing the portion sizes and carb content, along with sugars, fats and sodium.

I wish all restaurants were required to have a breakdown of protein/carb/fat grams listed next to their menu items. Maybe proper nutrition education and actual knowledge of food content would help to eliminate the gross obesity that seems so prevalent.

Places like Panera, Noodles, Salad Spinners and Jamba Juice and others come to mind quickly with this one.

Holy Toledo, Batman! I just looked up what SOUNDS like a health choice from Cosi - the Grilled Chicken Parmesan……well, I guess we won’t be ordering that one again. 701 calories, 27 g of fat, 50 g of protein (this sandwich’s only strong point) and 64 g of carbs. Good golly, this one is definitely a study in grossly oversized portions. We’ve ordered it before and split the thing in half, which isn’t quite so bad except for the high fat content. I’m glad I never ate a whole one of these!

Here is a prime example of a vendor claiming to be healthy……glad I’ve never actually ordered from this one. Jamba Juice - they sell 100% natural juices and smoothies. What sounds like it would be healthy, a Protein Berry Pizzazz, has 440 calories, 20 g of protein and
92 g of carbs! Heck, I can throw some whey protein in 8 oz of juice to get the same protein content and WAY fewer carbs and calories. And how about their Orange/Carrot juice? Sounds healthy, but with 240 calories and 56 g of carbs? Are you kidding me?

Edit: I can’t seem to post a flipping comment….so here is the one that I’ve been trying to add: LOL

Robert, it is the very question you posed that is the reason for me being upset with these things.

I have a coworker who would get a Jamba Juice smoothie and a Salad Spinners caesar salad with grilled chicken for LUNCH - the total calories was 1,116! About 60 g of protein which is the only redeeming value and close to 100 g of carbs and about 500 calories from fat.

He thought he was making healthy choices. While the ingredients alone may be nutritious, the advertising is misleading. In on meal he would consume almost as much as I eat all day….except I eat way more protein, less fat and much less carbs.

Keep in mind, this was only lunch……does not count breakfast, snacks and dinner.

Fruit juice is notoriously high in calories, btw. Better to just eat the real thing and get the fiber too.

At least that’s what it looks like outside. Damn, I sure wish I was at home snuggled up with my honey on the couch watching a good movie. Or any movie, for that matter.

Got up this morning and walked most of the first mile and ran most of the second. Took a while for my legs to warm up and be able to run without my right shin hurting so bad. The run back home was much better, thankfully!

Not sure what I’ll be doing this evening for cardio, it depends on the weather.

…uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, ok - it’s more like 2 miles from home, but somedays that 2 miles seems like it’s 25!

Had a great run this morning, despite going to be a little late after some evening um, cardio . Slept great, but had a hard time waking up. And after I did wake up, when I went to crawl back in bed for a few minutes I stubbed my toes on my laptop! The observation was the made this morning that as long as I make it out of the kitchen, through the entry room and past the killer screen door and out into the alley that I should be safe to start my run; but until I make it past the entry gate, all sorts of potential for injury awaits me!

Came back, showered, had the rest of my coffee and 2 eggs. Made my lunch for the day and away I went! P just started a new job yesterday after being off for 2 months, so it was weird for both of us to be getting ready at the same time again. Weird, but in a good way.

My shin splints/achilles tendinitis is really starting to bother me, so I’ll need to look into options for dealing with it. Right now, I have an extra bit of cushioning in my right shoe to compensate for the 1/4" difference in my legs…….it helped a lot as I first started running again, but now my right leg is getting quite aggravated.

Bear in mind, this tendinitis is what ended my 3 year track career when I was a teenager. I used to do high jump, relays and sprints until it got so bad that I could barely walk. That, and the increased chest size pretty much kept me from running for almost 18 years! The only bonus about that was that I coasted through phys. ed. In hindsight, I’m thinking that may not have been such a bonus after all.

Ugh, gross! I just opened up a pint of skim to drink some out of it in order to make room for the whey protein, and ICK! It was SOUR!!!!!! Gross.

Glad I hadn’t wasted two perfectly good scoops of protein!

Going back to lifting again this week! Woohoo……but I’m still running a couple miles in the morning and will be running 3 miles at night when I’m not lifting in the gym. We need to revise my 8 week cycle tonight, and then I’ll start back up with the weights tomorrow night. Looking at doing weights on Tuesday and Thursdays, so I’m not sure how we’re going to split up the muscle groups yet…..as long as I can get in my squat, bench and deadlift I’m fine with whatever we decide on. I’ve noticed that my biceps could use some more work lately, along with my rear.

Also fine tuning my meal plans for the week. Planning ahead and going to stick to the basic menu until I hit my targets. Slacking even just a little bit has not been doing me any favors, so I’m just not going to do it anymore. No exceptions, except for the occasional glass of wine, Heineken Light or Coke One and Malibu or Jack Daniels.

I’m finally starting to see some real changes in my appearance, so that just helps to motivate me even more. Every time I put on something that I haven’t worn in a long time, it looks like I’m wearing a tent, and that is a major accomplishment all by itself!

My girlfriend’s son walked in to the hotel that I work at in Wisconsin on some weekends and said to me "Wow, you really HAVE lost a lot of weight!"….made me quite happy to hear, but I did ask him what he wanted! His brother has said it’s not as fun to hug me anymore because I’m no longer squishy.

Woohooo!!!!!!!! Finally, I don’t feel fat anymore. I feel rather average these days.

But there is NO WAY that I plan on settling for average.

..sorry, that song is now stuck in my brain!

Yep, going to be crackin’ the whip on my own big ol’ behind…..cousin’s wedding is only a month away and I’m not as far along in my progress as I’d like to be.

So, it’s hardcore balls to the wall for the next 30 days. Strict diet. No missed workouts (let’s hope I don’t have any more freak injuries!). Plenty of hydration and sleep - no cutting corners.