Jpodz’s Blog

I made it through my first full week of diet and training since I stopped a few months ago. Back then, I really didn’t know what I was doing. I ate the exact same foods for almost every meal. If I had one more bowl of chicken and brown rice, I was going to lose it. I think that’s why I could never stay on track. I just got so sick and tired of having the same foods over and over again.

But this time through, I’ve actually calculated my nutrient intake and am choosing foods that I actually semi enjoy. I still eat chicken and brown rice, but only one or two times a day as opposed to five. Yesterday, I figured I would switch it up a little bit and change out that chicken for 4 oz of lean ground beef. I enjoyed it very much.

I think today I’ll have another 4 oz but change it out with some whole wheat pasta instead of brown rice. It’s nice to be able to switch up foods so I don’t get sick of having the same things over and over again.

And I’ve made it to the gym every day this week (Save for Monday, but Monday’s are the day I need to pick up my daughter right after work so I usually make that a rest or light cardio day). My muscles are killing me from head to toe, and I love it.

I have a scheduled cheat meal coming up tomorrow night, but I’m not sure I actually want to take it. I’m afraid that if I take a cheat meal tomorrow that I might be tempted to cheat more often, which is not what I want. On the other side, if I skip it, I may be setting myself up for a giant binge later on next week. Hmm…

What to do?

On a side note, I owe a great deal of motivation to my friend Adina, who’s daily blogs are incredibly insightful. I’m considering competing because of her constant pushing to do things we may regret not doing ten years down the road, she calls it the "Ten Year Stamp".

Alright, so here’s the first of many…

Supplement 

About a week ago, Mr. Marc "The Machine" Lobliner and Mr. Derek "Beast" Charlebois visited Bodybuilding.com for their second SciVation Smackdown chat on our Justin.tv video show. They left behind a slew of free supplements in our break room. So being the greedy little fellow I am, I decided to snag a tub of VasoCharge.

Yesterday afternoon after work, I ran home before my workout and downed 10 oz of water with 1 scoop of VasoCharge. Before even leaving my house to go to the gym, I began to feel it working. My muscles (or lack of) jittered as if trying to tell my mind to hurry up and get to the gym before they exploded with anticipation.

Workout 

My workout yesterday was one of the most intense I’ve had in a really long time.

• Lat Pulldowns: 3 x 10
• One Arm Dumbbell Rows: 3 x 10
• Seated Cable Rows: 3 x 10
• Barbell Curls: 3 x 10
• Dumbbell Hammer Curls: 3 x 10

Last week, my fiancée and I decided to call it quits. We’ve been together for almost 5 years, but for personal reasons, it all ended. So I was feeling pretty crappy for a while, and it showed through my poor eating habits and lack of exercise. Granted, it was only for a week, but it took a toll on my body. I still feel like laying at home with the lights off and sleeping for a couple days, but I know that’s how you end up on the road to obesitytown USA.

So today, I’m right back on the healthy living and am using all of my built up anger and frustration in the weight room. Here’s my brand new diet. I have never tried something like this before, so it may require some bends and tweaks here and there. Let me know if you see anything that should be changed…

Diet

Meal 1: 1/2 Cup Oats (Measured Dry) + 10 Oz Skim Milk + 1 Scoop ON 100% Whey

Meal 2: 1 Medium Orange + 6 Oz Yogurt

Meal 3: 3/4 Cup Brown Rice + 8 Oz Chicken Breast

Meal 4: PowerBar

Workout

Meal 5: 8 Oz Chicken Breast + Green Veggies

Meal 6: 10 Oz Skim Milk + 1 Scoop ON 100% Whey

Training

Monday: Biceps & Triceps

Tuesday: Legs & Abs

Wednesday: Shoulders & Back

Thursday: Chest & Abs

Because of the schedule with my daughter, I can only train 4 days a week. But I think if I play my cards right, I should be able to see some decent gains. I’ll do cardio every morning before work, 2-3 mile run. And a 2 mile walk with my daughter through the park on Friday, Saturday & Sunday.

I dusted off my old deck yesterday in God knows how many years and hit the skatepark for an old fashion skate session. Skating took a back seat a few years ago to college, work, and my daughter.  But now that I’m finished with school, I have some extra free time on my hands. I started off slow with a few kickflips here and there, but gradually worked my way up to a full-blown skate session at a nearby skatepark. It took a few minutes to get my bearings, but once I did, it was like I never stopped skating. Sure I was a little rusty, but I plan on hitting the park much more frequently. I have also come to the conclusion that I hate running, and skating will be my top form of cardio. It takes about 10 minutes from my house to skate to the park. So all in all, I should be getting a pretty good workout and actually enjoy doing it.

For those of you who are board-savy, I’m skating a Powell blank with Destructo trucks and Spitfire wheels. One thing I really noticed though is that I need a new deck badly. The tail is worn pretty thin, which takes away from my pop. It will be a priority in a week or so.

To start off with, I am in no way a writer or even close to an English teacher. I’m Web Content Developer for Bodybuilding.com, and the blank screen that sits in front of me with a blinking cursor is an automatic mental block for me. I, obviously, don’t write the content in the articles of Bodybuilding.com. I merely edit them, adding pretty pictures, related articles, and linking up key words to other sections of the site. But I’m O.K. with being a "Behind The Scenes" kind of person. I’m much more of an observer anyways. It’s in my nature to not want to be out in the open, with all of the eyes staring at you, judging you, waiting until you make a false move and mess everything up.

I couldn’t handle that kind of pressure. I’ve had my moment in the spotlight, and to tell you the truth, it wasn’t really all that fun for me. I enjoy being on the sidelines, watching others be the center of attention. I think that is where I learn the most. In fact, these BodyBlogs scare the hell out of me, because once I hit that "Submit" button, my entry will appear on the BodySpace main page. Although it will only be for a few minutes at the most, someone still might see it. Someone will see this post with my picture next to it. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but like I said, I’m much more of an observer.

I don’t know what happened, but a few weeks ago I must have pulled Trap or something. I hit the gym on Monday afternoon and got ready for some back & biceps. I finished my 3 back exercises with no pain whatsoever, then i moved on to barbell curls. I did a warm-up set of 15 reps, then stacked on the plates for my first set of 10. After two reps, I felt a sharp pain run from my left shoulder, up through my trap and into my neck, causing a severe migraine.

I then proceeded to drop the weight and head home to ice my neck. I figured it might be best to take the rest of that week off from lifting and do two 2 minute cardio sessions a day, one in the morning and one at night. After a week, my neck felt alright. It was still pretty sore, but I could work through it.

So earlier this week I hit the gym after a week off, and low and behold, I still couldn’t lift. I think it’s my breathing. I noticed that I tend to hold my breath while lifting, which causes pressure to build up. Maybe that’s what happened. Hopefully the pain will subside soon so I can get back to the weights.