PenteKing’s BodyBlog

I’m looking to replace FitDay. While it has proven useful in the past, I find that I’m moving past it. I think I need something more.

I found a website that considers DietMaster 2100 to be the best of all the programs reviewed, with NutriNote a close second. Does anyone have any experience with either of these programs? If so, drop me a line and let me know what you think.

For some reason, I have been extra hungry this week. It seems as though I can’t get enough to eat. I’m still eating clean, but man, I’m packing away the calories like they’re going out of style. Here’s what I had for breakfast this morning:

• Small banana
• 4 ounces of grape juice
• Small peach
• Quarter cup of blueberries
• Quarter cup of slivered almonds
• Three ounces of plain yogurt
• One cup of Kashi Go Lean cereal
• Fourteen ounces of rice milk
• Sixty-four grams of whey protein
• Sixteen ounces of coffee

And with all that, I’m still hungry. For the past four days, I’ve been consuming approximately 3500 calories a day (which is half again as many as I’m accustomed to taking in). My workouts are no more or less intense than usual, and my cardio activity has been pretty consistent. Yet, my body demands food.

What do you suppose is going on?

Today, I begin a new 12-week routine. I’ve decided to go back to basics - squats, deadlifts, seated cable rows, etc. I’ve got a plan all laid out. To start, I’m going to start out using weights a little lighter than I’m used to, and increase the weight with every workout during the 12 weeks. Doing this will allow me to lift as heavy as I can until I reach my absolute limit. It’s time to see what my body can and cannot do. I’m tired of guessing, and I’m tired of not challenging myself. I confess that up to now, I’ve not pushed as hard as I could. There are a lot of reasons for that, but those days are behind me now. I’ve had an epiphany. I see that I will never achieve the body of my dreams by coasting. It will take hard work to sculpt my new physique and I’ve been dogging it. Shame on me.

In conjunction with this new routine, I’ve also decided to change my diet. Using the information given on this site, I’m going to ingest the recommended intake of fat, protein and carbs for my bodyweight and composition. This will mean upping my caloric intake and eating at least one more time during the day than I do now, but if I’m serious about this bodybuilding lifestyle, then this is the way to go. My morning meal consisted of 40 g of oatmeal; 1/4 cup of raisins; a tablespoon of honey; 72grams of Met-Rx meal replacement, and 16 ounces of coffee. My mid-morning meal was rice milk; small banana; 1/4 cup of blueberries; and 64 grams of Gold Standard Whey. Lunch was a spinach salad with half a can of tuna, along with a handful of cherry tomatoes.

Watch out, world! I’m turning myself into a lean, mean, fighting machine.

Due to my recalcitrant back, I’ve had a lot of time recently to do serious research on the link between food and overall health. What I’ve found was both surprising and somewhat disturbing. For example, low fat milk is touted as helping to blast fat and build lean muscle, but many people are lactose-intolerant and therefore cannot digest it properly. Nuts are an excellent source of essential fatty acids, but they are nutritionally dense, and therefore avoided like the plague for people looking to lose weight. Milk thistle is purported to have medicinal qualities for the liver, but people who take blood thinners (like me) are advised to stay away from it because it has been shown to cause adverse effects in people who take Wafarin.

What’s a fellow to do? Everything’s good for you, but nothing’s good for you. Carrots are supposed to improve one’s eyesight, but eating too many can cause a buildup of Vitamin A and that can be toxic for you. Leafy green vegetables (spinach, kale, broccoli) are loaded with Vitamin K, but people with deep vein thrombosis (read blood clots) have to limit their intake because Vitamin K is a coagulant. Eggs are a complete protein, but an abundance in one’s diet may increase the likelihood of cholesterol. It’s enough to make you want to spit.

The only safe thing to do (it seems) is to subsist entirely on a diet of rice, beans, brown bread and purified water. In other words, join a monastery and become a monk.

Until next time, keep lifting the heavy iron.

For those of you who haven’t seen or heard about this yet, I offer, verbatim, the warning that the FDA issued this morning.

U.S. government health officials warned dieters and body builders Friday to immediately stop using the Canadian-made supplement Hydroxycut, linked to cases of serious liver damage and at least one death.

Dr. Linda Katz of the FDA’s food and nutrition division said the agency has received 23 reports of liver problems, including the death of a 19-year-old boy. The teenager died in 2007, and the death was reported to the FDA this March.

Health officials said they have been unable to determine which Hydroxycut ingredients are potentially toxic, partially because the formulation of the products has changed several times. A medical journal report last month raised questions about one ingredient, hydroxycitric acid, derived from a tropical fruit. The article said it could potentially damage the liver.

First, swine flu and now this. Good Lord, is nothing sacred any longer?

…in one of those, edgy, jittery, the-world-doesn’t-feel-quite-right type of moods. I know that part of the reason for my unease are events at work, but I also think there is something else bothering me that I can’t quite put my finger on. I don’t experience these moods often, but when I do, they are usually harbingers to something larger - something that I heard or sensed that has activated my alert systems on an atavistic level. I thought writing about it would help, but so far, it has not assuaged my sense of anxiety. If I don’t get over this soon, I’m going to jump right out of my skin.

Have been eating super clean the past two weeks, and am feeling great. Had a terrific fava bean and asparagus riosotto last night, accompanied by grilled prawns. The dish was absolutely out of this world. I ate at a new restaurant that has opened within walking distance of my condo. They use nothing but farm-fresh, organic ingredients and you can tell by the taste and smell of the food. This is the way human beings were meant to eat. Down with processed foods!!

A friend sent this to me. It’s been said that God first separated the salt water from the fresh, made dry land, planted a garden, made animals and fish, and all of this creating humans. She made and provided us with what we’d need before we were born. These are best & more powerful when eaten raw.  We’re such slow learners…

God left us great clues as to what foods help what part of our body!
God’s Pharmacy! Amazing!

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye… And YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.
A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All o f the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.
Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.
A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums.  Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.
Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.
Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don’t have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.
Avocadoes, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today’s research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this?  It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).
Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.
Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.
Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries
 Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.
Onions look like the body’s cells. Today’s research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.

Intelligent bodybuilders eat these foods in abundance. Bodybuilders are the fittest and healthiest people on earth. If this isn’t proof that bodybuilders are God’s chosen people, then I don’t know how else to convince you.

After thinking about it for quite a long while, I decided to reach out to The Goddess Athlete (Chrissy to her friends) to solicit her help in shocking my body into either gaining or losing weight. (Frankly, at this point, I’m indifferent as to which way I go, so long as I jump off this plateau.) Much to my delight, Chrissy has agreed to take me on as a (virtual) client. I’m not sure what she has in store for me, but whatever it is, it has to be better than what I’m doing. I’ve researched her qualifications and have seen, in her pictures and on her web site, what her practices have done for her physique. I received the forms she forwarded to me the other day and I must say that I am encouraged by the depth and breadth of what she has planned for me. So far, Chrissy has shown herself to be both thorough and professional.

Naturally, being a verbose writer and dedicated chronicler of events large and small, I intend to publicize my triumphs and failures to the community. Whatever happens, I have promised myself to be unstintingly honest and objective. I am determined to build lean, hard, useful muscle. I will take no shortcuts and I will make no excuses. I plan to defy my age. I will do this, come hell or high water. Failure is not an option.

(Taking a deep breath and jumping into the deep end of the pool.)

…that is the question. After an uncharacteristically long silence, I feel compelled to jot down a few observations on my workouts in general and my body in particular. The main problem is that I really don’t feel like writing. Normally, when it comes to facing the blank white page, I can barely restrain myself from filling it with words. Not so today. Today, the blank page is a barrier - something to be feared and overcome; not a friend beckoning me to sully her pristine beauty with strange marks and cirliques. Still, although the task seems daunting, I throw off the shackles of my mind and spirit and take virtual pen in hand to commit this blog to the digital universe. If I don’t, what I am feeling and thinking today will be lost forever.

I am frustrated with my body. After losing all the bad weight I had put on over the course of a dozen years, my body is in stasis. Having reached the 195 - 200 pound range, my body stubbornly refuses to lose or gain any weight. Believe me, I’ve tried. I think that during the past year, I have tried every method recommended on this site. Nothing; nada; zip; zilch. The scale refuses to budge. This is extremely discouraging. I would dearly like to gain some quality muscle. I have dreams - visions, even! - of a 32 inch waist, topped with a chest straining the tape measure at 47 to 48 inches. I long to have thighs that are the envy of football offensive lineman. Nothing.

Am I getting stronger? You betcha. I can lift way more today than I could a year ago. My endurance has increased exponentially. I can run a 5K race and barely get my pulse rate over 120. I can ride my bike for 100 miles and not feel as though my legs will fall off. I can run the Convention Center stairs and not fall, gasping, to the ground.

Maybe this is it for me. Maybe the physique I have now is the one I am destined to carry to the grave with me. If that is the case, then woe is me! There goes my dream of competing on stage. There goes my desire to have the body I’ve always yearned for. What to do? Do I continue to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune? Or do I take up arms against my sea of troubles, and by so opposing, end them?

What, if anything, would you do in my place? Thoughts, comments and suggestions are not only welcomed, but are also warmly encouraged.

I don’t know what it is, but I’m feeling blah today. Perhaps it’s the mental strain of preparing for the big presentation on Wednesday. Perhaps it’s the bike ride I took on Sunday. Perhaps it’s simply a matter of ennui. Whatever the reason, I’m just not feeling it. This doesn’t happen often to me. I’m usually the most upbeat and energetic individual you will ever meet. I’m one of those annoying people who are always "up". Except for those rare occasions when I’m down.

Although, I must say, this is different. I’m not tired; I’m not depressed; I’m not angry. I’m just blah. I don’t want to depress anyone else, so I’ll content myself with a recounting of today’s diet and call it a day. If anyone has words of cheer for me, pass them along. I could use them.

40 G Oatmeal; .25 C Raisins; 1 Tbsp Honey; Labrada’s Carb Watcher Lean Body; 7.5 oz canned Sockeye Salmon; 2 organic sesame seed rice cakes; 22 almonds; 8 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast; 1.5 gallons of water.