Ponyboy76’s BodyBlog

I am sort of like an alcoholic or at least a recovering one, because like them I have what some would consider an addiction. Not to drinking but to foods that I know aren`t doing me any favors. Potato chips, candy, cakes, ice creams and pies are screwing with my diet, which in turn are screwing with my goals of a shirtless summer.  Some alcoholics after a few weeks of not having a drink and doing well, feels so good that they think, to themselves, "Its been months since I`ve had a drink, one won`t hurt" One turns into 2, which turns in 6 and they have just ruined all the progress they have made. Like them, I thought that a cookie once in a while or that bag of hula hoop chips would be fine. I even started buying them to put in the house as a way of saying that my will power was strong enough to handle it. Like leaving a bottle of Jack Daniels around for an alcoholic. But, that thinking was wrong. I`ve had a terrible few weeks of eating junk food and now I`m paying for it with a 6.6lb gain in weight. Some of it may be muscle but I`m sure most of it is fat. I realize now, just like that recovering alcoholic, I need to keep all that junk away from me. My will power will get to to the point of me being able to have junk in the house and not eat it, but I am not there yet. I know that if I just cut out the bits of crap that I eat, I will make some serious progress. My diet is pretty damn good besides that stuff. I eat 5 to 6 small meals a day including my protein. I don`t drink anything but water and tea. My discipline as far as social drinking is at an all time high. My workouts kick ass. This is the only thing from stopping me attaining what I`ve been wanting for so long. Its the last and largest hurdle. So, I am starting from today to clean up my diet, and going cold turkey, taking it a month at a time. The only snacks I will have are almonds with the occasional raisins, but restrict myself to a handful (luckily I have pretty hands) a day. Its almost summer and even though I have hit a snag, I am not out of the race. I didn’t get it before and its time to stop half assing it. In a month, I`ll post again and not hopefully, but definitely, I`ll have some great results to report.

Stay Gold!

I swear some people are still living there. The other day I was my cousin’s house watching the Hopkins fight and just conversing. His girlfriend, who is a great girl makes a comment about me living a comment on this woman`s facebook page. The woman was a figure/bodybuilder with a really great physique. So I complimented her on it, espcially her abs. They were obviously really well toned and defined. So, she asks me in a really sort of condescending way, "If I like that sort of thing" like it was some crazy freakish thing. Then she commenting on how it was such a masculine thing to appreciate, like because I think the woman had a great set of abs and I was attracted to that, it somehow said that I liked guys. I just don`t get that whole way of thinking. Like somehow a woman with a great set of abs is less of a woman, where as if a guy has a great set of abs, he’s just being a guy and he works out.  Yeah, I don’t get it. To me there is not many things sexier than a fit woman with a beautiful set of abs. It says she`s obviously healthy. She works out and takes care of herself and more so it shows that she`s confident. I`ve heard guys say similar things and it sounds pretty stupid to me, but I guess to each their own.

I was talking about how I have seemed to hit a plateau but I’m trying to push through. Now, I have messed up my lower back and I actually don`t know how it happened. The right side of my lower back has been soar for awhile but this week, its gotten a lot worse where I haven`t been able to run and it even hurts when I sleep. Its really annoying because I was doing really well, with the double cardio for the passed 2 weeks. Now, I`ve only run once since Saturday. It probably doesn’t sound like a big deal but for some reason I get it into my head that even if I work out, but don`t do cardio, I`m going to get fat. I know its not logical but try telling my brain that, so I end up feeling bad that I haven`t done any cardio. Its pretty frustrating. I`m not sure if I should give the gym a rest entirely today and see if I`m better tomorrow or should I just ignore the pain and run through it and maybe risk it getting worse.

I seemed to have hit a plateau in the last month or so. I’m changing up my workouts regularly and really trying with the diet but I don`t seem to be getting the type of gains that I’d like to. Maybe  its all in my head, but I don’t feel like I’m going anywhere and its a bit frustrating.

After reading a bunch of articles, finally doing some calculations and some other research, I have realized that I am not getting enough protein per day for health, let alone promote muscle growth. At my current bodyweight of 238lbs ,I am only taking in approximately 201 grams of protein a day with my current diet. According to the protein calculator I should be taking in at least 1 gram per 1 lb of bodyweight, so even at that level I`m short 37 grams. If I want to actually build muscle which is my goal I need to take in from 298 to 357 grams a day. I guess I`m going to have to add a few more protein shakes to my diet and more protein filled whole foods. I`m just not sure what more I can eat. I have an egg white peanut butter sandwich on linseed bread for breakfast, a 45 gram protein shake with oatmeal, then my next 2 meals consist of chicken and pasta. I head to the gym and after around 9:30pm have a 60 gram protein shake with some more oatmeal. Maybe if I add another 45 gram of protein before bed. I only have room to pack one shake during the day for work. Any suggestions?