Splattered Angst

Funny comment my Chiropractor made today as he looked at me kinda puzzled. When I look at the numbers for measurements today, I am pretty tripped out too. 2 1/2" off the waist in just a couple of weeks. No kidding. The change in diet and really and crimping down on portion size has done the trick. If I keep this up for another month, I’ll be resetting the goal in nothing flat. I’ll ride this a while and see where the plateau is at. Arms are 3/4" larger and the fat is getting shaved off every where else. Don’t understand the neck getting larger though. Odd. Trap exercises? I guess! Geeze … Started at XXL shirts, now XL is a bag on me. Guess it is time to move to just a large. Cool!

The diet has been adjusted and it is pretty interesting to see more weight coming off … even I can tell just looking at my own face in the mirror. I have taken KGB like control over portion size and what I am stuffing my face with and it is making a major difference. While the first couple of weeks were a bit tough, I am in the third week and my body now appears to have gotten used to it. Energy levels are good. Six meals a day - 25-35 grams of protein per meal. I am drinking about a gallon and a half of water a day too. Here is what I am consuming.:
Meal 1 @ 4:00 AM: Half cup of non fat yogurt, stirring in a scoop of Higher Power protein powder and 10 grams of Glutimine. Coffee … AnimalPak and Tribuloid. As I am walking out the door to get to the Gym at 5:15, Animal Pump.
At about 7:00 AM - between the weight workout and the cardio - Animal Nitro and a lot of water.

After getting through cardio, cleaning up and getting out of the gym - my protein powder "Ice Cream" - cup and a half of non fat yogurt, scoop of protein that has a half a cup of frozen berries tossed in. There is more Glutimine in that mix as well.

10:30 Meal 3: Cup of brown rice, half a can of Kirkland canned chicken [Costco’s stuff] with a couple table spoons of low fat dressing.

1:30 Meal 4: Can of Kirkland tuna over a diced up half peach, apple or other fruit, splash of non-fat salad dressing.

4:00 Meal 5: Chicken breast or perhaps 4-5 ozs of beef over very small salad - splash of non-fat dressing. Animal Flex.
7:00  Meal 6: Half cup of non fat cottage cheese with a scoop of protein powder and glutimine mixed in –  splash of milk to make sure it all mixes well.
Half hour before bed, Higher Power GABA.

So let me know if this seems reasonable or if there is anything further I need to tweak, eh?

Thanks for your input!

I have a tendon that feels like it is either attached to or under my bicep that is talking to me right now. Been that way since Sunday, so this is a bit more than the usual muscle soreness. It is not debilitating, just annoying. I think it comes down to me realizing that I can only push biceps so far. I had the same thing happen a couple of times before. It is the results of over training, plain and simple. Other parts of my body I can really jolt and not have joint or tendon pain [if that is what this is], but not biceps. Egotistical muscle … wanting to be  the muscle that catches everyone’s eye, but the first to snivel when pushed. Fie!

After looking at and comparing my most recent pics to those of a couple of months ago, I made some changes this past week in the diet. It was a good wake up call to realize that while I may have been feeling stronger and leaner and everybody keeps telling me I am looking great, the pictures … they don’t lie, eh? I am going to start taking pics monthly instead of every other month. These little reality checks are quite healthy.
Changes made: I have the evening meal firmly in view, and it ain’t much: a bowl of my protein powder pudding - about a half cup of non-fat yogurt and a scoop of protein power with a couple grams of glutimine as a garnish. I also reduced the size of a couple of other meals during the day [I have 6-7 small meals over the course of a day] and after a week another 4 lbs are gone and I comfortably moved the belt in another notch. Given the weight that I have taken off to date, I am beginning to think that single digit body fat levels are not an unrealistic goal — obviously got a ways to go — but I can actually see it on the horizon now as I understand more about how my body responds to what I eat. It is amazing to me to realize how much of this is about diet … you honestly have to be as deliberate and focused in the kitchen as you are at the squat rack.
This week’s workouts should be cool. Over the last several weeks I have been creating the workouts for the workout partner and I but this week he is going to take the reins. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes. We are going to do a bit of trading back and forth that way. I put together the workout one week, he does it the next. Cool.

Decided to do something different with the workout partner this morning to stir things up, so we did a set of nothing but body weight movements - no weight but our own. Very cool …

10 Sets of crunches 25-35 per set

5 Sets of "Floor Wipes" [from the "300" workout … watch the video on my profile].

4 Sets of Dips to failure.

6 Sets of Pull ups with varying grips [wide, reverse, narrow].

4 sets of behind the back, edge of the bench tricep extensions [where you lower your tail to the floor] 20 per set.

Took just a tad over and hour and there was some decent pump. I do need to work on pull ups. I want to be able to do a good deal more than just a handful per set.

As we were walking away from the training I mentioned to my workout partner, " … that’s a workout that you could pretty much do in a jail cell huh?" "Yeah … you been?" "Ah, that would be a negative mate, but if you ever end up there, I’ll visit, eh?"

It was good … pics this week. Stay tuned.

Train hard, very hard.

This week has been pretty cool workout wise. Got the workout finishing daily with two sets of "drop sets" and the pump is good.  Yesterday the workout partner and I did Back and Tris and at the end we hammered it home with 5 continuous sets bumping the weight down every set one plate until the muscle was fried. For back, we did low pulley rows on the drop set and close grip bench for tris.

It seemed a lot of eyes were on us there at the gym as we were engaging in this brutality of drops sets. It is not like we were making a lot of racket or anything it is just that I don’t think they get it: We are here to accomplish all that can be done. I know that a lot can be done and I am quite motivated to take this to the edge. So I guess it is my part to play in the daily episode at the gym. To be a motivator, someone who sees the potential in moving the weight.

Just noticed this on Skip’s body blog and had to pass it on:

Easier Isn’t Necessarily Better

July 30, 2007 Making things easier doesn’t necessarily make your life better. You might inadvertently rob yourself from earning a sense of satisfaction in the process. Becoming more effective and efficient at what you do will make things better and keep you working toward the never-ending journey of self-fulfillment.

What’s “easy” will never become fulfilling.    

Made an interesting observation about myself this morning …  up until about 6-8 months ago, when I started taking the weight off, I was never an early breakfast person. I would have a big cup of mighty strong coffee [I use a coffee press. It comes out looking close to 10W motor oil] with creamer and sweetener in it and would put off having anything to eat until much later in the morning. Since I now eat healthier, the first thing I put into my mouth in the morning [after the tooth brush] is some AnimalPak vitamins and my protein powder pudding [plain non-fat yogurt and a couple of scoops of protein powder and a bit of glutimine]. It is the first of several meals of the day — and the one I have before I get to the gym. After that the protein powder pudding, THEN I pour the coffee. This morning I did the reverse and noticed that after that first couple of sips of the brown brew — the usual breakfast was suddenly not  important. Wait a minute! I had a dietary epiphany: The coffee just about robbed me of the most important meal of the day: BREAK-fast. After 6-8 hours of sleep my body, that I am working hard to pack muscle on, was nearly duped into thinking that breakfast was not a big deal … that dastardly cup of coffee left me with the sensation that getting something in me to break the night long fast was not important. Early riser beware: If coffee is the first thing in instead of something nutritious, you are on the verge of missing one of the more important things you can do in your quest to have the body you want - eating a good, protein laden, breakfast. Coffee  gives me an acidic stomach that does not want to eat … so watch it! Think Big, Train Insane!

No sniveling here, eh? It was intense … leg day soreness in particular.  Just knocked off the third week with the new workout partner [Jerry] and both of us are mighty impressed with how it has been going. It was some heavy, strenuous sets in the ever evolving workout. With that and the clean eating of six meals a day I am anxious to take some pics and see how they compare to last post, but I am holding off for two more weeks. Don’t know why … but every other month seems to be a good rhythm for that. My weight has been the exact same at 233 lbs for the last three weeks - I am beginning to think the scale has issues, but folks I know in the gym are telling me that things are changing. Pictures don’t lie. Two more weeks. The verdict will posted. Stay tuned. This coming week’s work will be some back and forth with higher reps and a heavy dose of drop sets  for every muscle group. Nice!