ShreddedOne’s Blog.

Around 1 or 2 pm today I started feeling sick.  Didn’t go to class.  Didn’t work out.  Dang it.  I was working out every other day for about 2 or 3 weeks but that schedule’s been screwed up lately.  I was supposed to take Friday off and workout Saturday, but I missed Saturday.  So I had Friday AND Saturday off, worked out Sunday.  Because I worked out Sunday, I took off Monday and was supposed to workout today.  Missed TODAY too so that’s another two days off in a row.  Did that make any sense?  Eh, don’t care.

Sick.  Didn’t work out.  Workout schedule = messed up.  That about sums it up.
Hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow and I’ll get in a good workout.

Alright, I got on the Tanita tonight to check my body composition.  I was dreading it because I’m afraid I’ll get a bad reading and end this sort of winning streak I’ve been on.  Anyway, I got on the tanita, and it says I’m down to 11%; the lowest reading I’ve had in about 2.5 months.  Keeping my fingers crossed, maybe I can get BACK into the single digits pretty soon. . . . . and STAY there.  It’s gotta be the cottage cheese!  LOL.  Or the Lipo 6.  Or new workout routine . . . blah blah blah.  Already talked about that. . ..

School is hard!  Yeesh.

Peace out!

Weight UP.  Bodyfat% DOWN.  It’s about time!  The tanita told me tonight that I gained about a pound and a half since my last weigh in and it’s just about all muscle!  Thank goodness.  I just wish I knew exactly WHAT I did to get those results so that I can repeat it!  I just recently started drinking V8s to help me get enough nutrients from Vegetables.  I’ve had a 6 pack in about 3 days.  I’ve increased my consumption of cottage cheese.  LOL.  Yeah I actually like it now.  For the last 2 or 3 weeks, I’ve changed my workout schedule so that I workout every other day.  No more working out two or three days in a row and not allowing my body to recover.  I’ve cut down a bit on the sweets/candy intake.  For the last month or two I had been eating a Burger Street burger in the evening at least once a week.  I STOPPED doing that about a week ago.  (STILL tempted.)  Worked out my legs a few days ago.  The soreness is finally completely gone.  Working the larger muscle groups may have promoted a better hormone balance, plus working the larger muscles means the LARGER muscles grow. . . . more muscle growth than when I work the smaller muscles like biceps and triceps.  I had a longer day yesterday.  I got up earlier and had a fuller day.  I’ve noticed there’s a correlation.  When I went to the beach with my girlfriend for a few days to celebrate her birthday, we got up early to see each sunrise and make the most of the day in general.  (I didn’t go through all that trouble so we could SLEEP through the whole vacation!!!)  We got up early, went to bed at a reasonable time, didn’t eat all that well, but for some reason, when we got back into town, I was down to 8.8% bodyfat.  My lowest ever.  Anyway, there was that, and then there was my long day yesterday that seems to be associated with this unusual progress I made.  Ah, also my last workout was more intense than the last few.  I also ate some hershey’s dark chocolate in addition to my ON Whey protein after that workout.  (For the carbs . . . most of you probably understand WHY I would do that.)  I did NOT drink much water today, and I thought I’d be dehydrated.  I was EXPECTING an awful reading.  (I was also expecting an AWFUL reading after the vacation, because of the bad eating and sleep deprivation and I got my best readings ever.  Ha.  Go figure.)  Ah!  And another thing, I’m cheating.  I’ve been using Lipo 6 for the last week.  THAT may be kicking in.
Anyway, it’s just one day’s readings.  The tanita could say 14% bodyfat tomorrow.  I will observe.  I’m screwing up right now because it’s 3 am and I’m typing here.  I actually signed on a couple hours ago, but I got sidetracked playing "crazy cube".  It’s a free online game.  Got through all 30 levels because I’m a freaking GENIUS!  Or maybe not.  I mean, how smart can I be if I’m staying up past 3 am when I NEED to get up kinda early tomorrow (this morning) to workout before my 9 hour shift at work?

Hmm.  Very little sleep.  Workout.  9 hour shift getting home around 10:30 in the evening.  Brilliant!

Peace out people.  Hope you’re all doing well.  Long post, anybody actually READ all of it?

I finished my workout and went home.  When I got home I put a couple spoonfuls of cottage cheese in a bowl.  Then I decided I wanted to have half a PB Sandwich.  I took the spoon and put it in my mouth to get the cottage cheese off because I didn’t want to get any cottage cheese in my peanut butter.  That’s when it happened and I dunno how to explain it.  When I put the cottage cheese in my mouth, I LIKED IT!  WTF?!  I’m scared!  This isn’t right!!  This can’t be happening!!  Hell has frozen over.  Pigs are flying.  The first time I had cottage cheese it almost made me hurl; I had to spit it out, and now I LIKE it?!  What’s wrong with me?!  I’m scared.  Can anybody explain this?  Help.

Haha.  Seriously though, I LIKE cottage cheese now?  WTF.  Oh well, this is a good thing.  I can’t believe I’m typing this, but cottage cheese kicks *ss.  I love it.  I don’t know what’s wrong with me.

I’m upset.  I’m getting stronger, but my bodyfat has increased.  I’m eating more calories per day than I was.  I’m trying to cut down, but it’s hard.  I’m hungry.  I crave food.  I crave sweetness, I crave taste.  The extra calories are helping my body regrow after workouts, like I said I’m getting stronger, but my bodyfat is going up and it’s frustrating.  I’m not really sure what to do.  It’s like the only way I can cut my bodyfat % is by cutting, but if I cut I’ll lose muscle mass.  I wish I could reduce my bodyfat % by increasing my muscle mass MORE than I increase my fat, but it seems like, IF I’m growing, it’s MORE fat than muscle.  F***.  I’m not a fan of cardio, but I may start jogging again.

I worked out my legs the other night.  Squats baby.  My A** and legs hurt yesterday.  They’re better now, but still a little tender.  I figured working out a larger muscle group could help my hormone balance, help me be more anabolic.

Blah blah blah I’m tired of typing.  Going to sleep.

I WANT to workout today, right now.  I’m bored.  I feel compelled to head to the weight room, but I can’t because I’m lifting every other day now.  I told myself I wouldn’t workout two days in a row to allow my body time to recover.  I have to stick to this plan for at least a month to give it a chance, to see what kind of results I get.  However, my workout last night was low intensity.  I only did 23 sets.  I worked out the Chest, Delts, and Biceps.  Seems like I could at least do legs today, maybe legs, back, and triceps.  I’ll wait until tomorrow.

I had NO Shotgun, White Flood, and Purple Wraath yesterday pre workout.  So that was  . . . fruity.  "apple" "lemon" and "grape".  Not bad to be honest, but that could be because I’m used to all these "flavors" I guess.  It was like drinking fruity pebbles.  Eh.

Worked out last night.  Started with Alternating Dumbbell Curls.  Started with the 50 lb dumbbells and managed 5 reps per arm, a new personal best.  My 1RM should be about 56 lbs so it looks like I’ll be curling the 60’s in no time.  I think?  I hope?  At any rate, I’m stronger so I am pleased.  Hooray for me.

I have made a couple changes that seem to be working for me.  I no longer workout 2 or 3 days in a row.  I workout every other day.  Obviously, most of you realize I’m doing this to allow my muscles more time to recover and regrow.  I was working out too often and not allowing my muscles to grow back.  I was actually having trouble maintaining my muscle mass even with tons of protein in my diet!  I WAS getting stronger and getting more definition, but I was having trouble holding onto my mass.  It looks like that problem is over.  Since I made this change and cleaned my diet up a little, my body fat seems to be decreasing and I seem to be gaining strength faster, but it’s really too soon to say for sure.  I’ll keep observing.

Peace out all.  Hope you’re doing well.

Eat clean and get lean!

It’s been a few days since I made the decision to clean up my diet and give up on the "bulk".  (I guess I’m working on a recomp now.)  The last couple days, my diet has consisted of salmon, turkey, and tilapia, cottage cheese, more vegetables/salad, protein shakes with and without milk, much more water, 1 slice of whole multi grain bread, 1 Hershey’s kiss, Olive Oil, and oops a Burger Street Hamburger.  I was WEAK what can I say?  I need MORE of the lean meats, whole grains (but not much because I’m trying to severely restrict my carbs), and vegetables!  I feel like I haven’t been eating enough.  I’ll watch the Tanita to see the results and adjust accordingly after a week.

11 people from work have entered into a contest to see who can lose the most weight in three months.  It’s 25 bucks to enter.  They did their initial weigh ins on Jan 1st and the final weigh ins will be on April 1st.  Whoever loses the most weight at the end of the contest wins the pot (the money, not the drug.)  Obviously, I can’t enter that contest.  Some of us were talking and I said by the time their contest is over I’ll be curling 60 lb dumbbells.  So, no money riding on it or anything, but there’s my goal.  I think I can do it.  A few months ago I couldn’t curl a 50, then I could do 1 rep, now I can do several reps.  I’m thinking I can do 1 rep of 60 by April 1st.  That would be bad*ss.

School’s starting soon and I have too much to do and too little time.  Guess that’s life huh people?  Take it easy.  Hope everyone is doing well.

I’ve been thinking.  I’ve been in the 11% body fat range for awhile now, and I’m unhappy about that.  I increased my caloric intake recently to try and bulk up.  When I did this, I wasn’t eating as clean, chocolate and fast food burgers more often.  Not only that, but when I ate a fast food burger, it was usually late in the evening, big mistake.  And now, here I am.  I’m not 8% body fat, not 9% body fat, not even 10% body fat.  I’m struggling to stay under 12 or 13% body fat.  I decided last night that I’ve had enough of that.  Last night I started eating cleaner, drinking more water, I had slacked off there lately.  No more chocolate.  No more fast food burgers.  More water.  More vegetables.  Only CLEAN eating from now on.

I finished my initial weight loss phase about 6 months ago and went into a maintenance phase.  But I decided I was too  light.  I decided to try and bulk up, and I’m not happy with where I am now.  I’m cleaning up my diet and getting back to my single digit body fat %.  The Tanita scale may say I haven’t gained lean mass, but I’m stronger and I have much more definition so SCREW the Tanita.

Interesting thing I noticed tonight while I was reviewing my old records: at my leanest (8.4%) I was ALSO at my lightest (135 lbs).  My second leanest (like 8.9% or something?) was also my second lightest (136 lbs).  Basically, the leaner I was the less I weighed.  I thought I could get leaner by packing on muscle and getting heavier, but that doesn’t seem to be working out.  I’m going to go for a very slight caloric deficit.  I will eat extremely clean.  I will work out hard.  I will see what happens.

Gotsa go.  Hope everybody is doing well.