TDetroit’s ramblings and nonsense

Ok so now I am at 2800 per day for this week.  That’s what I did yesterday on the big workout day.  As I scale down the cals, I want to maintain weight with muscle gains.  So high protein, low fat, heavy lifting.   I switched most of my lifts to 5×5 at heavier weight, might even to some 3×5’s at higher weight. 

Yesterday was a good workout considering it was the first time in the gym since the previous Sunday.  Somewhere along the line, I hurt my left bicep.  It feels real weak and is a distraction to the shoulder.  I lifted through it.  It doesn’t appear to be a muscle tear or a joint issue, just a general weakness in the bicep that is also painful.  Not a lot of pain, more of a distraction.

Today is rest day.  Tomorrow is legs.

The New York trip went good.  I learned some new items, and I was reminded of some old items I had pushed into the back of my mind.  It was also good to hang out with some like minded advisors who are also successful, it does wonders for the self doubt I constantly experience.

However, the folks at Legg Mason fed us a diet too complicated to log it into fitday.com.  I had to stay active to compete with the "evil" food I was given.  I went for a walk on Thursday, from 50th and Park to Madison up to 59th, over to 5th (took a pic of Gerneral Sherman statue), down to 50th and back to Waldorf.  Also visited St. Patricks(?) Cathedral.

After dinner, I went back to the room and did pushups to fail.  Woke up and did more pushups.

Then came the screwy part of the day.  7 hour conference with 2 breaks and lunch.  Not much oppotunity to stay active.  Plus lunch included fat, fat, fat, fat and fat.  The squash ravioli with butter sauce was good.  So was the tubitini with ricotta.  But the cannolis for dessert was great, all 4 of them.

At the airport, the TSA found my RTD and took them away.  Allow me to rant.  It pisses me off.  They won’t let us take healthy food with us beyond the check point, but they will supply us with puke once we geet beyond.  So I had to starve for 7 hours because there is nothing to eat that even smells good.  Everytime I walked past the eatery  at Laguardia, it smelled horrible.  I could smell the fried fat, and I looked at the overweight people with the coal shovels loading it up.  It was disgusting.  I am glad for me that I have mead the change in food, I feel sorry for them that they don’t have the intestinal fortitude to do it for themselves.

We should band together and write letters to our Congresspersons and Senators, that any airport serving food must also present a selection of our BB food as well.  What are we supposed to do, they won’t let us bring our food, they won’t feed us our food, and they won’t pass laws demanding an Ailine Passengers’ Bill of Rights.  So we end up having to make a choice, starve or eat crap.   That is wrong.  We eat the superior diet, so therefore we should get first crack at the restaurant space.  It is a question of who is right and who is serving poison to the consuming public.

So I got home at 1 am and ate 2 egg whites and an RTD.  I went to bed and had to wake early to be in a parade at the Strawberry Festival.  Then I came home and built a fire.  A big fire.  I burned a lot of stuff.  I mowed the back acre of tall weeds and got the ara ready for the buldozer and backhoes that will arrive soon to improve the usability of the yard.  So I kept active.  But I was too tired to log in the diet.

So I am starting over today.  Not really starting over, just starting over keeping track.   So we start at Day 1 again.

T

I am at the office for just a couple of hours before going to Jackson, MI for repairs on the rental (a business I strongly advise against).  Tomorrow I am off to New York.

Stayed at 3000 cals yesterday.  Macros look good, still not over 60 gram of fat.  It seems I am getting more lean, but I am not losing weight.  I go to bed at about 175, and wake up at 170-172.  I know it just the water, and the 3 trips per night, but it’s nice to know where I need to be at bedtime to be able to hold the weight up.

 I watched another episode of Sahq’s Challenge last night.  It’s a great show.  I wasn’t aware it is an attempt to get the Gov’s attention.  Apparently there is a bet with Jeb over whether BB style health is the right thing to do for America’s youths.  Go Shaq.  I for one believe there should be a BMI requirement for attending school.  I t can be backed up with a BF%, so for the football players, they can exceed the BMI, but still make it on low BF.

The economics is simple.  Ever listen to a health insurance company commercial.  I mean really listen.  They all talk about how their insurance is the best.  That’s the problem.  American Health Insurance is the best in the world.  It is so good, no one can afford it.

It requires a 2 pronged approach.  On the supply side, the Gov’t needs to step in and create price competition.  It’s too difficult to explain on a blog how that would be done, so we’ll skip that lesson.

The second prong is more straight forward.  Health Insurance is expensive because health care is expensive, health care is expensive because people are unhealthy.  Fix the people, and you bring down the price.  It’s that simple.  YOu don’t bring it down to affordable, but it does come down. 

Usually you cannot fix old people, they are set in their ways, so let them grow old and die.  But the school kids can be fixed.  That is where Shaq is working.  Fix the kids, and the future potential benefits to society as a whole are enormous.

So go Shaq!

T

I’ll be going to New York City on Thursday morning.  First floght out of Flint is at 8:25 am, to Detroit.  Then Detroit to New York arriving at noon.   On the Return, I fly out of LaGuardia at 5:25 pm, finally arriving at Flint at 11 pm.

So I need to pack travel food.  Looking for low fat, high protein, don’t care about carbs.

I have already cooked 3 frozen tilapias, I plan to cook some chicken, I’ll pack some carrots, and some frosted mini wheats.  Hopefully I can fit an apple or 2 in the bag.  I also have a 4 pack of RTD shakes.  Almost forgot the eggs, I have a supply of boiled eggs to bring as well.  The question is how to get it all in my lunch bag, and suit case.

I assume the folks at Legg Mason will feed us regularly, but I don’t expect it to be a lot of the food we talk about here.  That’s why I am bringing some of my own.  Plus the plane rides whould be particularly difficult to manage.  I hope the people around me don’t harass me over having better food than them.  That’s OK, I am probably stronger than those hamsters anyway.

Ideas appreciated.

Yeah, now I have a belt.  I knew you would all be excited, you can hardly contain yourselves. 

My wife was unimpressed.  She didn’t even want to try it on.  Oh well, horses and water…

Yesterday was only 3033 cals, I only lost one lb.  Abs are coming back.  Almost time for a progress pic.  I did notice something when I was looking in the mirror this morning.  If anyone needs some lovin’, I have the handles.  Damn genetics!  I’ll keep lifting, add some cardio, and pray those come off soon.

Holding at 171.

T

There won’t be much of an opportunity to work out until Saturday.  Sure I could fit it in, but I don’t want to give up my 2 hours of free time in New York City to spend it in the gym at the waldorf Astoria.  I can think of better things to do.

 It comes at a good time anyway.  The new revelation is the shin splints.  I need to take it easy on the legs anyway.  So I’ll let then get the rest, just my normal walking (which is more than most people), and come added calcium pills from now on.  A sure sign you are getting old is when you know to get the calcium pills with the citrate.  I didn’t know that when I was young.

So I added cardio.  Both post workout, and alone on off days.  I reduced my cals from 3600 to 3400.  And today I wake up 2 lbs heavier.   Maybe more cardio, and fewer cals are in order.  

 I will now try the up and down cals.  More on workout days, less on rest days.  I tried it this weekend, but not with a big enough spread (I don’t believe). 

As a side note, my shins hurt a lot when I run.  Ankles too.  Is it because I am heavier now?

Tested for max bench, 4 reps at 145 = 1 rep max of 158.  So for the next few weeks, I’ll be working out at 140  5×5.

Couldn’t eat the entire munu last night.  So I ended up a little low on cals.  Only 3023.

Still 170 though, so I am holding.

Had fried eggs this morning for breakfast.  (the wife begged for breakfast out -  I never say no)  So I did what I could with the menu.  Fats are still looking good though.

T

…my diet for the day will workout.  3100 cals.  good macros.

Problem is, I am full already.  I feel like I couldn’t eat another bite.  It will probably take me until 10pm to eat this meal.  It’s not a big meal, but it is over the top as far as I am concerned.

Aside from the change in fat content, I have also started to reintroduce cardio into my workouts.  Maybe that’’s whats causing me to not be hungry, and tired, and lethargic.

yesterday I didn’t get the cals I was aiming for.  Only 2600, but I lost no weight.  Today, I am behind schedule as well.  I will probably make it up later, but I am not hungry.  I wonder if this level of carbs does that. 

 Today is sprinting.  This usually causes fat loss.  16 days to go.  I don’t think I can make it.  I would have to lose half my bodyfat and gain as much muscle in that time.  Either way, I have gained a lot of muscle, and I will be at a low BF%.  Just because I probably cannot make the goal, does not mean to give up though.  If I miss by a little, I am still a winner.