taf1968 Land of the Lost (Abs) Blog

I have to be honest . . . May was not my best month.  I was not as consistent with the training as I needed to be and sure as heck wasn’t great on diet. Not that I regressed, really.  I kind of held my own (did make some great gains on strength but I know that I could have done SO MUCH BETTER) and seemed to lean up a tad.  But I did not put forth the effort that I planned or that I know I’m capable of.  I was planning to take progress pics around my b-day in May . . . but I just felt like I wanted to wait another 30 days to give myself a chance to do better.  Maybe I should have done it anyway as motivation, but I’m taking a mulligan.

June needs to be a big month for me to hit it hard and really see what I can do in 30 days to get things back n track again. So far so good . . . but I really want to make some big strides before July hits to regain momentum. 

Wow, I guess I haven’t blogged in a long time–been focusing more on my journal entries.  Time for an update I suppose.

At the time of my last blog entry, I had taken 1-year progress pics and I was in the process of making some changes to my training and diet.  Trying some new things (like moving to a 4-day split), new supplements (SuperPump 250) and struggling with trying to find a diet after having to walk away from keto.  Since that time I have put on around 6 lbs . . . but according to my calipers I have been dropping bodyfat as well.  The last few days I have been getting readings just below 15%.  I also am up 1/4 inch on my arms.  So am I REALLY putting on muscle and trimming bodyfat at the same time????  I’d be kind of surprised, but happy if that’s really the case.  My goal was to get back down around 180 lbs, but I would be pretty thrilled to be a little heavier but have better muscle and definition.

I am planning on taking progress pics on my birthday in a couple weeks.  So the proof will be in the photos I guess.  I just always hear that it’s hard to lose fat & gain muscle at the same time  . . . so I am just wondering if maybe I am still not using the calipers correctly.  But I am getting consistent readings and measuring the same way I always have.  Seems like the most fat has been coming off my upper chest and thighs.  My waist, as I knew would be the case, is going the slowest and I think that is just my last place to lose.

Anyway . . . this was just on my mind so I thought I’d post about it.  I’ll post again when I take those pics and then I’ll gt my answer I suppose.

Well . . . Bill Parcells says "You are what your record is" (or something to that effect), so here I am a year after I started the quest for a better physique.  Overall, I have definitely made progress.  Dropped bodyfat, improved musculature, am better conditioned and on the way to where I want to be.  I’d be lying if I said I was satisfied with where I am, though.  I see some amazing transformations here that others have made in a shorter amount of time . . . and I know that I could have and will do better this year.

I have struggled a bit since coming off keto (TKD) after Labor Day.  Ended up with kidney stones, which meant I had to radically change how and what I was eating.  So I have been trying to find my way on the diet ever since.  Trying to go with a carb cycling approach, and although I am starting to feel like I have it more figured out–it’s been a source of frustration for me.

But as far as workouts are concerned, I like the split that I have been on for the last month or so . . . and am trying to get the cardio in to continue to burn fat.  My goal now is to see my six-pack for summer (and would absolutley like to see it way before then). 

So I’ll take away the positives that I see a year later, and will take the negatives (or at least the nont-so-positives) in stride and with the full understanding that I am the one responsible for making the improvements needed.  Can’t change the last year . . . there are no mulligans.  But I will keep hammering away at it and try to improve.

Looks like it could be "one of those weeks" shaping up here at my house.  Anyone who has kids will understand what this starts out as . . . got a call from my kids’ school today and both my son and daughter are in the nurse’s office not feeling well.  They have low fevers and just feel kind of cruddy.  They are troopers most of the time and with a little Motrin they feel pretty chipper.  But they will probably stay home tomorrrow.  Then . . . I go upstairs a few minutes ago and my wife (who had gone up to bed early) has a bit of a fever and looks a little rough.

So, everyone here is sick except for me.  So far, anyway–what typically follows is that everyone in the house eventually gets hit to one degreee or another with whatever crap is making the rounds.  I am going to pop my vitamins, drink like hell and take my Cold-Ez to try and keep this crap away from me.  I’ve finally been getting back into the gym more regularly and I absolutely do NOT want to pick this bug up.

Wish me luck!

Thanksgiving is right around the corner . . . which means so is a massive case of temptation.  I have been beating myself up lately for not being as dedicated as I was earlier in the year and have been making a strong push to get back into the groove and continue to make improvements.  So I’m thinking ahead to next week and promising myself that I will not depth-charge myself over the holiday.  Won’t be easy, but I really do not want to set myself back farther.

So here I am putting it in writing . . . "I hereby promise that I will not miss a single workout next week and that I will eat as clean as possible."

On a side note, training for today is as follows:

• Got to the gym at 5am this morning and did 40 minutes of intervals on the elliptical, followed by some abs.
• Tonight is jujitsu . . . planning on 2 hours, which is what I am trying to commit myself to each week (with a bonus session or two whenever I can fit it in).

Hit the gym at 5am and got in a pretty good chest, tricep and ab workout.  Trying to make a second push at improving muscle mass and dropping fat (been slacking a little lately).  Time to stop being half-assed and hit it hard again.  I don’t want to give up the great gains I made earlier.

Today’s Workout:

Incline Press (Hammer Strength) 4 sets
Weighted Dips 4 sets
Flat DB Press 4 sets
Low Cable "Flyes" (single arm) 3 sets
Close Grip Pressdowns 3 sets
Reverse Grip Pressdowns 2 sets
DB French Press 3 sets
Weighted Crunches 4 sets
Weighted Incline Sit-ups 4 sets

Might try to sneak back in tonight for some LISS cardio if I can.

First time in years that we’ve had truly decent weather for Halloween . . . usually it’s cold, rainy/snowy, etc.  Took the kids out and they cleaned up–haven’t seen that many kids swarming the neighborhood in a loooooong time.  When we got home, we dumped all the candy on the table and it was like a moutain of sugar.  Kids are pretty thrilled about it, needless to say. 

I managed to get by with just having one small Crunch bar.  It was daring me . . . so it had to pay for its insolence!

Hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween!

I’m tired and sore–in a good way .  Hit the gym at 5am this morning for 45 minutes of intervals on the elliptical.  Worked all day, then went to 2 hours of jujitsu right after leaving the office . . . and I’m already feeling it.  Got pretty gassed during the second hour, but I just love grappling, so it was a blast.  Burned a boatload of calories–my gi must have weighed 10 pounds when I was done from all the water I sweated out.

Back at it tomorrow morning.  Got a 5am appointment with Legs, Shoulders, Abs . .  . and Advil. 

As mentioned earlier today, I missed my am workout today because I was up really late working.  I always feel like such a lazyass if I miss it, but it just wasn’t gonna happen.  But I did head to the gym over lunch hour and got in a great Back/Bi’s/Abs workout.  I feel a lot better about getting there and getting it done.  SO easy to just say "screw it’ and wait til the next day–but I have been feeling like I’ve not been improving so gotta stay on it!

Wide grip pull-ups (4 sets)
Cable rows (3 sets)
Single-arm rows (3 sets)
Straight arm pulldowns w/rope (2 sets) superset with slow rows w/rope (2 sets)

BB curls (3 sets)
Preacher (3 sets)
Cable curls (2 sets)

Weighted cable crunches (4 sets)

Back to the morning workout tomorrow . . . 40 minutes of intervals is the plan right now.

Worked really late last night . . . so I just could not seem to get up to hit my 5am workout today.  But am working form home, so I will run out at lunchtime and hit Back/Bi’s/Abs and probably knock out some light cardio.

Still struggling with diet . . . need to get that dialed in and get more consistent with eating.  It’s been tough trying to work within the new dietary restrictions I have and finding things I like to eat that fit.  But it’s getting better and I think I can make a second push to try and finally see the abs before year end.  I really need to set a new round of goals and post them to motivate myself.  Plus I haven’t posted progress pics in a long time because I kind of stalled out–need to hit it hard so I can post new ones without having to look at a step backward or sideways when I put them up.  Maybe will have new ones in November (thought I would take new ones next week, but I think it will be too depressing).