At least to curb my fix a little bit I wrote up a draft for my diet when it does come time to use it eventually. After doing a good amount of reading recently, examining the traditional hypocaloric methods, low carb/keto theories, etc. and thinking back to what worked best in the past, I’ve come up with using ratios around 3:1:1.5 (Pro:Carb:Fats). Its not a full on keto of no carbs, but its also nowhere near what I’m eating now presently. Going on the idea that bulking I go for 20 calories per 1lb of bodyweight and cutting drop from 20 to 15, that puts me right at 3000 calories (Assuming I hold around 200lbs) for 300g Protein, 100g carbs, 150g fats. (Exact macros I ended up with in the diet draft are 2982 cal, 304.8 pro, 99.4g carb, 154.5g fat)

The reasoning here is I think back to what I did when I was really leaned out… Arguably, it was more of a "What was I doing wrong?" because I wasn’t counting calories. I wasn’t getting nearly enough protein, so my only goal was to increase that and I avoided fats so I really tanked my calories. Particularly, though, I was going for protein shakes only, not meal replacements with more balanced nutritional profiles. Now I have a much better understanding of nutrition, calories, metabolism, etc. and think this diet should work quite well. When GJ and I were both doing depletes for a while (Hey, poor figure girl wife can’t feel like she’s the only one suffering!) I recall that my energy was actually higher without the carbs… Makes me believe all the more in "carb crashing" when I get too much. So… I’ll let the anticipation simmer for a couple months and see what happens after hopefully slapping on a few more pounds of beef.

Shoulders were also in tonight (front and medial heads only) and I really liked how they felt, particularly the constant tension unilateral hammer presses. Intensity was much better on these, so at least that’s a positive there.

Callin’ it a night and bittersweetly looking ahead to tomorrow and bashing my still "DOMSy" calves for a third time this week… At least I get to rest them for 2 whole days instead of 1 after its over.

"As long as you are not uncomfortable, nothing will change."

Really think about that for a moment. Humans, and our bodies, are inherently lazy. Our bodies work to be as efficient as possible. Why? Because efficacy is easier. Its not limited to just our physical situation, but applies to other aspects; jobs, relationships, social life, etc. We’re prone to being content with where we are while still practicing wishful thinking. Only when we’re backed into a corner and put into a situation where we have an ultimatum to address do we get up and move. Again… why? Because we’re uncomfortable, or know that we would be more comfortable in another situation and are driven enough to actually seek it. Compound it all with the usual arsenal of excuses and its no wonder so many people fail at their undertakings. Blame it on Newton’s first law of motion if you have to find a scapegoat; that we all stay in our present state until some other force acts upon us. How many people stay at a job they hate just because it pays the bills? How many people stay in bad relationships because they’re too afraid to cut ties and move on, or are too afraid of being "alone" for a while? How many people stick to the same workout program for weeks, months, or years, but don’t change because something else is "too hard" but they still think if they keep it up they’ll get the physique they want? Friends, that is the definition of insanity.

When I tackle a new workout, my first priority is to remove my mental governor. Much like any new car that has a speed governor on it, we come pre-conditioned with a sense of limits and "I cannots" that we need to get rid of. For a long time my mental governor was telling myself, "I’ll never hit 200lbs because my body doesn’t like it whenever I get over 180lbs". That was my excuse for a year before I finally educated myself more on diet and macros. Now that I’m in the 193-200lb realm I have to tell myself again that hitting 215-225lbs is just as doable as 180lbs was two years ago despite my mind telling me otherwise. Consider your current goals for yourself and ask, "Am I setting the bar at what I think I can do, or where I really want to be?"

Next up is to come up with something that I know will push me beyond where I’ve already been, or if I’ve spent enough time away from a particular training method that I know works to go back to it and push it a bit harder. Anyone can come up with a half dozen exercises and bang out a few sets of a dozen or so reps, and that may work beautifully for someone who’s new to organized exercise. It did for me and I was able to do the same routine for 6-7 weeks doing just straight sets before I would plateau. I also don’t buy into the generalized workouts that are in most fitness magazines, either. I may appreciate a new theory or method applied in it and in turn give it a whirl, but it gets a little frustrating when I see people coming in with their magazine tear out and doing a workout that often seems completely off for that person’s somatotype. Fortunately GJ and I respond similarly to various training methods, so this allows us both to follow the same program. I’ll put together a draft, run it by her (though she usually just prefers to experience it on the fly and then tell me if she doesn’t like it), and after the initial run through make any changes needed and stick with it for a few weeks. After that it comes down to simply whether I get any DOMS or any noticeable changes in the muscles worked in the coming days. So far this week I’ve had quite pronounced soreness in my biceps and heavy DOMS in my calves. Triceps not so much, but I think that has been remedied for coming weeks.

In the end, it takes some mental conditioning to say, "I know this is going to make me sore. I know the workouts are going to be intense." In a lot of ways, its like when I am doing a massage session. I tend to consider myself more of a "do good" than "feel good" therapist. There’s a difference between intensity/discomfort and pain/injury. The "feel good" part comes after the session/workout is done and the most satisfying part should be the fact that you’re not one step closer to being where you want to be. People come in for massages because they’re uncomfortable and they believe it will help. Often that means enduring some discomfort to get to where they want to be and maybe a little soreness following the session. Workouts are just the same.

There are three main ways to stimulate growth:

-Inflicting structural damage (micro-trauma) to the muscles to force the body to adapt by rebuilding itself bigger and stronger.

-Increasing neural activation and building neural efficiency to improve your capacity to stimulate the growth-prone high-threshold motor units.

-Preventing blood and oxygen from entering the muscle during a set by using a constant tension technique, and it stimulates hypertrophy via an increase in the production of local (IGF-1, MGF) and systemic (hGH) growth factors.

So in the end, if during a workout I’ve hit all 3 of those, am left feeling sore and stimulated for a day or two (meaning intensity was enough and adequate effort on my part), and diet and such is in order, then I’m satisfied knowing I’ve done all I can to bring myself closer to my end goals. I just take the residual pain (which believe me, I’m in) and condition myself to perceive it as a bittersweet reward for a job well done.

Domestics:http://www.beer100.com/beercalories.htm

Imports: http://www.beer100.com/beercaloriesimports.htm

…I just grinned ^_^