Daily News Archives
June 2008
06/30/2008 - I'm having surgery this morning.
06/29/2008 - Weekly measurements.
06/28/2008 - What's the story on that "rock bottom" photo?; Early workout; Theater seats!
06/27/2008 - Day 2,000!
06/26/2008 - Really good workout yesterday; Cardio today as I give my CNS a breather.
06/25/2008 - Working out early today; About another month of cutting, I think.
06/24/2008 - Missed yesterday's workout; New forum feature!
06/23/2008 - Awesome weekend; Excited about this week's training.
06/22/2008 - Weekly measurements; Terrifying nightmare; Home theater test drive.
06/21/2008 - Sore!
06/20/2008 - Going to do some direct ab work today; No cheats.
06/19/2008 - Yesterday's workout: major strength loss.
06/18/2008 - Back to training today!
06/17/2008 - Cardio today; Muscle loss this past year; Thoughts on my upcoming bulk.
06/16/2008 - Training will resume on Wednesday; "100 Challenge" open for entry.
06/15/2008 - Weekly stats; Slowly feeling better.
06/14/2008 - Getting better.
06/13/2008 - Really sick; No Internet or Cable.
06/12/2008 - Dang it, I'm sick.
06/11/2008 - Spoke too soon?
06/10/2008 - First workout since injuring my back; Lisa is still sick.
06/09/2008 - Lisa's sick, but so far I'm hanging tough; Training resumes today!
06/08/2008 - Measurement Sunday.
06/07/2008 - Play day.
06/06/2008 - Free weekend.
06/05/2008 - Is "all or nothing" for you?
06/04/2008 - So much energy this week.
06/03/2008 - Almost there, going to take this week off from lifting to be sure.
06/02/2008 - Big improvement.
06/01/2008 - A little improvement?
June 30, 2008
As most of you know, I've been been living a very healthy lifestyle, eating right and working out for almost six years now. As most of you also know, I've got some very stubborn fat just below my belly button that absolutely will not budge no matter what I do. Even at 6% body fat this stubborn adipose tissue never goes away. I've had this "fat roll" pretty much my entire life, and it drives me nuts that I can't get rid of it. There was a time when I was still hopeful that my ultra-clean diet and hard work in the gym would allow me to get rid of my "trouble spot"; year after year I've persevered, but it hasn't made any difference at all in this one area.
So, after nearly six years of training and eating clean, I've finally come to the difficult conclusion that I'm never going to get rid of this small amount of localized fat through diet and exercise. My options are quite simple: live with it, or have it removed.
After giving it a lot of thought and doing a tremendous amount of research, I've decided to have this small pocket of stubborn fat removed through surgery. This procedure is something I decided to go forward with several weeks ago. The surgery is paid for, and it is taking place this morning just a few hours from now. The surgery will be performed by a board-certified surgeon with over 20 years of experience and it will take place in a large hospital. Two very small (4mm) incisions will be made just below my tan line, and a small stainless steel tube (called a cannula) will be used to remove the fat in the area just below my belly button. The amount of fat to be removed is relatively small and concentrated in one specific area; therefore, it will not be a very lengthy or complicated procedure, and my recovery should be very fast. I'll return to work on Tuesday or Wednesday, and I'll be back in the weight room in a matter of just a couple weeks.
This "before" picture shows the area I'm talking about pretty well. Despite all my best efforts, it simply never goes away:
While my recovery should be fairly quick, there will be a significant amount of lasting swelling. The swelling will last around 3-4 months before it's completely gone. Also, removing this stubborn fat may create some loose skin that will never go away, and this surgery will do absolutely nothing for my existing loose skin. While it is my hope that this procedure will improve the only area of my physique I feel completely powerless over, there are no guarantees.
I know this news may be coming as a quite shock to some of you. The reason why I waited until today to mention it is because this was a highly personal choice, and I needed to make it for myself. I was not interested in debating it or discussing it. I thought about not mentioning it at all, but I've always been 100% open and honest about my transformation and this is certainly something that falls under that umbrella.
Like all areas of my transformation, I'm more than happy to openly and honestly discuss this choice and answer any questions you might have (well, give me a couple days to get back on my feet, please!)
I've got to hit the road. I'll be back tomorrow, maybe a little sore, but otherwise just fine. 
June 29, 2008
This past week has been extremely good from a diet and training perspective: All my weight training workouts were solid efforts, and my diet was spot-on. Let's look at this week's numbers...
My scale weight only dropped about a half a pound this week. This morning I weighed in at 183.0 pounds, down from last Sunday's 183.6 pounds.
My tape measurements (as measured by the MyoTape) also didn't show much change. My hip and thigh measurements are each down a quarter-inch, by my waist measurement is still at 30.5 inches. All other measurements are the same as last week.
Finally, my body fat measurement this morning is 8.0% (as measured by the Fat Track PRO Digital Body Fat Calipers). That's essentially the same as last week's reading of 8.1%.
Well, despite a week of perfect adherence to my diet and training, those are pretty underwhelming results. I'm not doing much cardio at all right now, so I've got plenty of room to move there, and I may need to adjust my diet again.
June 28, 2008
Yesterday I posted an old picture of me that was taken a couple of months before I started my transformation. It's a really bad photo, but--believe it or not--it is a fair representation of how I looked most of the time back then. I was a total slob, and I didn't care at all about my health or my personal appearance. Anyway, yesterday I was asked by a forum member for the back story on that photo. I posted the details of how that photo came to be, along with another (never before seen) photo that was taken on that same day. I won't repost it all here, but if you are interested here's the direct link.
Yesterday I had a terrific leg workout. I did vertical leg presses instead of back squats, and this morning my legs are already quite sore. It's been a long, long time since I've done leg presses!
Today I've got to make up my delts/traps/calves workout, so I won't be doing cardio this morning. I think I'm going to get my workout done early (between meals 1 & 2) so it won't interrupt my afternoon. After my workout I want to take the rest of the day off because the custom theater seating arrived a few days ago (updated home theater pictures) and Lisa and I have been itching to get in there and watch a few movies! It's killing me that I can't have popcorn right now! I love buttered popcorn, but I've got to stick to my diet and finish this cut up. I'll be so glad when I reach my goal of 6% body fat. I think my first cheat snack after I reach my goal is going to be a massive tub of buttered popcorn.
I've got to go eat now. I'll be back tomorrow morning with my weekly tape and body fat measurements. I hope you have a wonderful Saturday!
June 27, 2008
Wow, today is day 2,000 of my new life! I say "new life" because five and a half years ago I said goodbye to my former self, and changed my life forever through diet and exercise.
2,000 days ago I was obese, out of shape, unhealthy, a drug user, a daily drinker and absolutely disgusted with myself. Years of bad habits were slowly killing me, and I hated myself for allowing it to happen:
2,000 days ago I made the choice to take control of my health, and regain what I'd let slip away through addiction and pure laziness. Looking back, I honestly feel the choice I made on that day was the single most important decision of my life. Over the past 5+ years my entire life has changed, and I'm not just talking about my health. I've never been happier than I am right now, and I owe it all to the healthy lifestyle I adopted 2,000 days ago.
I will not be celebrating this day with junk food or anything like that. I figure the best way to pay tribute to this red-letter (er, red-number) day is to have an awesome leg workout this afternoon!
Before I sign off, I want to point out that it did not take 2,000 days to make huge changes. I was feeling better in a matter of weeks. Don't think you can't do it, because I know that you can. All it takes is desire and discipline, and the courage to get started.
June 26, 2008
Yesterday's workout (chest/triceps) was awesome! While I'm certainly not going to be breaking any personal strength records anytime soon, my strength was up considerably compared to last week's workout. Once I realized that my strength was closer to where it should be, I relaxed and had a very enjoyable workout. Even the minor (but nagging) aches and pains I usually contend with (shoulders, scapula, wrist, elbow) were non-existent. Maybe the forced time off helped in that regard.
Today is supposed to be leg day, but I don't want to do 4 strength training workouts in a row. I think I'm going to give my CNS a day off and do some HIIT cardio this afternoon. I'll do my leg workout tomorrow, and I'll perform my delts/traps/calves workout on Saturday.
Things have been crazy with my job lately. All the lightning we've been experiencing here in Florida over the past couple of weeks is wreaking havoc with a lot of the networking equipment we have in the field. This morning I've got an entire apartment complex down, and a few other minor issues to deal with. I'm going to have to cut this update a little short and get to work.
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a good day!
June 25, 2008
I made up my missed back/biceps workout yesterday, and today I'll be doing my chest/triceps workout. I think I'm going to do my workout early today--between meal #1 and meal #2. This will require me to shift my meals around a bit so that my three carbohydrate meals are still centered around my workout, but that's no big deal. I'm hopeful that my strength levels have improved over last week's chest/triceps workout, which was my first workout coming off the back injury and the cold I picked up. I think last week I was still weak from fighting off the cold, and I believe that is a large part of why my strength levels were off. I feel good this morning, and I'm looking forward to a solid workout.
It feels great to be back in the swing of things again, and on track to complete this cut. I'm still right around 8% body fat, but I think with a solid effort I should
have no trouble reaching my goal of 6% body fat by the end of July. I'll probably maintain that level of body fat until the JSF cruise, but I suspect I'll add a percentage or
two while on the cruise. On the cruise there will only be two rules: no dietary restrictions and no working out.
I'd better go get breakfast going and get the gym staged for my workout while I have time; it looks like I've got another very busy work day ahead of me...
June 24, 2008
Yesterday was a very weird work day. I started off the day thinking I had a ton of work to do, but then plans changed. With my schedule suddenly freed up, I decided to work on a big project that I've been toiling over for the past couple months. Meanwhile, one of my associates decided to drive to Tampa to address some network/hardware issues that we've been having out there. Once he arrived in Tampa, he called me out of the blue from the field, which caught me completely off-guard. Suddenly my plate was overflowing again, because all the issues that needed to be addressed required my assistance. We eventually got everything fixed, but unfortunately it took until around 7:00 PM and I missed my workout. Normally I would never miss a workout for any reason, but I didn't have much of a choice this time. I couldn't tell my colleague to just sit around for an hour doing nothing while I lifted weights. Sometimes these things happen. I'll make up the workout today (back and biceps) and do my chest/triceps workout tomorrow. That will put me back on schedule with the net result of one missed cardio session. I can live with that.
This morning I've launched another new feature for all JSF Forum members with upgraded memberships! All supporting members now have the ability to completely customize the look of their user profiles. You can now customize everything in your profile from the font style/size/color, to the background color and background image (and much more)! You can access these new controls from your User Control Panel.
I'm always working on adding new features that enhance the forum experience, and I've got a couple of very cool new toys in the works right now. Thanks again for supporting JSF--stay tuned!
June 23, 2008
I had a fantastic weekend! It was the perfect blend of productivity and fun activities. I'm 100% over my cold now (my sinuses have finally returned to normal), and I feel rested, recharged and motivated. I'm very excited about this week's workouts!
Last week I took it slow and did fairly light "feeling out" strength training workouts. I discovered that my strength was down considerably--even more than I expected. I feel that my lack of strength can be partially explained by the month in which I could not workout (back injury followed by a bad cold), but I was also still recovering from my cold last week, and that certainly played a part. This week I feel fully recovered from the cold, and I expect my strength to be significantly improved over last week. We shall see.
Today I've got a huge amount of work to do, and I need to get started right away if I expect to finish up at a reasonable hour. Of course I'll be lifting on my "lunch hour": today is back and biceps day!
I hope you have a great Monday--train hard!
June 22, 2008
It's Sunday morning, and time once again for my weekly measurements!
My scale weight this morning is 183.6 pounds. Last Sunday I weighed in at 187.2 pounds, so that's a net loss of 3.6 pounds for the week. Keep in mind that last Sunday I was still getting over my cold, and was holding some water from the salty chicken soup and crackers I'd been eating while ill.
My body fat measurement this morning is 8.1% (as measured by the Fat Track PRO Digital Body Fat Calipers). My body fat reading last week was 8.8%, so I'm more or less back to where I was before I pulled a muscle in my back and then got sick. It looks like during that time I lost a very small amount of lean mass.
Moving on to my soft tape measurements, the only change this week is that my waist has returned to 30.5 inches (as measured by the MyoTape). That's a quarter inch loss from last week's measurement, and puts me right back at where I was prior to being benched.
Last night I had a nightmare that ripped me from my sleep feeling panicked and unsettled. Was I being chased by a deranged mass murderer? Hunted down by a pride of starving lions? Trapped underground
with my air supply diminishing by the second? No--none of the above. The terrifying dream was that I updated this site a few minutes past 9:00 AM. THAT is what woke me up feeling shaken and upset.
What. The. Hell. I guess as I approach 2,000 days of updating this site without ever (not even once, save planned vacations) missing an update or updating late, this is the sort of thing
running through my subconscious. Once I woke up and realized what was going on I felt like an idiot. 
I think after Lisa and I get the house cleaning done (and I wash her car), we are going to have a nice, relaxing movie day. We've not had much of a chance to enjoy our newly completed (well, mostly completed) home theater. The temporary beanbag seating arrived a couple of days ago, so we finally have a place to sit now. We watched a film last night, and it was an incredible experience. The temporary beanbag chairs are better than sitting on the floor, but I'll be very happy when the permanent seating arrives. The theater seating is being custom made, and is supposed to ship sometime next week. Hopefully it won't be delayed, because the manufacturer is closing their plant down for the first two weeks of July. If our seats don't go out next week, then we're looking at the end of July before they will arrive.
If you are interested in home theater, I've got before and after pictures of the dedicated theater room, as well as
the complete equipment list posted on my personal web site. While the theater is 100% functional, I'll be adding decorative touches such as columns, wall sconces and
a fiber optic star field in the coming months. I'm also still trying to talk Lisa into letting me turn the unused upstairs loft into a movie theater lobby, complete with
arcade games, commercial popcorn machine and concession stand. She was not wild about the idea at first, but I'm making progress.
Have a wonderful Sunday!
June 21, 2008
The only muscles that never get sore after weight training are my delts. I absolutely pummeled my delts last night, and could barely lift my arms enough to put shampoo in my hair after my workout. Still, they are not sore this morning. My traps, calves and abs are, though. And my pecs and triceps are still on fire from Wednesday's workout. Ah, how I missed walking around in pain (I'm not kidding about that, I love being sore).
I did cardio on Thursday, which is normally leg day. Even though my back is feeling 100%, I wanted to give myself one more week before I start doing leg work again. I still have not decided if I'm going to BSQs again.
I stayed up until 11:30 last night, which is unheard of for me. Normally I'm in bed by 9:30 or 10:00 at the latest. I only overslept by 15 minutes this morning (I can't believe the dogs let me sleep until 6:15!), but I'm feeling a little sluggish. I'm going to go get some cardio in and then I'm going to wash my car and run some errands.
Have a great Saturday!
June 20, 2008
Today I'll be working my delts, traps and calves, and I think I'm also going to do something I've not done in a long, long time: direct ab work. I'll find out for sure this Sunday, but I'm probably at, or below, 8% body fat right now (at least I hope so: my scale weight this morning was shockingly low--182.4 pounds), but my abs are not looking as etched in as they normally do at this body fat percentage. Maybe some direct ab work over the next few weeks will help bring out the cuts a bit more. Or maybe I'm just getting old and my skin is not as elastic as it once was. All the more reason to keep future bulks very clean and controlled. Massive weight swings of 40 pounds while bulking and cutting are a thing of the past for me. I will never allow myself to get over 12% body fat again, even when bulking.
I feel great, but I'm still not 100% over this dang cold! My sinuses--while greatly improved--are still getting back to normal. It's not affecting my breathing or ability to sleep, but I'll be glad when the sniffles are gone.
Someone emailed and asked if I was going to have any cheat meals now that I'm back to cutting. The answer is "No!" I'm right back on the cutting plan, and will stick it out with no cheats until I reach my goal of 6% body fat. Once I hit my goal I'll relax my diet slightly, but want stay below 8% body fat until I start my bulk in September or October.
Happy Friday everyone!
June 19, 2008
Yesterday's workout (chest/triceps) was a solid effort, and a good return to the gym after about a month away from the iron. While it felt great to get back
to lifting, I was taken by surprise at the amount of strength I've lost since my last chest/triceps workout. For example, my second exercise was incline barbell
bench press. I was doing three sets with a target rep range of 10-12 reps per set. I loaded the bar up using about 40 pounds less than I would normally use for this exercise,
and I FAILED at rep nine on the final set. As I struggled to complete the ninth rep, I was in a state of total disbelief. I suspect the loss in strength is partially due
to the time I was not able to train due to my back injury, but I also think that I am still in a somewhat weakened state from the bad cold I'm getting over. I'm
sure over the next few weeks my strength and muscle endurance will return. In the meantime, I hope I'm not challenged to an arm-wrestling match by an eight-year old
girl.
I can already tell that my triceps and chest are going to be more sore than they've been in a long, long time. Normally DOMS is strongest (for me) about 36-48 hours after a workout; it's only been a little over 12 hours since my workout and my muscles are screaming.
Today's a cardio-only day. I think instead of LISS this morning I'm going to do 14 minutes of HIIT this afternoon. I want get to get my heart pumping hard. That's the other thing--I felt pretty winded doing yesterday's workout, so my cardiovascular system needs some attention, too.
June 18, 2008
This about sums up how I'm feeling this morning:
My sinuses are still slightly stuffy this morning, but other than that I feel real good. I am 100% good to go for today's chest & triceps workout! From a fitness/cutting standpoint the past month has been completely unproductive and very frustrating, so today's workout is going to be extremely satisfying. Once I get in the gym and the endorphins start flowing I'm going to have to guard against overdoing it. This is my first chest/triceps workout in like a month, and I'm coming off a back injury and really bad cold, so I need to remember to keep things under control no matter how good I'm feeling. I'll have plenty of time to ramp up the amount of weight I'm using and my intensity levels over the next few weeks. The important thing today is to get in the gym and get a good, solid "base" workout in.
I've been back on my cutting diet since Monday, and my weight has already dropped to 184 pounds, which ties my 2008 cutting low. I fear that I may have gained a little fat and lost a little more muscle over the past month, so the fact that my scale weight is the same as it was a month ago doesn't necessarily mean much. I'll take my body fat reading and tape measurements this Sunday to get a solid idea of where my body composition is.
I'm going to go get the gym staged for today's workout! I can't wait!
June 17, 2008
Every day since Saturday I've woke up feeling better than the day before. I think this cold is finally almost behind me. This morning I've only blown my nose twice, which is actually a very significant improvement: my sinuses are pretty much the last remaining indication that I've been sick. I feel like I'm up for some cardio this morning, so as soon as I finish this update I'm going to go ahead and jump on the bike for 45 minutes. Tomorrow I will resume weight training with my pecs/triceps workout. I can't wait!
It looks like I put on 2 or 3 pounds of fat over the past 3 weeks. I think by the end of next week I should back back to where I was (8% body fat) before I pulled the muscle in my back and then got sick.
I've definitely lost a fair amount of muscle over the past year. With the sale of my old house, the construction of my new house, the difficult move, the long and arduous "settling in" process and all the other stuff that's been going on in my life, lifting has not had the same priority level that it normally does. Even though I've had other priorities in my life over the past 12 months, I'm proud that I've still maintained excellent health, low body fat levels and continued to do regular cardio and strength training.
I set my own personal bar pretty high last July, and while there's no way I'm going to be able to improve on (or even equal) that accomplishment this year, I know that I'll still be able to reach 6% body fat and prepare my body for a very productive fall bulking phase. I feel that this year's bulk will be one of my best bulks ever. I'm not looking to get huge, but I would like to improve my overall symmetry. I want to bring up my delts, traps and chest, and I want to do that while keeping my body fat level below 12%. I've not decided when I'm going to start this bulk, but it will likely be sometime in September or early October.
I'd better go get on the bike before it gets too late. Thanks for stopping by!
June 16, 2008
As much as I'd love to start training again today, I've decided that the smart thing to do is allow my body a couple more days to fully recover from the bad cold I picked up last week. I am feeling much better this morning, but my sinuses are still a wreck and that is making breathing very difficult. Also, yesterday Lisa and I did some house cleaning and even that light activity left me very fatigued. Clearly my body is still recovering, and subjecting it to a difficult strength training workout right now would not be intelligent. I would be pretty irritated with myself if I relapsed because I was impatient at the last minute. I will resume training on Wednesday. If my sinuses are cleared up tomorrow I may test the waters with some LISS cardio in the morning.
Even though I'm not fully recovered from that nasty cold, I can't adequately describe how happy I am to be feeling better. I'm not used to being sick, and it's very frustrating for someone like me to be forced into lying around, feeling crappy and accomplishing absolutely nothing. It felt really good to clean the house yesterday and do something constructive and positive. I can't wait to start training again on Wednesday! I have a feeling I'm going to have some excellent workouts: my motivation to train is extremely high right now.
A couple of quick reminders before I sign off and get to work: First, the July "100 Challenge" is now open for entry. Details are immediately below this update. Also, this is the FINAL DAY of the AtLarge JSF 10% off sale, so be sure to take advantage of that before it's too late. Again, details are immediately below today's update.
Registration for the July 2008 "100 Challenge" is now underway! Your Official Challenge post must be made by 7:00 AM (EDT) on July 1, 2008 if you plan to participate--NO EXCEPTIONS! To participate, you must be a member of the forum. If you are not a member, simply create a free account. It can take up to 24 hours for your account to be activated, so don't wait until the last minute to register! For all the details, official rules and sample entry data, just head over to the July 2008 "100 Challenge" thread on the forum. If you are ready to work hard and want to challenge yourself in a fun and competitive environment, then please take part!
June 15, 2008
Well, other than a pretty good back/biceps workout on Monday, it's been another week of absolutely zero progress thanks to a very nasty cold. I could have used the cold as an excuse to stray from my diet, but I did not. Other than some chicken noodle soup a couple of times, my diet has remained spot-on all week long.
It's time for my weekly measurements...
My scale weight this morning is 187.2 pounds, almost identical to last Sunday's 187.4 pounds.
My body fat measurement this morning is 8.8% (as measured by the Fat Track PRO Digital Body Fat Calipers), which is exactly the same as it was a week ago.
My soft tape measurements are also identical to last Sunday's measurements.
Yeah, about what I exected, all things considered.
Sometimes things that are out of our control get in the way of our plans and there's nothing we can do to change them. Such has been the case for me over the past few weeks. I've accepted these things, and recognized them for what they are: very minor, very short-lived problems. So I pulled a muscle in my back and then picked up a bad cold--big deal! It's two or three weeks out of my life. People persivere and overcome problems a thousand times worse than a pulled muscle and a cold. I've got absolutely nothing to complain about. I'm starting to feel better now, and my only thoughts are getting back to training and doing what I have to do in order to reach my goal.
Setbacks big and small are a part of life; giving up should never be.
June 14, 2008
I'm finally starting to feel like my bad cold is getting better instead of worse. Yesterday I woke up feeling absolutely horrible, but this morning I woke up feeling noticeably better. My sinuses are still fried, and I still feel a little run down, but I'm functional. I spent all day yesterday in bed drifting in and out of sleep as I watched movies. I think the rest did me a lot of good. Thankfully it looks like I will be spared the worst part of the cold: Lisa has bronchitis and had to go to the doctor. She's still coughing quite a lot, but starting to feel better. I started to feel a little congestion in my lungs yesterday, but today it's all but gone and I can take a deep breath without coughing at all. Thank goodness for that!
I'm a little frustrated that half the month is gone and I've spent the entire time on the benches with a back injury immediately followed by a really bad cold.
I am so ready to get back to training and my cutting diet that I can hardly stand it. I'm going to continue to rest up this weekend and hopefully by
Monday I'll be ready to get back in the gym. If I still feel like I'm recovering from the cold on Monday then I'm going to wait another day or
two before I resume training. I want to make 100% sure that I'm fully recovered so there's no chance of the cold coming back. This cold has turned out to
be one tough mother. You gotta respect that.
The cable technician should be here in a few hours to restore our television and Internet service, both of which went down during Thursday night's lightning storm. I have no idea how anyone can use today's Internet with a dial-up connection. I've been using my backup dial-up account for the past few days and I'm about ready to put a bullet in my head.
June 13, 2008
This is one serious bug that's nailed me. I feel like death this morning: my whole body aches, I feel weak and disconnected, my sinuses are totally clogged and now it's moving to my chest and lungs. Lisa, who is about 4 days ahead of me with the same cold, is finally starting to feel better (but is still not 100%, I can hear her coughing in the next room as I type this). Realistically I may not be ready to train on Monday, but that's still my goal. I'm doing everything I can to recover as quickly as possible. It's been so long since I've been sick that I forgot how bad it sucks.
While I had a pretty good appetite yesterday, nothing sounded good except soup. I broke my diet (slightly) for two meals and had chicken noodle soup. Why do they make canned soup so salty? Even the "reduced salt" soups are way too salty for my tastes.
Last night there was a horrible lightning storm here, and my cable (both television and Internet) has been down ever since. My cable company can't get a tech out here until Saturday morning, so I'm probably going to be without those two services until sometime tomorrow. I will not be able to get email until then, either. Right now I'm using a crappy dial-up connection to handle basic administrative tasks on the forum and upload this morning's update.
I'm going to go crawl back into bed with the dogs now. The dogs know something is wrong, and they lay in bed with me all day with
their heads on my body. 
June 12, 2008
The past couple of weeks have been pretty rough: first I pulled a muscle in my back squatting, and now that I've recovered from that I've come down with a very nasty cold...
I decided to skip yesterday's workout because I was feeling worse and worse as the day wore on. By early evening I was still trying to convince myself that I wasn't really sick, but the mental ruse was pointless; I felt horrible, I knew it and I was deluding myself to say otherwise.
It's been a long time since I've been sick (I think at least couple of years), and as someone who prides himself on healthy living, I guess that admitting to being ill is a bit difficult.
I least I know what to expect: Lisa gave me this bug, and she's about 4 days ahead of me. Thankfully my sore throat is nearly gone after just one day (same thing happened to Lisa), but now it's moved into my sinuses and chest. I feel pretty run down, too. Sleep last night came in short spates of just an hour or so, and so I woke up feeling pretty beat down.
My appetite is still good (in fact I'm more hungry than usual), so I'll continue to rest and stick to my clean diet. I may eat a few more carbs (brown rice, extra veggies) as I recover, and I'll mega dose vitamin C (along with my usual vitamins). My goal is to be back to 100% and resume training by the end of the weekend.
June 11, 2008
Uh-oh. I hope I didn't jump the gun in thinking I was out of the woods with the bug Lisa gave me. Yesterday morning I felt awesome, and was sort of ribbing Lisa about how effortlessly I fought off the bug before it could take hold. I went on to say that my diet and training are why my immune system is so strong, and that she probably wouldn't have become so sick if she ate better...
This morning my throat is killing me.
Aside from my throat, I feel OK... not great, but not sick. Lisa said that's exactly how she felt (along with the sore throat) on the first day. Great.
This sucks. I'm not even able to properly enjoy the massive soreness in my back and biceps from Monday's workout.
I don't know if I should train today or not. I'm afraid that if I do train my body will not have the resources to repair my muscle and effectively fight the cold. This could lead to more missed training sessions. Of course the stubborn side of me wants to get in the gym. I'm not going to make the call until this afternoon.
On a much more positive note, AtLarge is holding a 10% off sale, exclusively for JSF members and visitors! Details are immediately below...
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Daniel Clough and Chris Mason |
June 10, 2008
Yesterday was my first workout (back and biceps) since I tweaked my back doing squats almost two weeks ago. I used moderate weights for all the exercises, and focused on tight form and fairly short rest intervals (1 minute between sets/2 minutes rest between exercises). I didn't feel any (and I mean ZERO) pain in my back. In fact, my back felt so good that I decided to try some light deadlifting (don't yell at me!) I started off very light with my usual warm-up set (12 reps/135 pounds) and didn't feel any pain at all. It was like nothing had ever happened. I put on a couple more plates and did a test rep. It felt light, and my back did not protest in the slightest. 225 pounds is normally just my second warm-up set for deads, but I didn't want to push my luck, so I didn't try to add any more weight. I was just thrilled to be able to do my favorite exercise in any capacity: I did three sets of 12 with 1 minute rest between each set. While the weight was light, the short rest intervals had me breathing fairly hard. My cardio system feels a little out of shape!
This morning I'm already very sore in my back and biceps (good sore, not pulled muscle sore). I think I'm going to take today to recover a bit more, and will just do some cardio. I'll move my chest/triceps workout to tomorrow, which is normally a cardio-only day.
It also felt good getting back to my cutting diet. I slept great last night, and woke up feeling rested and lean.
Poor Lisa is still sick. She's been hacking and coughing on and off for the past couple days. I felt a little off yesterday, but this morning I feel great. I think I must have fought off whatever Lisa gave me before it was able to really take hold. I think my all-natural diet is the reason I have not been sick in years. I keep telling Lisa that even though she's ectomorphic and doesn't put on fat, a poor diet will catch up to her in other ways. She agreed, and promised to start eating better. I hate to see her so sick!
It's cardio time!
June 9, 2008
There is a bug of some kind going around, and Lisa has it bad! She was bed-ridden all day yesterday, and this morning she's calling in sick to work. She's definitely passed the bug on to me, but it doesn't seem to be affecting me too much. I feel slightly "off", but not even close to what I would call sick. Hopefully my body will successfully fight off the bug before it gets worse. I haven't been sick in something like two years, and I don't want to break that streak now!
Despite feeling less than 100%, my training will resume as planned! Today's workout will not be especially light, but it also won't be
insane. This week will mainly serve as a feeling out process so that I can gauge what my back can handle and what it can't.
I'm just happy to be back in the gym. I woke up with a big smile on my face because I knew I was training today.
I hope you have a good Monday. Thanks for stopping by--see you tomorrow!
June 8, 2008
OK, my back is still feeling really good, so I'm going to move forward with my plan to resume my cutting diet and weight training tomorrow. Tomorrow is back and biceps day. I won't be able to do anything like deadlifts or bent over barbell rows, but I should be able to do stuff like weighted pull-ups/pulldowns and perhaps low rows and 1-arm dumbbell rows. We'll see.
Now I need to find out how much "damage" the past 10 days of a relaxed diet and no training have done (actually I ate very clean 95% of the time, but I did have a three cheat meals)...
Not too much damage at all, actually. My scale weight this morning is 187.4 pounds, which is up from my 2008 cutting low of 184 pounds. Some of that added weight is just water from last night's cheat meal (burgers on the grill and kettle chips).
My body fat measurement this morning is 8.8% (as measured by the Fat Track PRO Digital Body Fat Calipers). That's up from my 2008 cutting low of 8% body fat. Not too bad, just a couple pounds. I should be back where I was within a week or so.
Moving on to my soft tape measurements, the only change this week is that my waist size is up to 30.75 inches (as measured by the MyoTape). That's a quarter inch gain, and corresponds with slightly higher body fat percentage.
I am very excited about resuming my training and cutting diet tomorrow!
June 7, 2008
Today is a play day. I'm 100% off from everything, and I don't plan to do anything even remotely resembling work. Well, that's not 100% true: the new home theater projector arrived late yesterday afternoon, and so I'll be installing it (ceiling mount) this morning. That's going to involve a little crawling around in the attic, so I want to get it done before it's 4 billion degrees up there. I've already posted a bunch of progress photos of the theater's construction in my New Home Journal, and I'll add some shots of the finished theater (aside from the custom seats, which are still being manufactured) and the projector in action a little later today.
Tonight I'm going to make some burgers on the grill! I've been craving a burger all week, so with today being a "play day", I'm going to go ahead and indulge.
Enjoy your Saturday!
June 6, 2008
I got up at 4:45 AM this morning and got right to work. I want to get all my work out of the way as quickly as possible so I can knock off around 2:00 PM this afternoon. Once I finish work, I'm going to take the rest of the day and all weekend to relax, have fun and not worry about counting calories or any of that stuff. I like to do these "free weekends" before I enter a protracted period of cheat-free dieting.
Sunday morning I will take a complete set of measurements (I suspect my body fat percentage has risen slightly, but I'm probably still below 9%), and on Monday I will resume my weight training and cutting diet. I'm very happy that my back injury only set me back a little over a week. Also, this little forced "break" has done me a world of good from a mental standpoint. I feel relaxed, recharged and ready to start down the final stretch of road that leads to my goal of 6% body fat.
I'm going to get back to work now. Happy Friday!
June 5, 2008
Some people don't understand how, or even why, I prefer to adopt an "all or nothing" (no cheat meals, no missed workouts, no missed meals) approach to cutting. The reason is because it's the easiest (yes--I said easiest!) way for me to reach my goals. When I have cheat meals or am otherwise not 100% focused on my target, the temptation to have extra cheat meals and/or miss workouts is amplified considerably. I've got very strong willpower, but it seems that my iron will is only effective when I go "all or nothing".
Case in point: this week I've not been able to lift, and I've been eating at maintenance level. My cut has been temporarily suspended until Monday, and right now I simply do not have the mindset that I seem to require to fight off cravings. Last night the desire to have a cheat meal was overwhelming, and I caved (barbecue pork, if you care to know). I know that I would have been able to fight off that craving if I'd been in my so-called "all or nothing zone".
I guess the point of this update is that everyone needs to find what works best for themselves. Just because I personally need to eliminate cheats to most effectively reach my cutting goals does not mean that you need to do that. Of course you may discover that going all out with no cheats is just the secret you've been looking for. If you are struggling and have not tried that approach, then you might consider giving it a go. I'm not saying it's easy, because it's not, but there's something very satisfying about it that I can't put in words.
Anyway, starting Monday I'll be 100% back to my cutting diet with no cheats and no missed workouts. In the meantime, I admit that I'll probably have another cheat meal
this weekend.
June 4, 2008
I had a great cardio session yesterday, but I'm still going a little nuts not lifting. I've had so much extra energy this week. I think the extra energy is due to several factors...
First, I'm ecstatic that my back is feeling better, so that's certainly providing me with a natural rush. Second, while
I'm not lifting I've temporarily suspended my cutting diet and am eating maintenance level calories--with the added bonus of extra carbs (mostly in the form of brown rice and oatmeal).
I'm really enjoying those carbs! Finally, because I'm not lifting and my activity level is reduced, I've got
lots of energy and nowhere to put it. Well, that's not exactly true. I've been spending all my spare time working with Lisa on the home theater, and
we've made an incredible amount of progress. I'm like the Tasmanian Devil right now.
I've got plumbers coming this morning to work on a minor warranty issue, so I'd better wrap this up and get some breakfast in me before they arrive. See ya tomorrow!
June 3, 2008
My back is feeling SO much better now, I almost can't believe it. Even though I'm now able to perform most activities pain-free, I'm still going to play it safe and not lift this week. I'm also going to eat maintenance calories this week, and will resume my cutting diet and weight training this Monday. A little extra food (clean food--I won't be cheating) for a week and a short break from lifting might actually help me break through the 8% body fat barrier I've been butting up against.
When I return to lifting on Monday, I'll need to stay away from some exercises. Unfortunately I will not be able to perform some of my favorite exercises for a few weeks, namely deadlifts and walking lunges. Squats? I still haven't decided if my future weight training "career" will include the back squat ever again. I'll be honest, the thought of something like this back injury happening a third time scares me. Squatting with any fear at all is dangerous. The BSQ is not one of my favorite exercises, but man is a good one! I'm going to have to work all this out one way or another, I guess. At least I have a few weeks to think about it.
I'm going a little stir crazy, so I'm going to go and at least get some LISS cardio in this morning. I think getting my blood pumping will probably help speed along the healing process.
Have a great day!
June 2, 2008
This morning my back is feeling much, much better! In fact, when I first got out of bed I felt no pain at all--a very pleasant surprise! I bent over and moved around to sort of test the waters, and I could feel some pain during those movements, but no where even close to how I've felt the past 3 days. I'm sitting here in my office chair and am relatively pain-free! If I stand up very straight or flex my abs the pain is still there, but for the most part I'm quite comfortable.
Today would normally be back/biceps, and obviously I'm not going to be doing any back work for at least another week or two, so I'm going to skip today's workout. Part of me thinks I could do my chest/triceps workout tomorrow, but I'm going to wait until then to see how I feel.
Considering how debilitating the pain was just a day ago, I am feeling incredibly good about things this morning! I'm in a fantastic mood because I honestly feel like I'll be able to return to training sometime this week! I know I can't do anything that works my back (or even go too heavy with anything else), but getting back in the gym after only missing a couple of workouts is going to be pretty awesome.
Best Monday ever!
June 1, 2008
Yesterday I kept my back iced down most of the day, but I also took a long, hot soak in the jetted tub, which was followed by a great massage from Lisa. The Aleve also seems to be helping. This morning I woke up feeling incredibly stiff and about the same pain level as yesterday morning, but now that I'm up and about I think there may be at least a little improvement since yesterday.
I can sit at my computer for short periods of time, but I'm much more comfortable lying in bed. I have a feeling I'll be working from bed at least part of next week.
I'm going to go soak in the jetted tub, get comfortable with the dogs on the bed and rest today. I'm hopeful that there will be some noticeable improvement by tomorrow.
Enjoy your Sunday!
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