Weight: 197.6 (Glad to see my post-carb increase has slowed :)
Exercise: Morning HIIT Bike session. Light activity in the evening, I went down to the Gym and did some jump roping, and a bunch of dynamic stretching/foam rolling and shot some hoops.
Meal 1: Eggs + Egg White and 1/2 Can of Chili Beans, 1/2 Avocado and Salsa
Snack: Small Whey Protein shake
Meal 2: Large Whey Protein shake w/Almond Butter and Cinnamon
Meal 3: Cottage Cheese w/Cinnamon and Almond Butter.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
5/30 Check-In
Weight: 198.8 (Hello carbs, again :).
Exercise: Evening Upper Body session. Felt noticeably stronger/more energetic during heavy Push Presses, and had more energy overall to push through the workout. I was able to cut my rest periods significantly over previous workouts which is likely due to the increase in dietary carbs and maybe a little overall increase in conditioning.
Meal 1: Intra/Post workout shake with Carbs and Protein
Meal 2: Egg Whites+1/2 Can of Jalapeno Black Beans. Mmm..
Meal 3: Salad w/Oil/Vinegar, Whey Protein Shake + Fish Oil
Meal 4: Cottage Cheese + Almond Butter + Cinnamon + a little sugar free chocolate syrup and some chocolate Whey Protein + Fish Oil
Finished up my bottle of cheapo Fish Oil just in time for a package today that included a couple of bottles of NOW Super Omega EPA. For those of you interested in Fish Oil supplements, I found NOW's Super EPA brand to be by far the most cost-effective product around as far as overall EPA/DHA content (which is the important stuff.
Exercise: Evening Upper Body session. Felt noticeably stronger/more energetic during heavy Push Presses, and had more energy overall to push through the workout. I was able to cut my rest periods significantly over previous workouts which is likely due to the increase in dietary carbs and maybe a little overall increase in conditioning.
Meal 1: Intra/Post workout shake with Carbs and Protein
Meal 2: Egg Whites+1/2 Can of Jalapeno Black Beans. Mmm..
Meal 3: Salad w/Oil/Vinegar, Whey Protein Shake + Fish Oil
Meal 4: Cottage Cheese + Almond Butter + Cinnamon + a little sugar free chocolate syrup and some chocolate Whey Protein + Fish Oil
Finished up my bottle of cheapo Fish Oil just in time for a package today that included a couple of bottles of NOW Super Omega EPA. For those of you interested in Fish Oil supplements, I found NOW's Super EPA brand to be by far the most cost-effective product around as far as overall EPA/DHA content (which is the important stuff.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
5/29 Check-In
Weight: 198.2 (Hello carbs!)
Exercise: Morning Bike workout. I really felt terrible all day today, for some reason. It was the first time I've felt less than 100% since the first week. Not sure if the carb intake was the reason or what. Just felt tired with a headache and nauseous all day. Hopefully I feel better tomorrow.
Meal 1: 2 eggs/3 egg whites + 1/2 Avocado and Salsa, and 1/2 cup of Jalapeno Black Beans!
Meal 2: Whey Protein Shake w/Almond Milk, a partial block of Pepper Jack Cheese as a snack.
Meal 3: Cottage Cheese w/Cinnamon and Almond Butter, Broccoli w/Cheese
Calories: 1750, 40% Protein, 30% fat, 20-25% Carbs.
Exercise: Morning Bike workout. I really felt terrible all day today, for some reason. It was the first time I've felt less than 100% since the first week. Not sure if the carb intake was the reason or what. Just felt tired with a headache and nauseous all day. Hopefully I feel better tomorrow.
Meal 1: 2 eggs/3 egg whites + 1/2 Avocado and Salsa, and 1/2 cup of Jalapeno Black Beans!
Meal 2: Whey Protein Shake w/Almond Milk, a partial block of Pepper Jack Cheese as a snack.
Meal 3: Cottage Cheese w/Cinnamon and Almond Butter, Broccoli w/Cheese
Calories: 1750, 40% Protein, 30% fat, 20-25% Carbs.
Monday, May 28, 2012
5/28 Check-In
Weight: 197.8
Exercise: Evening Lower Body workout. Got through it okay but I was beat. I cut it slightly short and finished a couple of exercises later that night (a set of single leg squats and some ab-roller/plank work).
Today was the first day of week 3 of my current program, and that includes consuming Carbs as part of my regular meals. Until now, I had only been eating Carbs as part of my intra-workout drink, and had kept carbs to the bare minimum the rest of the time. So, to celebrate I went to my favorite Taqueria after the workout and had the following for Meal 1:
Exercise: Evening Lower Body workout. Got through it okay but I was beat. I cut it slightly short and finished a couple of exercises later that night (a set of single leg squats and some ab-roller/plank work).
Today was the first day of week 3 of my current program, and that includes consuming Carbs as part of my regular meals. Until now, I had only been eating Carbs as part of my intra-workout drink, and had kept carbs to the bare minimum the rest of the time. So, to celebrate I went to my favorite Taqueria after the workout and had the following for Meal 1:
Camarones (Shimp) a la Diabla w/Beans/Rice/Salad
Loved it! Having both the beans and the rice (and a couple of corn tortillas) was a bit of a mini-cheat, I just compensated by not taking in my normal post-workout carbs, and I think it was fine.
Meal 2: Whey Protein Shake w/Almond Milk
Meal 3: Cottage Cheese w/Almond Butter and Cinnamon
Calores ~2200 (as a best guess).
Will be interested to see how my body handles the re-introduction of carbs to my diet, in theory it should give me a little more energy in my workouts, and hopefully contribute to a bit more muscle gain.
Poker: Had a good day on Merge. Normally I would take Monday off but I am trying to make the Tourney King leaderboard for the month so I am trying to get in some volume to the end the month. Snuck back into the top 250 but I'll need another score or two to stay there.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
5/27 Check-In
Weight: 197.8
Exercise: Bodyweight Complex. Felt much better than the same thing last week, so that was nice, although I hate the feeling that maybe, just maybe I didn't push as hard as I could have.
Meal 1: Whey Protein Shake w/Almond Butter
Meal 2: 2 Eggs, 3 Egg Whites, Avocado/Salsa, Green Salad w/Oil&Vinegar
Meal 3: Cottage Cheese w/Almond Butter, Cinnamon, and some Chocolate Whey Protein for the hell of it.
Calories: ~1580, Protein 50%, Fat 40%, Carbs 10%
Tomorrow starts week 3 of my program, and the reintroduction of regular Carbs with my meals (until this point I've only been having some carbs with my workout shake, plus any incidental carbs in my other foods which have been kept to a minumum). I am looking forward to treating myself to a post-workout meal of Shrimp ala Diabla w/Beans and Rice at my favorite Taqueria. Should keep me motivated during what will hopefully be a brutal Lower Body session.
Exercise: Bodyweight Complex. Felt much better than the same thing last week, so that was nice, although I hate the feeling that maybe, just maybe I didn't push as hard as I could have.
Meal 1: Whey Protein Shake w/Almond Butter
Meal 2: 2 Eggs, 3 Egg Whites, Avocado/Salsa, Green Salad w/Oil&Vinegar
Meal 3: Cottage Cheese w/Almond Butter, Cinnamon, and some Chocolate Whey Protein for the hell of it.
Calories: ~1580, Protein 50%, Fat 40%, Carbs 10%
Tomorrow starts week 3 of my program, and the reintroduction of regular Carbs with my meals (until this point I've only been having some carbs with my workout shake, plus any incidental carbs in my other foods which have been kept to a minumum). I am looking forward to treating myself to a post-workout meal of Shrimp ala Diabla w/Beans and Rice at my favorite Taqueria. Should keep me motivated during what will hopefully be a brutal Lower Body session.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
5/26 Check-In
Weight: 197.2
Exercise: Day off!
Meal 1: Small Protein Shake + Salad
Meal 2: Protein Shake + Peanut Butter
Meal 3: 3 Eggs + 1 Egg White + Avocado + Salsa
Later Snack: Cottage Cheese w/ Almond Butter and Cinnamon
Calories: ~1600, Protein 50%, Fat 40% Carbs <10%
Poker: Had a winning day with a whole bunch of run bads but one 2nd place in a bigger $3r for a decent score.
One more day on a strict low-carb diet before I start getting some carbs with regular meals.
Exercise: Day off!
Meal 1: Small Protein Shake + Salad
Meal 2: Protein Shake + Peanut Butter
Meal 3: 3 Eggs + 1 Egg White + Avocado + Salsa
Later Snack: Cottage Cheese w/ Almond Butter and Cinnamon
Calories: ~1600, Protein 50%, Fat 40% Carbs <10%
Poker: Had a winning day with a whole bunch of run bads but one 2nd place in a bigger $3r for a decent score.
One more day on a strict low-carb diet before I start getting some carbs with regular meals.
Friday, May 25, 2012
5/25 Check-In
Nearing the end of my second week. I feel really good right now, any nagging pain/soreness and issues with the low-carb diet are gone and my body feels completely adapted to the program. Already thinking forward to next week when I'm going to start working more carbs into my regular meals. I started looking forward to the Shrimp + Rice/Beans dish I'm going to get at the local Taqueria on Monday, but then realized it's Memorial Day and they might be closed; let's hope not!
Weight: 196.2 - Likely leveling out after dropping water weight. Hoping to see steady losses from now on, although I might see a bump when I add carbs to my diet next week.
Exercise: Evening Upper Body session + Treadmill walk.
Meal 1: Peri/Post Workout shake of Carbs/Protein
Meal 2: Protein Shake w/ Almond Butter
Meal 3: 3 Eggs + 1 Egg White + Avocado + Salsa + Cheese
Meal 4: Cottage Cheese + Almond Butter + Cinnamon, Broccoli w/Cheese
Calories: ~2100, 40% Protein, 30% Fat, >20% Carbs
Weight: 196.2 - Likely leveling out after dropping water weight. Hoping to see steady losses from now on, although I might see a bump when I add carbs to my diet next week.
Exercise: Evening Upper Body session + Treadmill walk.
Meal 1: Peri/Post Workout shake of Carbs/Protein
Meal 2: Protein Shake w/ Almond Butter
Meal 3: 3 Eggs + 1 Egg White + Avocado + Salsa + Cheese
Meal 4: Cottage Cheese + Almond Butter + Cinnamon, Broccoli w/Cheese
Calories: ~2100, 40% Protein, 30% Fat, >20% Carbs
Poker, Hormones, and Fitness
Well, here I sit in the middle of my second week of my current program, and after feeling great for a week and a half, and seeing good progress, I currently feel like shit! Why? Because I just got done with a losing poker session, of course! Most notably, bubbled or near bubbled three MTTs in a span of about a half hour, two of which were after some marginal plays on my part, which only makes the post-session feeling even worse. We've all been there, of course, and I'll be there again soon enough. But it gives me enough impetus to write this blog post about something I've thought about a lot in the past and especially during the last couple of weeks.
The truth is that poker is a terribly, terribly unnatural thing for humans to participate in. Not only is it extremely unnatural for us to think with the kind of rote logic that a complex card game requires, we are emotionally committed to results-based thinking, regardless of how illogical it may be. Furthermore, the resulting emotions are designed for a world we don't even live in anymore. The classic example would be a player who loses a big pot due to a bad beat, and suddenly goes into hyper-aggressive tilt mode. As we all know, that is a terribly exploitable strategy and is a quick way to lose the rest of your chips. So why does it happen so often?
As humans, I believe that we are constantly playing a sub-conscious mental game of tribal politics, constantly taking stock of those around us, and where we stand (or don't stand) in the group. For males, this tends to show up as a desire to assert ones-self as a dominant male of the group. This is the cause of a large percentage of drama/fighting/general bullshit that goes on among friends. This phenomenon is even worse among strangers, as people don't know where they stand and are in a constant mental frenzy to try and figure out what others think of them, and are hyper-aware of everything.
In poker, where you have a constant source of competition that is occurring among strangers, this subconscious battling is amplified. To make matters worse, the short-term variance of poker is so high that it's often not the best poker player who wins over the course of a few hands, or even thousands of hands. So, because of our aforementioned results-based thinking, the emotions that we DO have are terribly irrational. I can sit at a table and completely outplay those around me, but if I run bad and lose, my emotions will be just as down as if I had lost the same amount playing poorly.
Going back to our tilting friend above, the sudden burst of aggression he shows after a bad beat is something that, for thousands of years, allowed humans to survive. We've all seen (or been) the guy who gets punched in the face and suddenly the adrenalin starts pumping and he beast-modes the other guy into submission. This kind of thing was extremely useful in the pre-ice age tundra, but at the poker table, not so much!
When you "lose" a battle (and your initial last-ditch aggression attempt fails), your body compensates in the other direction just as quickly. We've all gotten up from the table after a loss in a cash game or a tournament, feeling like absolute crap physically no matter how well we may have played. Our testosterone levels drop rapidly, in part, as a survival mechanism. There was a time in the distant future where continuing to challenge someone who had asserted his/her dominance over you meant exile from the group and/or death. Besides, nobody wants the weak loser guy to be passing on his genes anyway!
The funny thing is that for most of my life, I was always the guy who isn't terribly emotional about things, the guy who seems to be able to set his irrational instincts aside and operate very logically. In fact, it was always strange to me watching how driven by raw emotion and instinct others were. When I started playing poker, I got more in touch with everything "human" about me than I ever had before. Poker is probably the first thing that has really brought out everything horribly irrational and defective about my humanity. And because Poker is hands down the most complex and challenging thing I've ever done, it's managed to make me feel like a superhuman and at once a worthless pile of irrational emotion, unlike anything else.
Anyway, trying to keep this short, but I really started thinking about this a lot because of my current fitness push (which includes studying hormonal-based approaches to diet/exercise), and knowing how much hormones/emotions can affect your progress in that department.
The truth is that poker is a terribly, terribly unnatural thing for humans to participate in. Not only is it extremely unnatural for us to think with the kind of rote logic that a complex card game requires, we are emotionally committed to results-based thinking, regardless of how illogical it may be. Furthermore, the resulting emotions are designed for a world we don't even live in anymore. The classic example would be a player who loses a big pot due to a bad beat, and suddenly goes into hyper-aggressive tilt mode. As we all know, that is a terribly exploitable strategy and is a quick way to lose the rest of your chips. So why does it happen so often?
As humans, I believe that we are constantly playing a sub-conscious mental game of tribal politics, constantly taking stock of those around us, and where we stand (or don't stand) in the group. For males, this tends to show up as a desire to assert ones-self as a dominant male of the group. This is the cause of a large percentage of drama/fighting/general bullshit that goes on among friends. This phenomenon is even worse among strangers, as people don't know where they stand and are in a constant mental frenzy to try and figure out what others think of them, and are hyper-aware of everything.
In poker, where you have a constant source of competition that is occurring among strangers, this subconscious battling is amplified. To make matters worse, the short-term variance of poker is so high that it's often not the best poker player who wins over the course of a few hands, or even thousands of hands. So, because of our aforementioned results-based thinking, the emotions that we DO have are terribly irrational. I can sit at a table and completely outplay those around me, but if I run bad and lose, my emotions will be just as down as if I had lost the same amount playing poorly.
Going back to our tilting friend above, the sudden burst of aggression he shows after a bad beat is something that, for thousands of years, allowed humans to survive. We've all seen (or been) the guy who gets punched in the face and suddenly the adrenalin starts pumping and he beast-modes the other guy into submission. This kind of thing was extremely useful in the pre-ice age tundra, but at the poker table, not so much!
When you "lose" a battle (and your initial last-ditch aggression attempt fails), your body compensates in the other direction just as quickly. We've all gotten up from the table after a loss in a cash game or a tournament, feeling like absolute crap physically no matter how well we may have played. Our testosterone levels drop rapidly, in part, as a survival mechanism. There was a time in the distant future where continuing to challenge someone who had asserted his/her dominance over you meant exile from the group and/or death. Besides, nobody wants the weak loser guy to be passing on his genes anyway!
The funny thing is that for most of my life, I was always the guy who isn't terribly emotional about things, the guy who seems to be able to set his irrational instincts aside and operate very logically. In fact, it was always strange to me watching how driven by raw emotion and instinct others were. When I started playing poker, I got more in touch with everything "human" about me than I ever had before. Poker is probably the first thing that has really brought out everything horribly irrational and defective about my humanity. And because Poker is hands down the most complex and challenging thing I've ever done, it's managed to make me feel like a superhuman and at once a worthless pile of irrational emotion, unlike anything else.
Anyway, trying to keep this short, but I really started thinking about this a lot because of my current fitness push (which includes studying hormonal-based approaches to diet/exercise), and knowing how much hormones/emotions can affect your progress in that department.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
5/24 Check-In
Weight: 196.4
Exercise: Morning HIIT Bike Session + Jump Rope/Burpee complex. Brutal!
Meal 1: Small Whey Protein Shake, Cottage Cheese w/Almond Butter and Cinnamon
Meal 2: Whey Protein Shake w/Almond Butter, Salad w/Oil and Vinegar
Meal 3: Eggs+Eggwhites w/Avocado, Cheese, and Salsa. 3 Brazil Nuts!
Calories: ~1600, 50% Protein, 40% Fat, ~10% Carbs
Poker: Bubbled multiple PLO8 MTTs, it was fun!
Exercise: Morning HIIT Bike Session + Jump Rope/Burpee complex. Brutal!
Meal 1: Small Whey Protein Shake, Cottage Cheese w/Almond Butter and Cinnamon
Meal 2: Whey Protein Shake w/Almond Butter, Salad w/Oil and Vinegar
Meal 3: Eggs+Eggwhites w/Avocado, Cheese, and Salsa. 3 Brazil Nuts!
Calories: ~1600, 50% Protein, 40% Fat, ~10% Carbs
Poker: Bubbled multiple PLO8 MTTs, it was fun!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
5/23 Check-In
Weight: 198.4
Exercise: Morning HIIT Session on my bike. Legs definitely a bit sore from the lower body workout yesterday.
Meal 1: Whey Protein + Almond Milk, Veggie Patty w/American Cheese+Mustard
Meal 2: 2 Eggs/3 Egg Whites w/Salsa/Avocado/Cheese, and spoonful of Peanut Butter
Meal 3: Cottage Cheese w/Almond Butter and Cinnamon, Broccoli w/American Cheese
Calories: ~1644, Protein 35%, Fat 45%, Carbs <10%
Exercise: Morning HIIT Session on my bike. Legs definitely a bit sore from the lower body workout yesterday.
Meal 1: Whey Protein + Almond Milk, Veggie Patty w/American Cheese+Mustard
Meal 2: 2 Eggs/3 Egg Whites w/Salsa/Avocado/Cheese, and spoonful of Peanut Butter
Meal 3: Cottage Cheese w/Almond Butter and Cinnamon, Broccoli w/American Cheese
Calories: ~1644, Protein 35%, Fat 45%, Carbs <10%
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
5/22 Check-In
Got a great nights sleep and feel good overall, which is important because tonight is my Lower Body training session which is brutal. Mostly over the soreness from week 1, little aches and pains are minimal and fading, seems my body is adapting well to the high volume.
Weight: 197.6. That's 4.6 pounds since 1 week on this current exercise/diet program, and about 6 pounds since the previous Sunday. Lots of water weight for sure from going low-carb, but I'm sure there's some fat there too. Definitely expect it to slow down this week and it should, but it's always nice to see the initial drop.
Exercise: Evening Lower-Body weights session that is just a killer, lots of Squats/Lunges/and the like.
Meal 1: Peri-Post workout shake containing some simple carbs and protein
Meal 2: Post-workout shake of Whey Protein and some homemade Almond Butter. Homemade Almond Butter is great, try it sometime, definitely a frugal alternative to what is normally an expensive nut butter.
Meal 3: 2 Eggs + 2 Egg White Omelette w/American Cheese, Hot Sauce, and a side of Broccoli.
Meal 4: Cottage Cheese w/Almond Butter and Cinnamon
6g Fish Oil taken throughout the day
Weight: 197.6. That's 4.6 pounds since 1 week on this current exercise/diet program, and about 6 pounds since the previous Sunday. Lots of water weight for sure from going low-carb, but I'm sure there's some fat there too. Definitely expect it to slow down this week and it should, but it's always nice to see the initial drop.
Exercise: Evening Lower-Body weights session that is just a killer, lots of Squats/Lunges/and the like.
Meal 1: Peri-Post workout shake containing some simple carbs and protein
Meal 2: Post-workout shake of Whey Protein and some homemade Almond Butter. Homemade Almond Butter is great, try it sometime, definitely a frugal alternative to what is normally an expensive nut butter.
Meal 3: 2 Eggs + 2 Egg White Omelette w/American Cheese, Hot Sauce, and a side of Broccoli.
Meal 4: Cottage Cheese w/Almond Butter and Cinnamon
6g Fish Oil taken throughout the day
Monday, May 21, 2012
5/21 Check-In
Had an awful time getting to sleep the night before, I'm pretty sure again that it's a low-carb thing. I literally laid there in an exhausted stupor for a good 3-4 hours before falling asleep. It sucked! Going to be on taking in more carbs starting next week so hopefully I get past that! Otherwise, felt pretty good after the day off and was ready to get after it.
Weight: 197.6
Exercise: Morning Bike session, evening Upper Body weights.
Meal 1: 2 Eggs + 3 Egg Whites Scrambled w/Avocado, Cheddar Cheese, and Salsa
I know, it's a mess, but man it's good!:
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Weight: 197.6
Exercise: Morning Bike session, evening Upper Body weights.
Meal 1: 2 Eggs + 3 Egg Whites Scrambled w/Avocado, Cheddar Cheese, and Salsa
I know, it's a mess, but man it's good!:
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Meal 2: Peri/Post Workout shake w/carbs and BCAAs.
Meal 3: Protein Shake w/Almond Milk and Peanut Butter, 2g Fish Oil
Meal 4: Cottage Cheese + Peanut Butter and Cinnamon. Also had a Vegetarian Patty w/a slice of American Cheese and Mustard. I want and need to keep Soy to a minimum in my diet but I had a few of these left so I might as well eat them! 3g Fish Oil
Overall: Calories ~2050 40% Protein, 45% fat, 15% Carbs
Sunday, May 20, 2012
5/20 Check In
Weight: 198.4. Down a bunch so far but mostly water weight for sure.
BF% ~17%
Exercise: Day off! Did a morning light stretching routine and a bunch foam rolling periodically. My back was aching a bit so I needed it, looking forward to a good nights sleep tonight.
Diet:
Meal 1: 2 Eggs + 4 Egg Whites + 1/2 Avocado + Salsa + Cheddar Cheese
Meal 2: Whey Protein Shake w/Almond Milk + medium salad w/Oil&Vinegar
Meal 3: Cottage Cheese w/Peanut Butter + Cinnamon, Broccoli. Had a small Whey shake as well.
I should note that I took 8g of Fish Oil today as well, I've been waiting for an order of fish oil to come in and was without for a couple of days, but I found an old bottle of cheap stuff I'm shoving in my mouth until then :).
Overall: ~1700 Calories, 50% Protein, 40% fat, <10% carbs
Poker: Lit buy-in after buy-in on fire for what was a brutal Sunday grind, but mitigate my losses with a Stud/8 win later in the day.
BF% ~17%
Exercise: Day off! Did a morning light stretching routine and a bunch foam rolling periodically. My back was aching a bit so I needed it, looking forward to a good nights sleep tonight.
Diet:
Meal 1: 2 Eggs + 4 Egg Whites + 1/2 Avocado + Salsa + Cheddar Cheese
Meal 2: Whey Protein Shake w/Almond Milk + medium salad w/Oil&Vinegar
Meal 3: Cottage Cheese w/Peanut Butter + Cinnamon, Broccoli. Had a small Whey shake as well.
I should note that I took 8g of Fish Oil today as well, I've been waiting for an order of fish oil to come in and was without for a couple of days, but I found an old bottle of cheap stuff I'm shoving in my mouth until then :).
Overall: ~1700 Calories, 50% Protein, 40% fat, <10% carbs
Poker: Lit buy-in after buy-in on fire for what was a brutal Sunday grind, but mitigate my losses with a Stud/8 win later in the day.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
5/19 Check-In
Feel good overall, shoulders are a little achy but my current program is pretty shoulder-heavy so that's to be expected. On the whole I feel really good considering the volume I've put in this week. Definitely looking forward to a day off from training tomorrow and hopefully a good Sunday grind.
Weight: 199.4
Exercise: Morning bodyweight complexes, Evening Jump Rope session.
Diet:
Meal 1: 2 Eggs + 3 Egg Whites, 1/2 Avocado, Salsa, Grated Cheddar Cheese, Hot Sauce!
Meal 2: Whey Shake w/Almond Milk and Olive Oil, Broccoli
Quick snack after Jump Rope: 1 Scoop of Whey w/ Water and some Brazil Nuts
Meal 3: Cottage Cheese w/Almond Butter and Cinnamon, Salad with oil/vinegar.
Daily Caloric intake ~1600, 50% Protein, 40% Fat, 10% incidental Carbs.
Poker: Grinding most of the afternoon and pretty much burned through most buy ins :).
Weight: 199.4
Exercise: Morning bodyweight complexes, Evening Jump Rope session.
Diet:
Meal 1: 2 Eggs + 3 Egg Whites, 1/2 Avocado, Salsa, Grated Cheddar Cheese, Hot Sauce!
Meal 2: Whey Shake w/Almond Milk and Olive Oil, Broccoli
Quick snack after Jump Rope: 1 Scoop of Whey w/ Water and some Brazil Nuts
Meal 3: Cottage Cheese w/Almond Butter and Cinnamon, Salad with oil/vinegar.
Daily Caloric intake ~1600, 50% Protein, 40% Fat, 10% incidental Carbs.
Poker: Grinding most of the afternoon and pretty much burned through most buy ins :).
My Program
Finished up a late night Upper Body training session a few hours ago and now I've got some time to sit down and write a little bit about my program and the process I went through getting it together. This could get a little long-winded, but I think both the decision and the program are interesting, so hopefully it's worth reading.
In case anybody reading this doesn't already know, I've entered a 12-Week Transformation Contest being run by a well known and successful poker player by the name of Sorel Mizzi. As I talked about in my last blog post, I have been taking fitness relatively seriously for close to a year now, and have come a long way, but still have quite a ways to go. One of my goals for the last few months has been to get lean, which is something I've always been terrible at, even when I've "done everything right". While I've improved my overall conditioning/fitness tremendously for the last several months, I've more or less stagnated on the fat loss front. For the last several weeks I had scaled back my training a bit, and was trying to give my body a bit of a breather as my body had gotten to feel quite worn out/overtrained after several hard months.
Anyway, I heard about Sorel's contest through a close poker friend of mine in the middle of the day on the entry deadline. On one hand, I said "a hah! perfect", but finding out on the day of the entry deadline was a bit rough, as I wasn't 100% prepared (and was starting a busy weekend), but I knew I had to get entered and try to get started on a plan ASAP. I immediately spent all of my free mental time weighing my options, trying to come up with the right plan for a specific time frame (12 weeks), trying to figure out how to get everything in order to really attack this thing right. After quite a bit of deliberation, I decided to go ahead and "invest" in private fitness/diet coaching (more on that in a bit).
To back up a little bit, I want to mention that I have always been a do-it-yourself person. More specifically, I have rarely found the value in paying for private tutoring of any kind, especially at the beginner/intermediate levels. I have always tried to teach myself anything I need to learn, and with few exceptions that's pretty much worked out for me (as a side note, while I think I'm somewhat unique in this regard, I think it's relatively common among poker players. There is a definite amount of self-actualization required to even begin let alone stick with/be successful at poker). For me, fitness/training/diet was no different. I have spent countless hours over the past 9 months drawing from every resource I can get my hands on to learn/improve my fitness knowledge and therefore my training. So for me, it was a very difficult decision to pay for fitness coaching. So why did I do it? A few reasons:
1) I felt I was at the right stage fitness-wise where I could actually get my money's worth from something like this. I feel that for the most part, when you consult a world-class expert on something, you really don't get to tap their real expertise until you have achieved a certain faculty with whatever it is you are trying to learn about. I know that If I had paid for private training 9 months ago, I would've had difficulty completing any really effective workouts, and the first few months would've been spent just "catching up" in a general fitness sense before I'd really get value for my money. Now, I have the right base of strength/conditioning/mobility that I can really attack a killer program and get everything out of it.
The truth is though, if I'm honest, I think that my fitness knowledge is such that I could have gotten 80-90% of the way there without it, so am I really getting as much value as the average client? Probably not, which brings me to the next reason:
2) Motivation. As much as I hate to admit it, investing in something like this brings along several motivating factors. The first is that when you get a fitness/training/diet program from someone you have trust in, you are unlikely to question it, and are more likely to just worry less about the programming and just execute. That being said, I can and will question the program if I thought there was something wrong with it. However, having gone through the program for most of a week now, I think this program is extremely well-written and will be effective.
Secondly, when you're paying good money for something like this, you're more likely to stick to it. For me, especially post-black Friday this is no small investment, so the thought of not following through my end of the bargain scares the crap out of me, so I haven't even for a second doubted my ability to stick to it to a T.
Also, you are held somewhat accountable just because your "coach" is going to want to see your results and hear your progress reports.
I will say that as a self-actualizing/motivating person, it's very hard for me to admit to myself that the above motivating factors are a part of it. I have always hated the fact that people will pay money to others to have them tell them what to do. I remember taking coronet lessons as a kid, and having my parents paying some private instructor to tell me what and how much to practice. Part of me wants to say "if I can't teach myself and motivate myself, I don't deserve it", which is a big reason why this was a very tough decision for me.
So, those factors on top of hearing about Sorel's fitness challenge gave me the impetus to go ahead and pull the trigger on it. Now that I got all of that out of the way, I'm pretty excited to tell you more about the program:
Like I said above, I spent a lot of time reading/learning what I could from various resources. Some of these resources include fitness "gurus" with a strong web presence, some of them really fantastic fitness guys (like Eric Cressey), and many who are really just great marketers more than they are real cutting-edge fitness experts. A rare few have a strong combination of both, and one of those (IMO) is a guy by the name of John Romaniello at Roman Fitness Systems:
While he can get hype-y with the best of them, I have followed him (and his programs) for awhile, and his content is fantastic. I highly recommend checking out his website/blogs/products and watching some of his videos. A lot of his workout/diet theories are very cutting edge and very interesting, so when I decided to enlist the help of someone else for this, choosing him was a no-brainer. Oh, and he's also a bit of a poker freak as well, so that's cool (in case you're ever in a game with him, my gut instinct tells me he's probably an "overplay suited connectors/hood flat with small pairs" kinda guy... sorry Roman!).
As for the program itself, it is dynamic and will change depending on my progress over the next 4-6 months. For the first month, I am on a frequency-heavy program that includes weight training 3-days per week, alternating between Upper Body and Lower Body workouts. Several cardio sessions and bodyweight workouts are interspersed through the week, so I will be working out twice per day some days. I got started on Tuesday and even though I have lots of experience with these type of workouts, it has been an ass-kicker (in a good way).
From a dietary perspective, I am on a very low-carb diet to start that includes utilization of Intermittent Fasting (IF) protocols. For those who aren't yet familiar with Intermittent Fasting, it is one of the latest crazes in the fitness world and I have tried it in the past with relative success. For quick reference, you can check out Martin Berkhan's Lean Gains site as well as a two-part "Primer" on IF written by Mr. Romaniello.
For the majority of my adult life, I was a Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian, but have introduced some seafood (mostly fish and shrimp) in the last few years. Going low-carb is not terribly easy if you don't eat a lot of red and white meat, so I've pretty much decided that I will have to at least add a lot of seafood to my diet, if not break my pseudo-vegetarianism completely. We'll see how it goes. So far I feel great for the most part although going low-carb wreaked havoc on my sleep quality initially. I barely got any decent sleep the first few days and then crashed for 11 hours last night. I'm a notoriously bad sleeper to begin with but hopefully my body adjusts, good sleep is so important!
Whew, that was as wordy as I was afraid it might be. I hope it was interesting to some! I'd love to hear if anybody else out there has been on (or is currently on) a personal training program and what your experiences were with it both positive/negative.
In case anybody reading this doesn't already know, I've entered a 12-Week Transformation Contest being run by a well known and successful poker player by the name of Sorel Mizzi. As I talked about in my last blog post, I have been taking fitness relatively seriously for close to a year now, and have come a long way, but still have quite a ways to go. One of my goals for the last few months has been to get lean, which is something I've always been terrible at, even when I've "done everything right". While I've improved my overall conditioning/fitness tremendously for the last several months, I've more or less stagnated on the fat loss front. For the last several weeks I had scaled back my training a bit, and was trying to give my body a bit of a breather as my body had gotten to feel quite worn out/overtrained after several hard months.
Anyway, I heard about Sorel's contest through a close poker friend of mine in the middle of the day on the entry deadline. On one hand, I said "a hah! perfect", but finding out on the day of the entry deadline was a bit rough, as I wasn't 100% prepared (and was starting a busy weekend), but I knew I had to get entered and try to get started on a plan ASAP. I immediately spent all of my free mental time weighing my options, trying to come up with the right plan for a specific time frame (12 weeks), trying to figure out how to get everything in order to really attack this thing right. After quite a bit of deliberation, I decided to go ahead and "invest" in private fitness/diet coaching (more on that in a bit).
To back up a little bit, I want to mention that I have always been a do-it-yourself person. More specifically, I have rarely found the value in paying for private tutoring of any kind, especially at the beginner/intermediate levels. I have always tried to teach myself anything I need to learn, and with few exceptions that's pretty much worked out for me (as a side note, while I think I'm somewhat unique in this regard, I think it's relatively common among poker players. There is a definite amount of self-actualization required to even begin let alone stick with/be successful at poker). For me, fitness/training/diet was no different. I have spent countless hours over the past 9 months drawing from every resource I can get my hands on to learn/improve my fitness knowledge and therefore my training. So for me, it was a very difficult decision to pay for fitness coaching. So why did I do it? A few reasons:
1) I felt I was at the right stage fitness-wise where I could actually get my money's worth from something like this. I feel that for the most part, when you consult a world-class expert on something, you really don't get to tap their real expertise until you have achieved a certain faculty with whatever it is you are trying to learn about. I know that If I had paid for private training 9 months ago, I would've had difficulty completing any really effective workouts, and the first few months would've been spent just "catching up" in a general fitness sense before I'd really get value for my money. Now, I have the right base of strength/conditioning/mobility that I can really attack a killer program and get everything out of it.
The truth is though, if I'm honest, I think that my fitness knowledge is such that I could have gotten 80-90% of the way there without it, so am I really getting as much value as the average client? Probably not, which brings me to the next reason:
2) Motivation. As much as I hate to admit it, investing in something like this brings along several motivating factors. The first is that when you get a fitness/training/diet program from someone you have trust in, you are unlikely to question it, and are more likely to just worry less about the programming and just execute. That being said, I can and will question the program if I thought there was something wrong with it. However, having gone through the program for most of a week now, I think this program is extremely well-written and will be effective.
Secondly, when you're paying good money for something like this, you're more likely to stick to it. For me, especially post-black Friday this is no small investment, so the thought of not following through my end of the bargain scares the crap out of me, so I haven't even for a second doubted my ability to stick to it to a T.
Also, you are held somewhat accountable just because your "coach" is going to want to see your results and hear your progress reports.
I will say that as a self-actualizing/motivating person, it's very hard for me to admit to myself that the above motivating factors are a part of it. I have always hated the fact that people will pay money to others to have them tell them what to do. I remember taking coronet lessons as a kid, and having my parents paying some private instructor to tell me what and how much to practice. Part of me wants to say "if I can't teach myself and motivate myself, I don't deserve it", which is a big reason why this was a very tough decision for me.
So, those factors on top of hearing about Sorel's fitness challenge gave me the impetus to go ahead and pull the trigger on it. Now that I got all of that out of the way, I'm pretty excited to tell you more about the program:
Like I said above, I spent a lot of time reading/learning what I could from various resources. Some of these resources include fitness "gurus" with a strong web presence, some of them really fantastic fitness guys (like Eric Cressey), and many who are really just great marketers more than they are real cutting-edge fitness experts. A rare few have a strong combination of both, and one of those (IMO) is a guy by the name of John Romaniello at Roman Fitness Systems:
While he can get hype-y with the best of them, I have followed him (and his programs) for awhile, and his content is fantastic. I highly recommend checking out his website/blogs/products and watching some of his videos. A lot of his workout/diet theories are very cutting edge and very interesting, so when I decided to enlist the help of someone else for this, choosing him was a no-brainer. Oh, and he's also a bit of a poker freak as well, so that's cool (in case you're ever in a game with him, my gut instinct tells me he's probably an "overplay suited connectors/hood flat with small pairs" kinda guy... sorry Roman!).
As for the program itself, it is dynamic and will change depending on my progress over the next 4-6 months. For the first month, I am on a frequency-heavy program that includes weight training 3-days per week, alternating between Upper Body and Lower Body workouts. Several cardio sessions and bodyweight workouts are interspersed through the week, so I will be working out twice per day some days. I got started on Tuesday and even though I have lots of experience with these type of workouts, it has been an ass-kicker (in a good way).
From a dietary perspective, I am on a very low-carb diet to start that includes utilization of Intermittent Fasting (IF) protocols. For those who aren't yet familiar with Intermittent Fasting, it is one of the latest crazes in the fitness world and I have tried it in the past with relative success. For quick reference, you can check out Martin Berkhan's Lean Gains site as well as a two-part "Primer" on IF written by Mr. Romaniello.
For the majority of my adult life, I was a Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian, but have introduced some seafood (mostly fish and shrimp) in the last few years. Going low-carb is not terribly easy if you don't eat a lot of red and white meat, so I've pretty much decided that I will have to at least add a lot of seafood to my diet, if not break my pseudo-vegetarianism completely. We'll see how it goes. So far I feel great for the most part although going low-carb wreaked havoc on my sleep quality initially. I barely got any decent sleep the first few days and then crashed for 11 hours last night. I'm a notoriously bad sleeper to begin with but hopefully my body adjusts, good sleep is so important!
Whew, that was as wordy as I was afraid it might be. I hope it was interesting to some! I'd love to hear if anybody else out there has been on (or is currently on) a personal training program and what your experiences were with it both positive/negative.
Friday, May 18, 2012
5/18 Check-in
Weight: 199.4
Exercise: High-volume day, with a morning HIIT Bike workout, and an evening Upper Body weight training session. Shoulders were a little sore from a few days ago, but I felt good overall.
Diet:
Meal 1: 2Eggs/4 Egg Whites w/ Salsa, 1/2 Avocado, Cheddar Cheese, and copious amounts of Tapatio!
Peri-Post workout drink with some carbs/protein.
Meal 2: Two Scoops of Whey Protein w/Almond Milk and Almond Butter, and a nice salad with tons of veggies!
Meal 3: (actually two meals split apart) Cottage Cheese w/Almond Butter and Cinnamon, and broccoli!
Daily totals: Calories ~2050, 40% Protein, 40% Fat, 20% Carbs
Poker: Played a few MTT's, burned through a few more buyins. Whoops :).
Exercise: High-volume day, with a morning HIIT Bike workout, and an evening Upper Body weight training session. Shoulders were a little sore from a few days ago, but I felt good overall.
Diet:
Meal 1: 2Eggs/4 Egg Whites w/ Salsa, 1/2 Avocado, Cheddar Cheese, and copious amounts of Tapatio!
Peri-Post workout drink with some carbs/protein.
Meal 2: Two Scoops of Whey Protein w/Almond Milk and Almond Butter, and a nice salad with tons of veggies!
Meal 3: (actually two meals split apart) Cottage Cheese w/Almond Butter and Cinnamon, and broccoli!
Daily totals: Calories ~2050, 40% Protein, 40% Fat, 20% Carbs
Poker: Played a few MTT's, burned through a few more buyins. Whoops :).
Thursday, May 17, 2012
My fitness background:
I was always slightly chubby as a kid, but never terribly fat. I played lots of sports when I was younger, and was a competitive tennis player in my teen/high school years and in college, so I tended to be in pretty decent physical shape. Injuries got me away from tennis, and I decided to keep eating the same, so the pounds came on quick! That left me hovering between "chubby" and "kinda fat" for most of the last decade or so.
A little under a year ago, I started doing some research into fitness, particularly with regards to postural correction/muscle imbalances/mobility/flexibility. After finding some fantastic resources, this started me on the path of taking fitness quite seriously for the past 9-10 months. I would urge anybody interested in that kind of thing to head over to T-Nation and read Eric Cressey/Mike Robertson's fantastic Neanderthal No More articles. It's worth reading the entire thing, and the program they outline is a fantastic program for people with many of the common postural issues plaguing people today. I did several cycles of the Neanderthal No More program and it was easily one of the best decisions I ever made.
As my basic posture/mobility/etc improved, I decided the next step would be to develop a solid base of strength. I tried various programs, including Eric Cressey's new Show and Go program (which I also can't say enough good things about. You can find out more about him and his programs at ericcressey.com).
In the meantime, I dropped a bit of fat and had a nice body recomposition, but I thought it was time to really get lean. Well, that's pretty much been a struggle over the last few months. I have improved my conditioning tremendously and my overall fitness has improved, but I have not been able to get under the 15-16% body fat threshold.
From a dietary perspective, I was always a high-carb eater, and have experimented with various dietary options over the last few months, with varying degrees of success (more on that later!).
Tomorrow I'll write about my experience deciding on the plan of attack for this transformation project. It's a very interesting and exciting program, but the decision wasn't easy. Now excuse me while I go foam-roll myself to sleep, as I'm already quite sore from the first few days :).
A little under a year ago, I started doing some research into fitness, particularly with regards to postural correction/muscle imbalances/mobility/flexibility. After finding some fantastic resources, this started me on the path of taking fitness quite seriously for the past 9-10 months. I would urge anybody interested in that kind of thing to head over to T-Nation and read Eric Cressey/Mike Robertson's fantastic Neanderthal No More articles. It's worth reading the entire thing, and the program they outline is a fantastic program for people with many of the common postural issues plaguing people today. I did several cycles of the Neanderthal No More program and it was easily one of the best decisions I ever made.
As my basic posture/mobility/etc improved, I decided the next step would be to develop a solid base of strength. I tried various programs, including Eric Cressey's new Show and Go program (which I also can't say enough good things about. You can find out more about him and his programs at ericcressey.com).
In the meantime, I dropped a bit of fat and had a nice body recomposition, but I thought it was time to really get lean. Well, that's pretty much been a struggle over the last few months. I have improved my conditioning tremendously and my overall fitness has improved, but I have not been able to get under the 15-16% body fat threshold.
From a dietary perspective, I was always a high-carb eater, and have experimented with various dietary options over the last few months, with varying degrees of success (more on that later!).
Tomorrow I'll write about my experience deciding on the plan of attack for this transformation project. It's a very interesting and exciting program, but the decision wasn't easy. Now excuse me while I go foam-roll myself to sleep, as I'm already quite sore from the first few days :).
5/17 Check-in
Weight: 200.2
Exercise: Morning HIIT Bike, did some walking/stretching/jump rope in the evening.
Diet:
Meal 1: Whey protein shake w/Almond Milk and Olive Oil.
Meal 2: Omelette w/cheese/salsa/avocado and hot sauce.
Meal 3: Cottage Cheese w/whey protein and almond butter.
Daily totals: Calories ~1710, Protein 50%, Fat >40%, Carbs <10%
Rough day, I barely got any sleep the night before (probably due to low-carbs in my diet), was tired all day but got through it.
Poker: I am a bit of a PLO8 specialist, so Thursday is a big day on Merge. Well, I managed to burn through buy-in after buy-in, including getting scooped in a tough 55/45 spot where I rarely get scooped near the bubble of the $109 :(.
Exercise: Morning HIIT Bike, did some walking/stretching/jump rope in the evening.
Diet:
Meal 1: Whey protein shake w/Almond Milk and Olive Oil.
Meal 2: Omelette w/cheese/salsa/avocado and hot sauce.
Meal 3: Cottage Cheese w/whey protein and almond butter.
Daily totals: Calories ~1710, Protein 50%, Fat >40%, Carbs <10%
Rough day, I barely got any sleep the night before (probably due to low-carbs in my diet), was tired all day but got through it.
Poker: I am a bit of a PLO8 specialist, so Thursday is a big day on Merge. Well, I managed to burn through buy-in after buy-in, including getting scooped in a tough 55/45 spot where I rarely get scooped near the bubble of the $109 :(.
So it begins...
Hey everybody!
A quick introduction: I'm a 33-year old Professional Poker Player currently living in California. I've set this blog up to record my experiences, ups and downs, etc. of what will hopefully be a successful fitness transformation over the next several months (and more!). I've just gotten started on my exercise and diet program Tuesday of this week, and I'm really loving it so far. I can't wait to talk more about the program I'm on as it's a pretty exciting (and ass-kicking) program.
In addition to this blog, I will be updating my BodySpace account with pictures and full stats during the entire process. In addition to basic status updates, I will probably end up writing some relatively long-winded blog posts about my experiences, as I'm the kind of person who can pretty much ramble with their thoughts as long as I let myself :). Hopefully it will be interesting to some, and you're all welcome along for the ride!
"The moment you make fitness a priority in your life, everything else becomes easier" - Hulk Hogan
A quick introduction: I'm a 33-year old Professional Poker Player currently living in California. I've set this blog up to record my experiences, ups and downs, etc. of what will hopefully be a successful fitness transformation over the next several months (and more!). I've just gotten started on my exercise and diet program Tuesday of this week, and I'm really loving it so far. I can't wait to talk more about the program I'm on as it's a pretty exciting (and ass-kicking) program.
In addition to this blog, I will be updating my BodySpace account with pictures and full stats during the entire process. In addition to basic status updates, I will probably end up writing some relatively long-winded blog posts about my experiences, as I'm the kind of person who can pretty much ramble with their thoughts as long as I let myself :). Hopefully it will be interesting to some, and you're all welcome along for the ride!
"The moment you make fitness a priority in your life, everything else becomes easier" - Hulk Hogan
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
5/16 Check-in
Weight: 201.4
Exercise: Evening Upper Body workout w/weights, fasted.
Diet:
Peri-post workout shake w/ carbs/protein
Meal 1: Whey Protein shake w/Peanut butter (need to phase out peanut butter/replace it with Almond Butter, but I had a few scoops left in a jar). Salad.
Meal 2: Eggs/Egg Whites with Salsa and Avocado
Meal 3: Cottage Cheese w/Almond Butter and Cinnamon (great combination if you haven't tried it!), broccoli.
Totals: Calories ~2100, Protein 40%, Fat 40%, Carbs 20%
Exercise: Evening Upper Body workout w/weights, fasted.
Diet:
Peri-post workout shake w/ carbs/protein
Meal 1: Whey Protein shake w/Peanut butter (need to phase out peanut butter/replace it with Almond Butter, but I had a few scoops left in a jar). Salad.
Meal 2: Eggs/Egg Whites with Salsa and Avocado
Meal 3: Cottage Cheese w/Almond Butter and Cinnamon (great combination if you haven't tried it!), broccoli.
Totals: Calories ~2100, Protein 40%, Fat 40%, Carbs 20%
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
5/15 Check-In
First day on my new program, very excited!
Weight: 202.2
Bodyfat: ~18%
Bodyfat: ~18%
Exercise: Morning cardio on my bike, evening Lower Body workout at the gym which absolutely kicked my ass.
Diet:
Meal 1: Lunch with my dad: nice plate of Salmon at Bj's, with veggies, hold the rice please!
Peri-Post workout shake during my workout.
Meal 2: 2-Scoops of Whey Protein in Almond Milk with Oil, and a couple of Brazil Nuts, and a Salad.
Meal 3: Cottage Cheese with Almond Butter.
Total Calories: ~1500, 45% protein, 35% fat, 20% Carbs
Total Calories: ~1500, 45% protein, 35% fat, 20% Carbs
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