7/31 Check-In

Weight: 190.2 (sigh :).

Exercise: Morning treadmill walk, Evening Full Body weight session+treadmill walk. Pretty good day, this full body workout is one of my favorite workouts ever. Had my best ever Back Squat session by far.



Diet:

Meal 1: Peri/Post Workout Shake
Calories: 302, 2g Fat, 26g Protein, 45g Carbs

Meal 2: 8 Egg whites scrambled, 1/2 Can of Black Beans, 1/2 Cup of Salsa, Hot Sauce
Calories: 378, 0g Fat, 39.5 Carbs, 52.9 Protein

Meal 3: Whey Protein Shake (2 Scoops), 2 Cups of Strawberries
Calories: 398, 4.7g Fat, 39.9g Carbs, 51.5g Protein

Meal 4 (Split an hour or so apart): 2 Cups of Cottage Cheese, 4 TBSP of Natural Peanut Butter, 10g of NOW Super EPA Fish Oil
Calories: 830, 51g Fat, 30g Carbs, 64g Protein

Totals:

Calories: 1908,
Fat: 57.7g,
Carbs: 149.4g,
Protein: 194.4g

7/30 Check-In

Weight: 189.6

Exercise: Morning HIIT Bike session, Evening Dynamic Upper Body Training. Really good day, my conditioning is killer right now.


Diet:

Meal 1: Peri/Post Workout Shake
Calories: 302, 2g Fat, 26g Protein, 45g Carbs

Meal 2: 8 Egg whites scrambled, 1/2 Can of Black Beans, 1/2 Cup of Salsa, Hot Sauce
Calories: 378, 0g Fat, 39.5 Carbs, 52.9 Protein

Meal 3: Whey Protein Shake (2 Scoops), 2 Cups of Strawberries
Calories: 398, 4.7g Fat, 39.9g Carbs, 51.5g Protein

Meal 4 (Split an hour or so apart): 2 Cups of Cottage Cheese, 4 TBSP of Natural Peanut Butter, 10g of NOW Super EPA Fish Oil
Calories: 830, 51g Fat, 30g Carbs, 64g Protein

Totals:

Calories: 1908,
Fat: 57.7g,
Carbs: 149.4g,
Protein: 194.4g

7/29 Check-In

Weight: 188.8 (booyah.)

Exercise: Morning bodyweight complex + treadmill walk. Absolutely killer, this bodyweight workout is the toughest part of my entire routine. Felt pretty good though, doing it on about 34 hours without food :)


Meal 1: 2 Scoops of Low-Carb Whey Protein, 1 Cup of Blueberries
Calories: 270, Fat 2.5g, Carbs 31g, Protein 61.1g

Meal 2: 3 Eggs/4 Eggwhites Scrambled, 1/2 Avocado, 1/2 Can of Black Beans, Hot Sauce everywhere.
Calories: 540, Fat 28.2g, Carbs 27.3g, Protein 46.5g

Meal 3: 2 Cups of Cottage Cheese, 2 Tablespoons of Almond Butter, 13g of NOW Super EPA Fish Oil
Calories: 670, Fat 38g, Carbs 25g, Protein 57g

Daily Totals:

Calories: 1563
Fat: 68.7g
Carbs: 83.3g
Protein: 164.5g

7/28 Check-In

Weight: 194.2 (sup cheat day)

Exercise: Evening light stretching/jump rope/treadmill walk/foam rolling.

Diet: Fast day!

7/27 Check-In

Weight: 189.6 (About freaking time, just in time to destroy it via a cheat day :).

Exercise: Morning GH Surge workout. Did a 25 rep set of squats that destroyed me.

Diet: Cheat day, which included mass shovelage of food into my mouth, including pizza lunch with my dad, a burrito, and ice cream. Wasn't really all that hungry, but still plenty of food in :).

7/26 Check-In

Weight: 190.6 (wee... here's hoping for a post-cheat day whoosh).

Exercise: Morning HIIT Bike session, Evening Full Body Training session.

Cheat day tomorrow, which is especially nice when they're only once every other week!


Meal 1: Peri/Post Workout Shake
Calories: 302, 2g Fat, 26g Protein, 45g Carbs

Meal 2: 8 Egg whites scrambled, 1/2 Can of Black Beans, 1/2 Cup of Salsa, Hot Sauce
Calories: 378, 0g Fat, 39.5 Carbs, 52.9 Protein

Meal 3: Whey Protein Shake (2 Scoops), 2 Cups of Strawberries
Calories: 398, 4.7g Fat, 39.9g Carbs, 51.5g Protein

Meal 4 (Split an hour or so apart): 2 Cups of Cottage Cheese, 4 TBSP of Natural Peanut Butter, 10g of NOW Super EPA Fish Oil
Calories: 830, 51g Fat, 30g Carbs, 64g Protein

Totals:

Calories: 1908,
Fat: 57.7g,
Carbs: 149.4g,
Protein: 194.4g

(Fitness) Things I've Fallen In Love With, Part 2

Alright, time for part 2 of things I've fallen in love with the last several months, this time it'll be all nutritional/food stuff.

1) Avocados - Avocados are seriously the best food ever. Avocados really are a true superfood, packed with all kinds of nutritional goodness. They are easily one of the best ways to add healthy fats to your diet, and they've been part of my favorite staple meal for the last few months (Eggs/Egg Whites/Salsa/Avocado/Hot Sauce).

Tips: Not much to say other than eat avocados. If you've never tried them on eggs, you're missing out!

2) (Natural) Almond Butter - The other staple fat in my diet right now is homemade, natural Almond Butter. At the beginning of Month 1, I decided to give Almond Butter a shot, as an alternative to Peanut Butter. Ever since, Almond Butter has been a staple of my diet and I only eat Peanut Butter on cheat days and times when I'm out of Almond Butter. Competely natural Almond Butter tastes quite a but nuttier and not as sweet and rich as the Peanut Butter most people are used to, but I very quickly fell in love with it. Having a spoonful of peanut butter makes me crave more peanut butter, while almond butter leaves me very satiated, which is nice.

I've been eating Almond Butter mostly as part of my evening cottage cheese meals. Almond Butter goes great with cottage cheese, and maybe a little cinnamon and/or sugar free chocolate syrup. Try it!


Tips: Almond Butter tends to be really expensive in stores, so it makes sense to make your own. It's relatively easy to make, and there's plenty of "recipes" on the Internet. Here's a few hints from my experiences:


- Do yourself a favor and avoid the urge to add sweetener. which some recipes call for. I played around with both of these for awhile and ended up preferring completely natural almond butter with only a salt added (Lite Salt, in fact, which I highly recommend over regular salt to help counteract the potassium deficiency in most diets).
- Also, resist the urge to add oil to the mixture as you're making it. While it seems to help the almond butter turn into a creamy "butter", you just have to be really patient and it will get there on it's own. It seems to take forever but eventually the really dry Almond dust will suddenly turn into a very oily mixture.
- Buy pre-sliced Almonds instead of whole almonds, if you can. You would think it shouldn't make hardly any difference, but for some reason I get a lot better results (quicker mixing/creamier texture) with pre-sliced almonds over whole almonds. Shrug.


3) Intermittent Fasting -  I talked about this a bit when I mentioned my month 1 program, and I'd be lying if I said this is new as of the last few months, as it's something I've been experimenting with for awhile now. But, I can safely say that after the last few months (where I have practiced IF daily), that it's unlikely that I will ever go back to any kind of "normal" eating pattern. I am a complete believer in IF and all of it's purported benefits.

I can still remember my first true "fasted' training session, which was one of my best sessions ever, driving to the gym with an incredible amount of energy and focus. It is freaky. One of the interesting and most noticeable things is how good my vision is when I'm fasting.

In addition, since I have been adding cheat days for the last month and a half, I have been following them up with a complete fast day! Yes, that's right, I go an entire day without eating anything, and then follow it up with 6+ hours of fasting after I wake up the following day. So, I routinely go 38-40 hours without eating, and train during it. It is amazing how much energy and how great you can feel doing a hardcore session of sprints, having not eaten in 36 hours. I can say that the best I ever feel is the morning after my fast day; I almost always sleep great. It's surreal and I strongly urge everybody to give it a shot at least once. On top of my own experiences, the science behind it is pretty compelling.

Tips:


- Google Intermittent Fasting and have at it! A few of the better links off the top of my head: 


http://www.romanfitnesssystems.com/blog/intermittent-fasting-101/
http://www.leangains.com

- You may have some weird experiences at first, especially if your body is completely unaccustomed to it, so take it as easy as you need to, and give it an honest shot for a couple of weeks before making up your mind. I had very little trouble adjusting but I know people who have.
- Definitely give fasted training a try. A LOT of people find that they have their best workouts ever when training fasted, and I am no exception.


4) Blueberries - Blueberries are another food that gets called a "Superfood" and if you look at their health properties it's obvious why. And I love eating them. A cup of blueberries with a protein shake has become my standard breakfast on non-training days, and my post-workout meal on training days (though I sometimes op for Strawberries). They're so good!

Tips: Try not to eat the entire package.


5) Cinnamon - My diet during month 1 was very much tailored to try and improve my insulin sensitivity, which is probably somewhat wrecked from years of eating a lot of carbs. So, I was eating extremely low carb for awhile (which sucked). In doing research on insulin sensitivity, I discovered that regular supplementation of cinnamon has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity. And, I've always loved how it tastes. So, cinnamon has been a regular staple of my diet since, most notably as an addition to my normal cottage cheese meals. Cottage Cheese + Almond Butter + Cinnamon is a really, really great, and healthy evening snack. Oh, and I've even gone so far as to add Cinnamon directly to my almond butter mix, which actually tastes really good.

Tips: It takes a couple of teaspoons of Cinnamon daily to reap the benefits, so feel free to pile it on!


6) Cheat Days - I hope this doesn't take too much explanation. Cheat days rock. Being able to stuff my face once a week or once every other week makes it very easy to stick to my diet (although honestly, I don't have much trouble with that anyway). But, it's still a lot of fun!

Tips: Make sure your cheat days are truly a "cheat". A lot of people barely cheat, and it's almost a waste of time. Making sure your cheat days are "cheaty enough" is very important especially if you want to follow my other tip:
- Follow your cheat day with a fast day. I do this regularly now and I find it to be a great idea. As long as your cheat day involves enough shoveling of food, hunger/fatigue problems on the fast day are almost non-existent. It's a great way to take advantage of the hormonal benefits of the cheat day.

7/25 Check-In

Weight: 190.8 (annoying plateau city)

Exercise: Morning Bike session. Feel pretty good, a little sore but the day off from weights is nice. Looking a bit forward to my cheat day in 2 days :).


Meal 1: 2 Scoops of Low-Carb Whey Protein, 1 Cup of Blueberries
Calories: 270, Fat 2.5g, Carbs 31g, Protein 61.1g

Meal 2: 3 Eggs/4 Eggwhites Scrambled, 1/2 Avocado, 1/2 Can of Black Beans, Hot Sauce everywhere.
Calories: 540, Fat 28.2g, Carbs 27.3g, Protein 46.5g

Meal 3: 2 Cups of Cottage Cheese, 2 Tablespoons of Peanut Butter, 13g of NOW Super EPA Fish Oil
Calories: 670, Fat 38g, Carbs 25g, Protein 57g

Daily Totals:

Calories: 1563
Fat: 68.7g
Carbs: 83.3g
Protein: 164.5g

7/24 Check-In

Weight: 190.6... I sense (as in wishful thinking) a whoosh coming on...

Exercise: Morning Stairmaster/Treadmill Walk, Evening Dynamic Upper Body session. Tough day, walking on a Stairmaster is tough. I know I said I love walking yesterday but 30 minutes on a treadmill still sucks!

Felt good though I had some middle back soreness and some anterior knee pain in my right knee today, definitely due to squats from the day before.


Meal 1: 2 Scoops of Low-Carb Whey Protein, 1 Cup of Blueberries
Calories: 270, Fat 2.5g, Carbs 31g, Protein 61.1g

Meal 2: 3 Eggs/4 Eggwhites Scrambled, 1/2 Avocado, 1/2 Can of Black Beans, Hot Sauce everywhere.
Calories: 540, Fat 28.2g, Carbs 27.3g, Protein 46.5g

Meal 3: 2 Cups of Cottage Cheese, 2 Tablespoons of Peanut Butter, 13g of NOW Super EPA Fish Oil
Calories: 670, Fat 38g, Carbs 25g, Protein 57g

Daily Totals:

Calories: 1563
Fat: 68.7g
Carbs: 83.3g
Protein: 164.5g

(Fitness) Things I've Fallen In Love With, Part 1

I was thinking earlier, how much I've really started loving Jump Rope as a cardio, and it got me thinking about all of the fitness-related things I've fallen in love with over the past few months (or longer). So, I thought it would be cool to compile a list of things I've really come to love as well as some tips from my own experiences. I have a lot to write, so I'll start with cardio-related stuff:

1) Jumping Rope - Since this was the inspiration for this blog post, I might as well start here. Other than a few times in school as kid, I hadn't jumped rope in a long, long time. It was prescribed as a regular part of my program starting in month 1, and is currently a once-a-week addition to my HIIT cardio regimen. It's a standard old-school form of cardio but I think it's terribly underrated by the fitness crowd at large.

In month 1, I struggled to really jump rope consistently, and in order to get a good cardiovascular push from it, I was doing a jump rope/burpee combo, which is fantastic. FWIW, the routine was this:

50 Jumps + 2 Burpees, immediately followed by:
50 Jumps + 4 Burpees,
50 Jumps + 6 Burpees,
50 Jumps + 8 Burpees,
50 Jumps + 10 Burpees
50 Jumps + 8 Burpees
50 Jumps + 6 Burpees
50 Jumps + 4 Burpees
50 Jumps + 2 Burpees

Normally, this would take me about 15 minutes or so, and would absolutely kick my ass. At the time, I was lucky to get 50 jumps in in a row, so this was a good way to work around my lack of jump rope technique.

Over the last couple of months I've gotten a TON better at Jumping Rope, to the point where I absolutely destroy myself with a ~10 minute HIIT routine. As hard as it is, I really, really enjoy it.

Tips:
- Make sure you have a Jump Rope that fits you! I originally went down to the store and picked up the first rope I found, and realized after about a month that it was too short for me. Getting a proper-length rope has done wonders for me.
- Warm up properly, and take it easy the first few sessions.
- If your Jump Rope technique isn't too great at first, consider mixing it up with some kind of other exercise, like the Jump Rope/Burpee complex I posted above, until your jump rope technique is up to snuff.


2 - Sprinting - I started sprinting once a week as part of my cardio regimen during month 2. I'll be honest that I was pretty wary of sprinting as I  had/have a bit of a bum knee and running in general has never come very easy for me, but surprisingly my body handled it very well, and by the end of the month, I really began loving it. No other form of cardio has ever spiked my heart rate like a good old fashioned sprint session. It absolutely kicked my ass every time. I managed to go from a pretty-poor sprinter to a kinda-sorta-decent sprinter by the end of the month, and I look forward to doing more of it in the future.

I did a lot of reading/research on sprinting and it is amazing how great sprinting is as a full body exercise and as a form of fat loss. I honestly believe that for high-intensity cardio for fat loss, nothing beats jumping rope and sprinting when it comes to molding the type of physique most people want (just do a google image search for "sprinter" :).

Tips:


- Again, make sure you take it very easy if you haven't done much sprinting recently. You can REALLY injure yourself quickly if you do too much too fast.
- Make sure you warm up properly.
- Try to sprint on an incline. Sprinting on an incline has less eccentric stress, so it tends to be easier on your body, and you recover better (this is one of the reasons why hill sprints are so effective).
- Make sure your sprinting sessions are an effective part of your overall workout routine. Sprints are VERY taxing on your whole body, particularly your lower body. It is important to make sure that your body has adequate recovery for sprinting and any lower body weight training you do. For instance, although I was sprinting during Month 2, I am no longer sprinting during month 3 as my overall volume and frequency is really high, and sprinting would be overdoing it as a form of cardio at this point.
- Here's some great resources on the above:


The Six Week Sprinting Solution - Neat article about sprinting with a focus on programming.


Sprinting Towards Single Digit Body Fat - Another cool article about how badass sprinting is.


An EZ Guide to Sprinting - An easy guide to sprinting (duh.)


3 - Walking - Yes, I said walking. With HIIT now all the rage (rightfully so) in the fitness world, all other forms of cardio have gotten thrown under the bus, and while I think medium-intensity cardio is generally a bad idea, all forms of low intensity cardio (like walking) have gotten the shaft as well. Which, in my opinion is too bad. I'll admit, I've never been much of a walker, and I always laughed at the people walking on treadmills for 45 minutes. But, as I've had regular treadmill walks as part of my program, and as I've done research on a concept called "active recovery", I've learned to appreciate walking immensely.

I am a big believer in evolutionary fitness. That is, doing things that our bodies were designed to do. The fact is that the most major physical changes that separate us from our primate cousins is that we are designed very well to walk long distances, regularly. This includes the most well-known and obvious example of walking upright! Humans are some of, if not the best "walkers" in the animal world. So, it stands to reason that it is probably very good for us to walk regularly, even if it's not a very sexy form of cardio.

The "active recovery" stuff is really interesting. There have been some interesting studies done that show that low-intensity exercise both immediately following your workout and in the days following an intense workout actually aids in recovery. The usage of muscles immediately after intense exercise helps clear out the lactic acid in your muscles, and the increased blood flow in the days following helps in recovery/rebuilding of muscles. Makes sense, right?

Also, when you have a volume/frequency-heavy program that already has high intensity cardio, walking is a cheap way too burn a few more calories without adding too the overall load. And, since it helps with recovery, it's a really good addition to a hardcore fat-loss regimen.

Knowing that makes it a lot easier to talk myself into spending 20 minutes on a treadmill. Don't get me wrong, I still HATE walking on a treadmill, but I appreciate it a lot more, and I really enjoy walking outside. Going for a walk to the store, or to and from the gym is really enjoyable to me now, and I love randomly going for a walk around the neighborhood when I feel like it.

Tips: 
- You wouldn't think there'd be much of a "tip" to walking, but here's one: When walking on a treadmill, try walking at an incline. I like a 6 degree incline minimum, usually at 3.5-3.8mph. This is a good way to keep your heart rate up without having to go into a "jog". Other than that, walking is pretty self-explanatory :).

That was a little longer than I expected, which is why I'm splitting this up into a few parts. I'm thinking that Part 2 will probably be nutrition-centered, so stay tuned!

7/23 Check-In

Weight: 190.2

Exercise: Morning Jump Rope session, Evening Full Body Weight Training.

Had a GREAT day; taking a couple of days off from caffeine ended up working as well as I thought. I slept really really good last night, and had tons of energy and focus today. My Jump Rope session was the best yet.


Meal 1: Peri/Post Workout Shake
Calories: 302, 2g Fat, 26g Protein, 45g Carbs

Meal 2: 8 Egg whites scrambled, 1/2 Can of Black Beans, 1/2 Cup of Salsa, Hot Sauce
Calories: 378, 0g Fat, 39.5 Carbs, 52.9 Protein

Meal 3: Whey Protein Shake (2 Scoops), 2 Cups of Strawberries
Calories: 398, 4.7g Fat, 39.9g Carbs, 51.5g Protein

Meal 4 (Split an hour or so apart): 2 Cups of Cottage Cheese, 4 TBSP of Almond Butter, 10g of NOW Super EPA Fish Oil
Calories: 830, 51g Fat, 30g Carbs, 64g Protein

Totals:

Calories: 1908,
Fat: 57.7g,
Carbs: 149.4g,
Protein: 194.4g

7/22 Check-In

Weight: 190.6

Exercise: Day off! First true day off of month three, and I needed it.

As I mentioned earlier I was completely off of caffeine this weekend and I really started feeling it this afternoon. The overall withdrawal symptoms were actually pretty minor, but having to do a workout would've sucked! Looking forward to a good night's sleep and getting back on the horse this week.



Meal 1: 2 Scoops of Low-Carb Whey Protein, 1 Cup of Blueberries
Calories: 270, Fat 2.5g, Carbs 31g, Protein 61.1g

Meal 2: 3 Eggs/4 Eggwhites Scrambled, 1/2 Avocado, 1/2 Can of Black Beans, Hot Sauce everywhere.
Calories: 540, Fat 28.2g, Carbs 27.3g, Protein 46.5g

Meal 3: 2 Cups of Cottage Cheese, 2 Tablespoons of Almond Butter, 13g of NOW Super EPA Fish Oil
Calories: 670, Fat 38g, Carbs 25g, Protein 57g

Daily Totals:

Calories: 1563
Fat: 68.7g
Carbs: 83.3g
Protein: 164.5g

7/21 Check-In

Weight: 190.6

Exercise: Morning Bodyweight session which was brutal. I was really lethargic and sluggish through the whole thing (no caffeine), and I cut it a little short.

I *did* sleep really well the night before though, so that was nice; I was just really tired and lethargic all day. I definitely can use the day off Sunday.


Meal 1: 2 Scoops of Low-Carb Whey Protein, 1 Cup of Blueberries
Calories: 270, Fat 2.5g, Carbs 31g, Protein 61.1g

Meal 2: 3 Eggs/4 Eggwhites Scrambled, 1/2 Avocado, 1/2 Can of Black Beans, Hot Sauce everywhere.
Calories: 540, Fat 28.2g, Carbs 27.3g, Protein 46.5g

Meal 3: 2 Cups of Cottage Cheese, 2 Tablespoons of Peanut Butter, 13g of NOW Super EPA Fish Oil
Calories: 670, Fat 38g, Carbs 25g, Protein 57g

Daily Totals:

Calories: 1563
Fat: 68.7g
Carbs: 83.3g
Protein: 164.5g

7/20 Check-In

Weight: 190.2

Exercise: Morning Variable Intensity Bike session, evening GH Surge workout.

Unfortunately, my insomnia problems extended to a third day, which is pretty worrisome. I was pretty sluggish today too, although my evening workout went great. This weekend I just have a morning bodyweight session tomorrow, and I have Sunday completely off. I think I may be suffering a little from too much caffeine intake. In the past when that's happened usually taking a day or two off from it does wonders for me and I usually sleep great, etc. So, since I have a light weekend from a workout perspective I'm going to try cutting caffeine completely (or maybe a very small dose if I get bad headaches, etc.), and try to get my body ready for the last couple of weeks of this month. (And hopefully ship all of the big Sunday tourneys on Merge :).

Oh, and I've been coming up with a list in my head of all of the things I've fallen in love with the last few months or so re: fitness/diet, and I'm going to write a blog post this weekend about all of them, which should be fun.


Diet:

Meal 1: Peri/Post Workout Shake
Calories: 302, 2g Fat, 26g Protein, 45g Carbs

Meal 2: 8 Egg whites scrambled, 1/2 Can of Black Beans, 1/2 Cup of Salsa, Hot Sauce
Calories: 378, 0g Fat, 39.5 Carbs, 52.9 Protein

Meal 3: Whey Protein Shake (2 Scoops), 2 Cups of Strawberries
Calories: 398, 4.7g Fat, 39.9g Carbs, 51.5g Protein

Meal 4 (Split an hour or so apart): 2 Cups of Cottage Cheese, 4 TBSP of Almond Butter, 10g of NOW Super EPA Fish Oil
Calories: 830, 51g Fat, 30g Carbs, 64g Protein

Totals:

Calories: 1908,
Fat: 57.7g,
Carbs: 149.4g,
Protein: 194.4g

7/19 Check-In

Weight: 190.8. But, I did see this on the scale later in the afternoon:

Hope to see more of this :)

Unfortunately, my sleep problems from yesterday carried over another night. Very strange. What's even stranger is that I felt great today, and had two really good workouts. If the insomnia was an overtraining symptom I'd expect my workouts to be suffering too, *shrug*.

Exercise: Morning Jump Rope HIIT session, evening Dynamic Upper Body Weight session. Easily the best Jump Rope session I've had ever, much better than week 1, such an awesome workout. The evening workout went really well also, and I'm looking forward to bumping the weights up next week.

Made some more Almond Butter today (which I had been slacking on doing). Almond Butter is one of those things I've fallen in love with the last few months, in fact there's several things like that. Hmm, sounds like a blog post waiting to happen.

Meal 1: Peri/Post Workout Shake

Calories: 302, 2g Fat, 26g Protein, 45g Carbs

Meal 2: 8 Egg whites scrambled, 1/2 Can of Black Beans, 1/2 Cup of Salsa, Hot Sauce

Calories: 378, 0g Fat, 39.5 Carbs, 52.9 Protein

Meal 3: Whey Protein Shake (2 Scoops), 2 Cups of Strawberries

Calories: 398, 4.7g Fat, 39.9g Carbs, 51.5g Protein

Meal 4 (Split an hour or so apart): 2 Cups of Cottage Cheese, 4 TBSP of Homemade Almond Butter, 10g of NOW Super EPA Fish Oil

Calories: 830, 51g Fat, 30g Carbs, 64g Protein

Totals:

Calories: 1908, 

Fat: 57.7g,

Carbs: 149.4g, 

Protein: 194.4g

7/18 Check-In

Weight 190.8

Exercise: N/A.

Really rough day today, probably my first "bad" day in a long time. My sleep was terrible last night, I woke up after an hour and then tossed and turned all night, which is not like me at all. I was also tired and hungry all day today, and ended up putting off my morning bike session until later in the day when I finally had some energy. Not sure if I'm starting to over-train or if it's just a random bump in the road; we'll see how tomorrow goes!

Meal 1: 2 Scoops of Low-Carb Whey Protein, 1 Cup of Blueberries
Calories: 270, Fat 2.5g, Carbs 31g, Protein 61.1g

Meal 2: 3 Eggs/4 Eggwhites Scrambled, 1/2 Avocado, 1/2 Can of Black Beans, Hot Sauce everywhere.
Calories: 540, Fat 28.2g, Carbs 27.3g, Protein 46.5g

Meal 3: 2 Cups of Cottage Cheese, 2 Tablespoons of Peanut Butter, 13g of NOW Super EPA Fish Oil
Calories: 670, Fat 38g, Carbs 25g, Protein 57g

Daily Totals:

Calories: 1563
Fat: 68.7g
Carbs: 83.3g
Protein: 164.5g

7/17 Check-In

Weight: 190.8 (comeon 189... ffs).

Exercise: Morning 30 minute treadmill walk, Evening Full Body Weight Training + Treadmill walk.

Spent 50 minutes total walking on treadmills today, I never thought I'd see the day! I was really hungry today for some reason, and felt kind of lethargic and tired before my evening session. That being said, once I got there I had a really good workout. Looking forward to a semi-day off tomorrow (have a morning easy-ish bike session, but that's all).

Happy to report my back squatting went great today, the upper back pain I was having last week was non-existent and I was really able to go up on weight and push it today, so that's neat. Looking forward to killing myself with a 20-rep set on Thursday :).

Today I tortured myself stopping by the supermarket to pick up a head of lettuce, with my next cheat day being 10 days away :). But hey, lettuce was only 79 cents so it was worth it.

Meal 1: 8 Egg whites scrambled, 1/2 Can of Black Beans, 1/2 Cup of Salsa, Hot Sauce
Calories: 378, 0g Fat, 39.5 Carbs, 52.9 Protein

Meal 2: Peri/Post Workout Shake
Calories: 302, 2g Fat, 26g Protein, 45g Carbs

Meal 3: Whey Protein Shake (2 Scoops), 2 Cups of Strawberries
Calories: 398, 4.7g Fat, 39.9g Carbs, 51.5g Protein

Meal 4 (Split an hour or so apart): 2 Cups of Cottage Cheese, 4 TBSP of Natural Peanut Butter, 10g of NOW Super EPA Fish Oil
Calories: 830, 51g Fat, 30g Carbs, 64g Protein

Totals:

Calories: 1908,
Fat: 57.7g,
Carbs: 149.4g,
Protein: 194.4g

7/16 Check-In

Weight: 191.4

Exercise: Morning HIIT Bike session, Evening Dynamic Upper Body weights. Tough day, my quads were really sore after from yesterday's bodyweight session (which included 5 sets of 18 bulgarian split squats per leg!), so they were really aching during the bike session. Fortunately the evening session was mostly upper body and is relatively quick, but it's a fast-paced training circuit that is crazy tough.

That being said, it is incredible how good my conditioning has gotten in the last few months. It is a lot harder to get my heart rate up during the bike session, and my HR drops a bunch really quickly during rest periods (which is usually seen as an indicator of cardiovascular health. Also, the evening dynamic session is a workout I have done an easier version of months ago, and I was barely able to complete it back then, and the much harder version is doable for me now (though still very tough).

Tomorrow should be a little easier, with a morning treadmill walk and an evening traditional full body workout. Would *love* to see 189 this week :).

Meal 1: Peri/Post Workout Shake
Calories: 302, 2g Fat, 26g Protein, 45g Carbs

Meal 2: 8 Egg whites scrambled, 1/2 Can of Black Beans, 1/2 Cup of Salsa, Hot Sauce
Calories: 378, 0g Fat, 39.5 Carbs, 52.9 Protein

Meal 3: Whey Protein Shake (2 Scoops), 2 Cups of Strawberries
Calories: 398, 4.7g Fat, 39.9g Carbs, 51.5g Protein

Meal 4 (Split an hour or so apart): 2 Cups of Cottage Cheese, 4 TBSP of Natural Peanut Butter, 10g of NOW Super EPA Fish Oil
Calories: 830, 51g Fat, 30g Carbs, 64g Protein

Totals:

Calories: 1908,
Fat: 57.7g,
Carbs: 149.4g,
Protein: 194.4g

7/15 Check-In

Weight: 191.6 (saw 190.2 before breaking my fast, 189 soon plz).

Exercise: Morning Bodyweight circuit + Treadmill walk. I've had a bodyweight circuit for the last couple of months, but this one is really difficult in comparison. It took me about a half hour + to get through 5 rotations of it, as opposed to ~20 minutes for my last circuit.

I'm a little sore but I feel okay. Hopefully I get a lot of rest tonight as I'm exercising 2x/day 4 of the next 5 days. Crazy!

You know, I have to say it's kinda funny laying in a pool of sweat trying not to vomit on yourself after 20 minutes of exercises using your own bodyweight, and looking over and seeing 8 people using $3000 machines to barely break a sweat. What's wrong with this picture?

Diet: Fasted for about 41 hours total before breaking my fast. Felt great the entire time, as usual.


Meal 1: 2 Scoops of Low-Carb Whey Protein, 1 Cup of Blueberries
Calories: 270, Fat 2.5g, Carbs 31g, Protein 61.1g

Meal 2: 3 Eggs/4 Eggwhites Scrambled, 1/2 Avocado, 1/2 Can of Black Beans, Hot Sauce everywhere.
Calories: 540, Fat 28.2g, Carbs 27.3g, Protein 46.5g

Meal 3: 2 Cups of Cottage Cheese, 2 Tablespoons of Peanut Butter, 13g of NOW Super EPA Fish Oil
Calories: 670, Fat 38g, Carbs 25g, Protein 57g

Daily Totals:

Calories: 1563
Fat: 68.7g
Carbs: 83.3g
Protein: 164.5g

7/14 Check-In

Weight: 197.6 when I woke up... 191.8 at the time of this post (no kidding).

Exercise: Evening light jump rope/stretching session. I am pretty sore so I ended up going easy with some jump rope/stretch/foam rolling and a short walk.

Diet: Today was a full fast day. I ate so much freaking food yesterday I'm not even remotely hungry today, which is nice. Got an extremely tough and new bodyweight routine tomorrow morning, kinda looking forward to it though :).

7/13 Check-In

Weight: 191.4

Exercise: Morning "GH Workout". GH Workouts are intended to stimulate the release of growth hormone. Here's a brief summary of this type of workout from Mens Fitness: The Pain Workout.

My workout was different than that, but the basic methodology is the same. And yes, it was very painful.

The rest of the day was a cheat day, and I made it count and am currently sitting here hating life because I've probably eaten way too much. I'll live though, two weeks before my next cheat day!

7/12 Check-In

Weight: 192.0 (Saw 191.0 before breaking my fast, here's to hitting 189 soon...)

Exercise: Morning HIIT Bike session, Evening Full body traditional workout. First HIIT Bike session since month 1, really noticeable increase in my conditioning from then, my HR was much lower for the same intensity level. Also, my legs weren't getting nearly as tired working just as hard or harder.

The evening full body traditional workout is really fantastic. It's a very basic approach with the fundamental exercises, Squats, Dips, Chin Ups, etc, with some ab and posterior chain work. Really fun and effective workout to maintain strength this month. That being said, I had some upper back pain with back squats (which I've had in the past) and have some back pain right now. My workout tomorrow also includes back squats, we'll see how my body holds up to them and if I need to modify this program at all.

Cheat day tomorrow, I need to make it good as I'll only get one more this month!


Meal 1: Peri/Post Workout Shake
Calories: 302, 2g Fat, 26g Protein, 45g Carbs

Meal 2: 8 Egg whites scrambled, 1/2 Can of Black Beans, 1/2 Cup of Salsa, Hot Sauce
Calories: 378, 0g Fat, 39.5 Carbs, 52.9 Protein

Meal 3: Whey Protein Shake (2 Scoops), 2 Cups of Strawberries
Calories: 398, 4.7g Fat, 39.9g Carbs, 51.5g Protein

Meal 4 (Split an hour or so apart): 2 Cups of Cottage Cheese, 4 TBSP of Natural Peanut Butter, 10g of NOW Super EPA Fish Oil
Calories: 830, 51g Fat, 30g Carbs, 64g Protein

Totals:

Calories: 1908,
Fat: 57.7g,
Carbs: 149.4g,
Protein: 194.4g

7/11 Check-In

Weight: 192.0

Exercise: Morning 23 minute bike routine.

Really sore today which is usual for week 1, but especially sore this week because I just finished a string of three weight training sessions in a row. I'm also kind of hungry today (fasting after a non-cheat day probably), and tired, but it's that good kind of sore/hungry/tired feeling :).


Meal 1: 2 Scoops of Low-Carb Whey Protein, 1 Cup of Blueberries
Calories: 270, Fat 2.5g, Carbs 31g, Protein 61.1g

Meal 2: 3 Eggs/4 Eggwhites Scrambled, 1/2 Avocado, 1/2 Can of Black Beans, Hot Sauce everywhere.
Calories: 540, Fat 28.2g, Carbs 27.3g, Protein 46.5g

Meal 3: 2 Cups of Cottage Cheese, 2 Tablespoons of Peanut Butter, 13g of NOW Super EPA Fish Oil
Calories: 670, Fat 38g, Carbs 25g, Protein 57g

Daily Totals:

Calories: 1563
Fat: 68.7g
Carbs: 83.3g
Protein: 164.5g

Salad Dressing Recipe

Anybody looking for a cheap, healthy, and tasty salad dressing, I highly recommend this recipe I got from The Nourishing Gourmet. I've been making/using this salad dressing for a few months ago and it's great. Apple Cider Vinegar is great stuff from a health perspective, and of course Olive Oil is too. I'd love to try this with Coconut Oil (if I could find some!). Try not to go overboard on it, a little goes a long way (and the fat calories can add up if you're not careful!

Apple Cider Vinegar Salad Dressing

1 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of Apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon of onion powder
2 tablespoon of whole grain mustard or djion type mustard
2-3 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon of dried  basil
1 teaspoon salt

7/10 Check-In

Weight: 193.0. I didn't fast yesterday as I normally would (see below) so this was expected.

Exercise: Morning: Stairmaster+Treadmill walk, 45 minutes total, Evening High Speed Dynamic Upper Body Training.

I think this is the longest steady-state cardio I've ever done like this, and it wasn't as bad as I expected. Stairmasters are kinda tough!

The Evening session was really tough, it's a dynamic weight session using dumbells for a few upper body circuits, extremely tough but lots of fun.

Diet: Today was a full fast day. For this month I only have one cheat day every other week, which falls on a Friday, so Mondays are no longer fast days. Yesterday, however, came after a cheat day (ending last months program), and I ate a normal day's diet. Since I missed a fast day because of it, I decided to go ahead and make today a fast day. Training twice today, with one very intense weight workout completely fasted was interesting, but ultimately a breeze. Training in the fasted state is cake for me at this point, it's only the waves of hunger (outside of training) that make it tough at all.

7/9 Check-In

Day 1 of my Month 2 Program!

Weight: 196.0 Post cheat day.

Exercise: Morning Jump Rope HIIT session, Evening New Traditional Full Body session. Such a great workout, Squats, Dips, Chin-Ups, all the staples. Really enjoyed it and got through the back squats okay, although my intensity wasn't ideal. The morning Jump Rope session was a little rough, I did it in my garage and I didn't quite warm up like I should have so I was aching afterwards. This is going to be a very very tough month (see my program summary here).

Diet:

Meal 1: Peri/Post Workout Shake
Calories: 302, 2g Fat, 26g Protein, 45g Carbs

Meal 2: 8 Egg whites scrambled, 1/2 Can of Black

Beans, 1/2 Cup of Salsa, Hot Sauce
Calories: 378, 0g Fat, 39.5 Carbs, 52.9 Protein

Meal 3: Whey Protein Shake (2 Scoops), 2 Cups of

Strawberries
Calories: 398, 4.7g Fat, 39.9g Carbs, 51.5g Protein

Meal 4 (Split an hour or so apart): 2 Cups of

Cottage Cheese, 4 TBSP of Natural Peanut Butter,

10g of NOW Super EPA Fish Oil
Calories: 830, 51g Fat, 30g Carbs, 64g Protein

Month 3 Program begins today!

Monday July 9th marks week 1, day 1 of my month three training program. My coach wrote that this entire month is targeted specifically for fat loss. After looking over the program, I am really excited to get going on it (if not a little scared). This program is very intense, and will have me training nearly every day, and often twice a day. It's a nice confidence boost having gotten through the last two months of high-frequency training, knowing I should be able to step it up a bit (and having my coach have the same confidence).

The weight training consists of a Dynamic Upper Body session, a "GH Surge" session, which is designed to elicit the maximum in Growth Hormone response, and a Traditional Full Body workout. All three look fantastic. I had to laugh/smile when I saw the Dynamic Upper Body session, because I have done an almost identical workout that was included as part of a program called "BodyComp Blitz". I vividly remember that workout as at the time it was the toughest workout I'd ever completed. Really looking forward to trying to get through it this month. Looking over the workouts my only real concerns are that I don't have a ton of Back Squat experience (and my form is a little suspect) and back squats are included in two of the workouts. We'll see how that goes!

Along with these sessions there are several cardio routines (including an HIIT Jump Rope routine which is very cool because I really have grown to love Jumping Rope for cardio in the last couple of months), and additional lower-intensity cardio both in the mornings and at the end of workouts.

From a dietary perspective, things stay mostly the same, except that I will have a cheat day every other week rather than once a week. On the surface that seems like it kinda sucks, but honestly I think this is probably a better fit for me at my current body fat level, etc. I am sticking to a very strict diet of nearly exactly the same foods for each days (one diet for my training days, and one for non-training days). I will also be upping the Fish Oil intake significantly this month.

Here's to seeing a big drop in body fat this month!

7/8 Check-In

Last day of my Month 2 Program! (Will have a wrap up blog up soon!)

Weight: 191.2

Exercise: Upper Body Density Session + Treadmill Walk. Happy to report the Rotator Cuff pain from last week was virtually non-existent, thank you foam rolling!

Diet: Today was a cheat day! Took another trip to the Taqueria for a Quesadilla/Chile Relleno Combo, and some evening Mac n' Cheese/Ice Cream: )

7/7 Check-In

Weight: 191.8 (Nice!)

Exercise: Morning HIIT Sprint Session

Meal 1: 2 Scoops of Low-Carb Whey Protein, 1 Cup of 

Blueberries

Calories: 270, Fat 2.5g, Carbs 31g, Protein 61.1g

Meal 2: 3 Eggs/4 Eggwhites Scrambled, 1/2 Avocado, 

1/2 Can of Black Beans, Hot Sauce everywhere.

Calories: 540, Fat 28.2g, Carbs 27.3g, Protein 

46.5g

Meal 3: 2 Cups of Cottage Cheese, 2 Tablespoons of 

Peanut Butter, 13g of NOW Super EPA Fish Oil

Calories: 670, Fat 38g, Carbs 25g, Protein 57g

Daily Totals:

Calories: 1563

Fat: 68.7g

Carbs: 83.3g

Protein: 164.5g

7/6 Check-In

Weight: 192.4 (Seeing steady weight loss this week, possible "Woosh"?)

Exercise:  Evening Full Body Traditional Workout


Meal 1: Peri/Post Workout Shake
Calories: 302, 2g Fat, 26g Protein, 45g Carbs

Meal 2: 8 Egg whites scrambled, 1/2 Can of Black

Beans, 1/2 Cup of Salsa, Hot Sauce
Calories: 378, 0g Fat, 39.5 Carbs, 52.9 Protein

Meal 3: Whey Protein Shake (2 Scoops), 2 Cups of

Strawberries
Calories: 398, 4.7g Fat, 39.9g Carbs, 51.5g Protein

Meal 4 (Split an hour or so apart): 2 Cups of

Cottage Cheese, 4 TBSP of Natural Peanut Butter,

10g of NOW Super EPA Fish Oil
Calories: 830, 51g Fat, 30g Carbs, 64g Protein

Totals:

Calories: 1908,
Fat: 57.7g,
Carbs: 149.4g,
Protein: 194.4g

7/5 Check-In

Weight: 193.4

Exercise: Evening Stretching/Light Rope routine


Meal 1: 2 Scoops of Low-Carb Whey Protein, 1 Cup of

Blueberries
Calories: 270, Fat 2.5g, Carbs 31g, Protein 61.1g

Meal 2: 3 Eggs/4 Eggwhites Scrambled, 1/2 Avocado,

1/2 Can of Black Beans, Hot Sauce everywhere.
Calories: 540, Fat 28.2g, Carbs 27.3g, Protein

46.5g

Meal 3: 2 Cups of Cottage Cheese, 2 Tablespoons of

Peanut Butter, 13g of NOW Super EPA Fish Oil
Calories: 670, Fat 38g, Carbs 25g, Protein 57g

Daily Totals:

Calories: 1563
Fat: 68.7g
Carbs: 83.3g
Protein: 164.5g

7/4 Check-In

Weight: 194.0

Exercise: Evening Lower Body Density Workout. went MUCH better than Sunday :)


Meal 1: Peri/Post Workout Shake
Calories: 302, 2g Fat, 26g Protein, 45g Carbs

Meal 2: 8 Egg whites scrambled, 1/2 Can of Black

Beans, 1/2 Cup of Salsa, Hot Sauce
Calories: 378, 0g Fat, 39.5 Carbs, 52.9 Protein

Meal 3: Whey Protein Shake (2 Scoops), 2 Cups of

Strawberries
Calories: 398, 4.7g Fat, 39.9g Carbs, 51.5g Protein

Meal 4 (Split an hour or so apart): 2 Cups of

Cottage Cheese, 4 TBSP of Natural Peanut Butter,

10g of NOW Super EPA Fish Oil
Calories: 830, 51g Fat, 30g Carbs, 64g Protein

Totals:

Calories: 1908,
Fat: 57.7g,
Carbs: 149.4g,
Protein: 194.4g

7/3 Check-In

Weight: 193.8

Exercise: Morning HIIT Sprint Session, Evening Stretching/Foam Rolling session. Really starting to enjoy sprinting, and my intensity is finally there.

Diet:



Meal 1: 2 Scoops of Low-Carb Whey Protein, 1 Cup of

Blueberries
Calories: 270, Fat 2.5g, Carbs 31g, Protein 61.1g

Meal 2: 3 Eggs/4 Eggwhites Scrambled, 1/2 Avocado,

1/2 Can of Black Beans, Hot Sauce everywhere.
Calories: 540, Fat 28.2g, Carbs 27.3g, Protein

46.5g

Meal 3: 2 Cups of Cottage Cheese, 2 Tablespoons of

Peanut Butter, 13g of NOW Super EPA Fish Oil
Calories: 670, Fat 38g, Carbs 25g, Protein 57g

Daily Totals:

Calories: 1563
Fat: 68.7g
Carbs: 83.3g
Protein: 164.5g

7/2 Check-In

Weight: 198.0

Exercise: Morning Bodyweight Complex w/Treadmill walk

Diet: Complete fast day!

7/1 Check-In

Weight: 193.6

Exercise: Lower-Body Density workout. This may have been the worst workout I've had in a long, long time. I didn't get much sleep and had some nausea, but I got through it anyway.

Diet: Cheat day! Went to the Taqueria and had a bunch of Mexican food, had a couple PB&Js, and some ice cream :)