Day 56: not feeling well

Status - damage control
Mood - not well
Water - 1 liter so far

Day 56 of 112

I'm glad I was able to get up this morning to workout.

I walked down to the gym and got in a good 15 minutes HIIT on the treadmill followed by 10 minutes on the elliptical. Overall, I felt pretty strong. My legs were a little weak but other than that I have no complaints, except that I am not feeling at all well right now.

I am currently writing while very light headed. Experiencing some serious nausea. I might go vomit actually so if this post stops abruptly you know where I am. No joke ...

I need to detoxify my body over the next two days. The way I am feeling is one of the side effect of that process. Also, I'm forcing my body to switch from burning carbs for fuel to burning fat. My energy level will suffer severely from this, as well as my mood. Everyone watch out because over the next few days there will be a carb restricted maniac on the loose, haha

Ok, I really need to lie down before I faint or something

This afternoon:

Multi-angle dumbbell bench press + steady state cardio (30 minutes)

Catch you later,

--Jay

Day 56: A new beginning

Status - damage control
Mood - great
Water - 1 liter

Day 56 of 112

I am finally home and it feels so good. We drove in at 7am and I immediately fell asleep. I didn't know how truly tired I was until I saw my comfortable bed, haha. Slept till 1 and chilled out the rest of the day. One thing is for sure though ...

I can not wait until my morning workout tomorrow, which will be my first in over a week !!!!!

Getting up at 7 shouldn't be a problem because I am so excited to finally get back into the gym. In fact, I already have the session written up - it looks something like the following:

Weight = multi-angled dumbbell bench press (new technique)

Cardio = a much needed HIIT session

Core = ease into my basic 7 x 25 routine. I'll add resistance later this week after giving my body a chance to properly adjust. Remember, I haven't trained in a while and don't want to suffer any type of silly injury.

Anyone who has followed my blog knows that I usually save resistance training for my afternoon session, when I have more energy and free circulating glucose to sustain such a workout. Well, those days are over. My new strategy incorporates more cardio and less resistance training. This is going to be accomplished by doing weights first thing in the morning, and in the afternoon, steady state cardio at a much lower intensity level, so as to prevent possible over-training that might stem from morning HIIT.

Following this plan I'll be back into pre-miami condition by weeks end. For now though, I need to get some rest.

Catch you later,

--Jay

ps. At the end of last week I posted a link to this very blog on facebook. I waited this long to do so in order to make progress on my own, without the added pressure from outside sources. It'll be interesting to see how I respond now that there are even more people holding me accountable. Again, just as on day 1 ... I can't be stopped

Day 55: Miami damage control

Status - mission 1 phase 2: Spring break damage control
Mood - disappointed but still optimistic
Water - >1 liter

Day 55 of 84

Wow

It has been far too long since I have made a post on this blog. I am currently writing from my personal computer, but at a friend's house in Virginia. We got in town this morning after having driven about 16 hours non-stop, and there is still another 10 hours to go until we make it back to Providence. We're not planning to leave until late tomorrow afternoon so I at least have another day to get some rest, which I need desperately because the trip definitely kicked my butt.

Speaking of the trip, it was a blast ! I'll have to fill in the details later. Let me say that I will never forget the experience.

I am disappointed to admit, however, that I did not hold strong to my diet - AT ALL

I did enjoy a small salad on the second day of driving, but that was it in terms of my vegetable intake for the duration of the entire trip. The rest of my time was spent going out to different restaurants each night, which, compounded with absolutely no exercise is a disaster waiting to happen.

And what a disaster it was ...

My lack of commitment and complete lose of all inhibition has surely resulted in an overall decline in fitness. Looking in the mirror at myself this morning was a rude eye-opener, and I have no one to blame but myself.

But hey, I enjoyed myself, even at the cost of a little less definition. What I don't plan to do is depress myself further by obsessing over the fact that I basically collapsed under pressure and failed in my mission for an entire week. Instead I am taking decisive action and moving immediately into another phase of mission 1, which will be termed "Miami damage control".

The first step in this phase will be to return to my previously conditioned state as seen on day 54, before leaving for Miami. The next 30 days will be devoted to reach this goal. I will still make daily updates, but will only post pictures at the end of each week (5 days) leading up to the final reveal on day 84.

Phase three will continue on for another 68 days, and will be primarily concerned with decreasing my body fat percentage to under 8 percent while putting on even more muscle.

Currently I weight 186 lbs, which is not to bad considering that most of it is in the form of lean muscle anyway. Still, at the end of 5 months I would like to at least get up to ~ 195lbs.

Generally, I don't concern myself with absolute weight because it is such an inaccurate measure of wellbeing. What most people fail to realize is that a low weight does not necessarily correlate well with fitness, if at all. A thin person might weigh very little in terms of his or her number on a scale, but this does not mean they are in shape or even look good. An example of this is offered by my own experience while wrestling in High school.

At one point during my freshman year I weighed little over 140 lbs. At the time I felt that I was in good physical shape, but wondered why I lacked definition and could never visibly see my abs. I would constantly compare my own physique to that of a fellow wrestler on my team who was extremely lean-looking. Needless to say he became an all-american competitor and went on to wrestle at the collegiate level, but that is neither here nor there. The point is that although our weight was almost identical our physiques could not have been more different. Where I lacked definition he had muscle. I never could understand this, until a few years ago when I learned of the difference between body weight and lean muscle "mass".

In high school I made sure my weight remained low, which was primarily out of necessity (weight class) but stemmed also from my own naive desire. In the process of "cutting" down I lost weight, but this weight took the form of mostly muscle with VERY LITTLE FAT LOSE. Looking back now, my goal should have been to preserve as much muscle (by eating properly) while burning the fat through cardiovascular exercise and weight training (yes, weight training burns fat too). This is the point of interest that I find most men and women ignore. I think if people put less emphasis on losing "weight" and instead focused more on how they look, for example, in a mirror, or with how they felt on a day to day basis, I think everyone would not only be so much healthier, but look better as well !

So let me rephrase: I do not want to gain weight. I want to gain lean muscle mass. There is an important distinction between the two.

Anyways ... I'm tired and need to get some rest for an early rise tomorrow.

My mission recommences

and with a jog

Catch you later,

--Jay

ps. will post picture at the end of next week

Day 54: Hectic !

Status - mission 1
Mood - great
Water - 2 1/2 liters

Day 54 of 84

Wow, what a crazy day.

And yes, at 4 am it has just ended

Recap:

At about mid-week I was really reaching critical limit. I had to ask for an extension on an exam that I was originally scheduled to take yesterday. My professor was kind enough to grant it to me, which I was more than grateful for. The exam itself went pretty well, there was nothing on it that I did not expect. What's more is that I finished in less than an hour, at the end of which I felt completely mentally exhausted.

On the recess front, my friends and I are leaving for Miami tomorrow afternoon. Before today however, none of us had time to do any of the research needed to plan a road trip to the southern part of the United States ! So as soon as I came back to my dorm from my mid-morning mental gymnastics session, I immediately jumped online and started to get things together. In the end, we took a short drive to the local AAA. They were so much help. We were provided with a trip tick, which is a personalized, detailed map that outlines the entire trip page by page, mile by mile. It's great. They also gave us free tour books of Florida and the Washington area in general, just in case we decide to stop and take a break from driving.

Since I have never been to Miami I plan to take full advantage of what the city has to offer. I have so many ideas as to what I want to do, namely:

get some sun, swim, explore south beach and surrounding local districts, visit Pier 5, see some animals at the zoo (haha), extreme rock mountain climbing, a little partying etc. And don't worry, I have not forgotten the mission. I made sure that my hotel had a gym included so I can at least get a sweat going. I still plan to stick to my eating plan as well, and will surely have to endure the nagging that will result from it. My roommates have already made it known that they plan to rub every bit of unhealthy food in my face. Everything ranging from beer to double cheese potato skins. This trip will be the true test of my will.

So if you need to find me I'll either be hiding in the gym or drowning myself in the local pool

:-)

I'm bringing the camera to of course take touristy pictures (who can resist), but will also use it to continue the daily process of taking photos of myself and making updates on my blog. Because of limited internet access however, I might not be able to post as frequently as I have been in the past. I'll try my best, which might have to be whenever time permits. Sure, I won't be busy every minute of every day. With Adam leading the way by continuing to make updates (and in some cases LIVE ones) while on "vacation", I really have no excuse but to follow suit. If he can do it, so can I. You might even expect to see a video cast from me one day soon ... oh, the anticipation ! I can't sense it in your eyes, haha

Weight:

Really changed it up today. Decided to throw a wrench into the mix by doing a variation on the cross-fit 300 , full body workout. Basically, it involves doing a total of 50 pull-ups, 50 push-ups, 50 deadlifts, 50 floor wipers and 25 dumbbell snatches for each arm. When I finished I felt pretty good. Yea, it was tough but I wish I had challenged myself more added weight. Since it was essentially my first time trying this type of workout I didn't want to go all-out. Next time will be another story.

Cardio:

Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to complete my session. I simply could not spend the time running because I had an urgent assignment to complete before the end of the night that was due for my Physics Lab. Good thing now that it's finally done. Sucks though because I now have to wait until Monday until I can exercise again, booo !!

Nutrition:

I don't know what is wrong with me, or more specifically my memory, because I have failed to remember the date of my cheat day for the third time in a row ! According to my schedule, I was allowed a cheat meal two days ago. I just realized it today, while actually sitting at the table of cheelos, a TGIF type of restaurant, waiting for a cup of coffee with a friend. He ordered a sample platter appetizer and I complained/ drooled over how delicious everything looked, suddenly remembering it was two days past my cheat date. I quickly decided to order a piece of their banana cream pie, and even indulged a little in eating some of my friend's calamari. It was great.

Tomorrow: on the road. Maybe I can fit in a few hundred push-ups during our stops.

Catch you later,

--Jay

Day 53: Rabbit run !

Status - mission 1
Mood - great
Water - 3 liters

Day 53 of 84

Time is passing by so quickly, I can't believe it is already day 53 !

Although there is still another 31 days until the end of mission one, which I have yet to complete, I have the feeling that I will continue on into mission 2. With more time I hope to fall into the habit of exercising so that it becomes second nature to me. That's the point right ? To lead a healthy lifestyle.

Weight training:

Chest (incline) + triceps (pushdowns) + dips

Cardio:

HIIT - 20 minutes total alternating between treadmill and elliptical at 5 minute intervals.

I felt like a rabbit hopping from one machine to the next. I laughed at myself while running at speed 9.5 and I almost lost focus and could have fallen on my face ! haha

Nutrition:

On target ... one piece of chocolate though (yes, I admit to it !)

Tomorrow: Back (lat pull, seated cable) + Biceps

Catch you later,

--Jaay

Day 52: eh

Status - mission 1
Water - three liters
Mood - good

Day 52 of 84

Weight training:

60 pull ups supersetted with seated shoulder press

Cardio:

20 minutes HIIT on elliptical + core. I didn't run because my legs felt really weak !

Nutrition:

on target, only three meals so far though. I plan to have a small salad later tonight

Sidenote:

A few days ago, before I adjusted my calorie intake, I felt reaallly good about the pictures I was taking of myself. However, I've noticed a slight decrease in definition recently. I'm not sure if my diet is affecting anything - I hope not.

Granted, I've been really busy with school work and studying for exams, which has definitely had an impact on my stress level. It just might be the case that there is more cortisol circulating in my system, and is having some type of confounding, negative affect on my results.

But then again (as is oftentimes the case) I might be paranoid, or to someone who doesn't know me, too preoccupied with minor detail.

I just expect so much because I am putting in a tremendous amount of effort. It's hard to remember (or accept) that making a physique transformation the RIGHT way not only takes effort but a great deal of time. And more importantly, the willingness to stick to the program and follow through. Significant changes don't happen overnight, and nothing worth anything comes easy. This mission has definitely taught me that much, no doubt.

Tomorrow: I can't recall at the moment. I'll post the results tomorrow of course.

Catch you later,

--Jay

Day 51: Tough

Status - mission 1
Water - 2 liters
Mood - tired but well

Day 51 of 84

Man oh man

It has been so difficult to find time to workout in the midst of all the studying I've been doing.

I have an exam tomorrow, or rather later today seeing that it is already 3:40 am.

I need to get to bed ASAP !

I did find time to get a workout in earlier tonight though:

Weight training: Chest (flat, increased the weight) supersetted with straight bar curls

Cardio: 17 minutes HIIT on treadmill, 4 minutes HIIT on elliptical and then came back and did another 4 minutes HIIT on the treadmill because I still had a little energy left in the tank !

Nutrition: on target, even though I might have gone over my calorie limit. Also, I wish I had been able to drink a bit more water. 2 liters doesn't feel right. I had a few extra pieces of chicken throughout the day. Studying so much definitely increases appetite !

Tomorrow: Back + triceps + afternoon HIIT (wayy too late to wake up in 4 hours for a morning session)

No matter how many exams I have in the next few days I will NOT miss a workout.

Catch you later,

--Jay

Day 50: Rest day

Status - mission 1
Mood- wonderful
Water - 2 liters

Day 50 of 84

As indicated above, today is a rest day !

After nearly 7 days of intense weight training and cardio I find myself in dire need of time to relax. And it could not have come at a more perfect time, since I have three exams to study for this week .

Seriously, I think Brown tries to stress its students out before freeing them for spring break, which for me appears promising this year. A few friends and I are planning a road trip to Florida. The idea of taking an adventure across the US is so exciting. Who knows what memories will be made haha

Anyways ...

I rose this morning and enjoyed another BFFM pancake.

This time it was truly perfect because I didn't break the darn thing in half when trying to flip it haha. It was delicious.

Second day of high cal/high carb, boo !!

It goes by so fast :-(

Tomorrow: Repeat 4 day cycle

Catch you later,

--Jay

ps. will update post-workout pictures tomorrow.

Day 49: long awaited

Status - mission 1
Mood - great
Water - 3 liters

Day 49 of 84

Today's workout went extremely well. I finished at lightning speed !

Weight training + HIIT cardio in under an hour !

I joined lat. pull down and tricep kickbacks into one superset, doing a total of three. I felt extremely strong so I increased the weight on seated cable row and was able to maintain three sets at 10 reps.

Cardio: HIIT 15 minutes on treadmill (7-9.5) + HIIT 5 minutes on elliptical (7-13)

Nutrition: I am so excited that it's finally high day, wahoo !

Sidenote: By following the BFFM pancake recipe, which I borrowed from Lilla's profile (thank you by the way !) I was able to enjoy a great breakfast, the pancakes were awesome. Definitely kicked by day into high gear !

Tomorrow: a much needed rest day

Catch you later,

--Jay

Day 48: Stronger than expected

Status - mission 1
Mood - good
Water - 2 liters

Day 48 of 84

Workout was great - in and out in under an hour.

Blasted through incline bench and preacher curl.

Finished another HIIT session, but starting on the elliptical this time. I went for 15 minutes, it was awesome !

Afterward I ran for 10 minutes on the tread cycling between 7-9.5

Nutrition has been on target so far. Last day of low carbs, yes !

I can't really think of anything special to take note of today, just another workout for the books.

Tomorrow: Back (pull+seated cable) + HIIT

Catch you later,

--Jay

Day 47: Feeling weak

Status - mission 1
Mood - good
Water - 3 liters

Day 47 of 84

A couple of days ago I realized I was consuming too many calories. I quickly took action by aggressively lowering my intake. Who knew I would feel so sluggish.

Man, I definitely didn't think creating a larger deficit would have this much of an affect on me.

My workouts have suffered a little because of it too, which I am not at all happy about. Granted, I changed my lifting schedule and my weakness might just be a result of that, but getting used to a new program is one thing and struggling through it is another.

Good thing tomorrow is the last day of low cal/carb until my super-compensation phase.

Yes !

Tomorrow: Chest (incline) + Bicep (preacher) + abs

Catch you later,

--Jay

Day 46: Changing it up !

Status - mission 1
Mood - great
Water - 3 liters

Day 46 of 84

Nutrition has been spot on - third day of low cal/carbs and I feel wonderful.

After reading an article on bodybuilding.com that pertained to the topic of adaptation, and how our bodies are affected by frequent and repeated stimuli, I decided to modify my workout regime to include a different set of exercises.

So now:

instead of working one muscle group every 5 days, I'll be hitting each twice.

Additionally, I've changed the set and rep scheme with the aim of lifting the same weight, but with more repetitions.

My cardio routine is in flux as well. Due to increased leg soreness I have been forced to run at different speeds. I'm not too worried about it because anything out of the ordinary (ie. not my usual 6.5-9.5) will keep my body guessing and on the track to improving.

Tomorrow: Back + Triceps + shoulders + core

Catch you later,

--Jay

Day 45: ohh yeaa !

Status - mission
Mood - wonderful
Water - 4 liters

Day 45 of 84

After making the needed adjustments to my daily meal plan I must say that I can feel the difference. My energy level felt much lower than usual, which is exactly what I expected given my lower caloric intake. Overall though I felt pretty good.

In fact, I was able to rip through another HIIT session this afternoon. I did have to vary the speed a little though during the last 7 minutes because my legs started to hurt/cramp up. But what I couldn't maintain I replaced with a cycle through speeds 7 - 7.5 - 8 - 8.5 - 9 - in that order.

With prolonged work periods and a faster "resting" window, running at those speeds proved to be, in many ways, more difficult than jumping straight to 9.5.

I warmed down with 10 minutes HIIT on the elliptical.

Funny that I was "shredding" next to a good friend of mine and didn't even notice her until I was done with my session. Working out definitely has a focusing effect on me haha

Nutrition has been great. Second "true" day of low carbs/calories. Three more to go, whoa !

Catch you later,

--Jay

Day 44: whoops

(post-run pic from today)




(yesterday's pics)

Status - mission 1
Mood - great
Water - 1 liter

Day 44 of 84

I didn't have a chance to post yesterday.

I've been really overwhelmed by work for school.

I did take pictures though and will post them with this entry.

To recap yesterday:

shoulders (increased weight in seated press)

Today:

After I make this post I am heading to the gym to get a 20 minute HIIT session in as well as 10 minutes on the elliptical. It's been far too long since my last cardio session. I'll come back later tonight to post the photos for today.

Nutrition:

I've recently discovered that I have been consuming too many calories on my low days, around 2500 to be exact. My measured limit is 1500 on low days and ~ 2550 maintenance. To remedy this I've decided to eat every 3 hours instead of every 2. This will knock out about 2 meals per day, which is roughly 1000 calories (with each meal being between 400-500 calories).

It's amazing how many calories can sneak in when you're not paying enough attention. In my case, the added calories were from peanuts. I basically had a handful every time I had a between-meal craving. What I failed to calculate is that every handful, which is about 39 pieces, contains approximately 170 calories ! Now multiply that by about 3-6 servings per day ...

and I thought it was the cottage cheese haha

Apparently, most of my progress before now has been derived from a calorie deficit created by exercising, as opposed to eating slightly less on a daily basis. Just imagine the changes in my body that will result from actually lowering my caloric intake below maintenance level.

The accelerated progress I've been anticipating (and expecting) is right around the corner.

I can feel it.

Catch you later,

--Jay

Day 42: Good day

Status - mission 1
Mood - great
Water - 4 liters

Day 42 of 84

Today's back workout went very well.

I increased the number of pull-ups I'm doing, which makes my current total 55 !

I also threw in a few lactic acid sets for seated cable row. The burn felt good.

But what really took the cake was an intense core workout:

- 60 incline crunches
- 25 leg raises
- 25 hip raises
- 25 oblique crunches (each side)
- 25 knees up crunches

With no rest in-between each exercise I was basically dead at the end

Nutrition has been on target. First high day of two.

Again, I'm looking forward to tomorrow morning's banana oatmeal, wahoo !

No cardio for today because I'm resting a sore, left hip.

I took a few motrin so I think I should be fine for tomorrow's HIIT session.

Come to think of it, today marks the exact midpoint in my 84 day fat loss journey. I must say that it has been a wild ride so far, with each day presenting its own unique set of challenges. Still, in looking back on my picture from day one I can honestly say that I have made a tremendous amount of progress. Progress that I feel good about.

I can't wait until day 84

Tomorrow: morning HIIT + afternoon shoulders + core

Catch you later,

--Jay

Day 41: knocked out

Status - mission 1
Mood - better
Water - 1 liter

Day 41 of 84

Today was interesting.

I slept in until 12pm and took the entire day off. I didn't eat much of anything because I wasn't feeling all that well. I barely got enough water to quench the thirst of a baby. And as you can tell by the extremely late posting time of this blog entry, tomorrow will be another long day. I have my alarm set for 10 so I'll at least get 8 hours.

All fruit day went horribly - I had only two bananas

Tomorrow: midmorning HIIT + Back + core

Nutrition for tomorrow: high day !

Can't wait for banana oatmeal in the morning

Catch you later,

--Jay

ps.

The reason I look somewhat emaciated in my photo for today is due to the fact that I ate and drank like an infant. But I must say that I look much leaner now as compared to yesterday's photo. You can even begin to see the second row of my abs !

I know now that my previous concerns about not making progress were of no value. I truly believe it was something I was eating.

I can finally go to sleep feeling good about the progress I am making.

Day 40: Cheat day

Status - mission 1
Mood - eh
Water - 4 liters

Day 40 of 84

Let me start by saying that my chest workout went well today.

I increased the weight in all exercises and felt great about my newfound strength.

Nutrition has also been on target. The day was highlighted by a ham and cheese egg white omelet with pancakes. I couldn't have cheated in any better way haha

No HIIT today, only a little basketball this afternoon.

No for the not-so-good news:

I am extremely disappointed with the photos I took this morning of myself. After taking some time to look them over I noticed no change in my body composition. I know ... it is extremely difficult - if not impossible - to see a marked difference in one's body in one night, but still. I appear to have worsened ! The fears that I expressed yesterday about not making progress have been validated. I don't understand. I feel great, am stronger than ever before, running faster and with more intensity. What is the problem ? Uhhhhhh !!!!

Maybe it's something I am eating that is causing me to bloat. Although I have been strict with my carb intake, limiting myself to no more than 50/day, I have recently begun to eat cottage cheese. It's low in carbs and is a really healthy food, but maybe it is somehow impacting my body in a negative way. Maybe I'm just paranoid ...

Or my body is retaining an unnecessary amount of water or something. Who knows ...

I'm getting closer to the halfway point and I expect to see more improvement.

Given all the work I put in, the sweat ...

I just hope this is something that is only temporary, as I'm sure it is.

Tomorrow: morning HIIT + back + core

Catch you later,

--Jay

Day 39: Another good day

Status - mission 1
Mood - great
Water - 2 liters

Day 39 of 84

I slept in this morning because I was up late writing.

I got to the gym by 12 though, and completed 20 minutes on the tread - finishing the last two minutes at speed 9.5 .

I warmed down on the elliptical for 5 minutes as well.

I got back not to long ago and worked my abs.

Nutrition has been decent so far. I missed two meals this morning due to my late rise.

Post workout meal was great though:

Chicken salad, a small portion of low fat cottage cheese, a banana and a spoon of peanut butter.

Third day of low carbs, two more to go !

Tomorrow: Chest + core

Catch you later,

--Jay

Day 38: Staying strong

Status - mission 1
Mood - great
Water - 3 liters

Day 38 of 84

This morning's cardio session went very well.

I completed 20 minutes on the treadmill at speed 6.5 - 9.5

I also warmed down on the elliptical for 6 minutes, at the end of which I was sweating like a pig.

Nutrition has been on target. Second day of low carbs. For breakfast I had a can of tuna and a handful of nuts. Normally I have a protein shake and oatmeal, but I ran out of powder a couple of days ago and chose to exclude the oatmeal for the next 5 days.

Lunch was a small chicken salad, some more nutts and a small portion of cottage cheese.

Post workout was an egg white omelet and a small spoon of peanut butter.

This afternoon: another HIIT session !

Catch you later,

--Jay

Day 37: mmm

Status - mission 1
Mood - good
Water - 3 liters

Day 37 of 84

Today's shoulder workout went well. Side lateral raises were brutal. I was able to really feel the burn this time.

After hitting all aspects of my shoulders I jumped on the tread and completed 21 minutes at a new speed 6.5/9.5

A new high !

It felt good, until I hit the last two minutes haha

Nutrition has been on target. First low day of 5.

Based on my pictures it seems that I'm beginning to reach a plateau. I'm just not making the same type of progress as was the case before I got sick. I'm confused to how this might be happening, considering the fact that I make a constant effort to challenge myself both on the treadmill (by increasing speed intensity) and during my weight sessions (with added weight) each time I go into the gym. I don't know what's going on. It might be my eyes, who knows ...

Hopefully I'll continue to see visible results. If not, I might have to alter my workout. Might be a good time too, since I've been researching crossfit. They're workout plan seems really intense. I'm definitely up for it though.

Tomorrow: double HIIT + core !

Catch you later,

--Jay

Day 36: feeling good

(after eating)

Status - mission 1
Mood - great
Water - 3 liters

Day 36 of 84

Yesterday's chest workout was great, and today ended just as well.

I did another set of muscle rounds for Back, in addition to 50 pull-ups

My workout partner thought I was insane haha

No cardio for today, saving it for tomorrow morning will it will help most.

Nutrition has been on target. Second day of carb loading. Tomorrow I begin another 5 day low period. blah !

Tomorrow: morning HIIT + muscle rounds: shoulders

Catch you later,

--Jay

Day 35: High day !

Status - mission 1
Mood - wonderful
Water - 1 1/3 liter

Day 35 of 84

I am excited to announce that I completed another 21 minutes on the treadmill at a top speed of 9, in addition to my normal 5 minute warm-down on the elliptical.

It seems that at faster speeds I am able to stretch my legs more, which feels more natural than my stride at a slower pace. Also my legs feel stronger, which makes it easier to concentrate more on my breathing than on any type of pain I might feel.

It's an awesome feeling when I decide to stop running because my time limit has been reached, rather than having to stop because of leg exhaustion or plain tiredness.

Nutrition has been on target so far. I had the best lunch, wow !

A can of tuna with cheddar cheese, old fashioned oatmeal with banana and apple sauce mixed in and finally a chocolate protein shake to top it off. My roommate couldn't understand why I was so excited to be eating, what appeared to him to be the most disgusting combination of foods.

haha

I thought it tasted delicious, no matter what anyone says. Coming off of 5 hardcore low days of carb restriction, anything other than salad and chicken breast tastes heavenly !

This afternoon: muscle rounds - chest

Catch you later,

--Jay

Day 34: Easy does it

Status - mission 1
Mood - great
Water - 1 liter

Day 34 of 84

I woke up late this morning and didn't make it to the gym until ~ 11am

I ran for 21 minutes at speed 6.5 - 9, completing the final two minutes at a new top speed !

I also did my usual 5 minutes on the elliptical to warm down.

Taking a day off yesterday definitely gave me an energy boost that I could feel during my workout. Running at speed 9 was easier than I thought it would be.

Nutrition: Fruit day. I have like 20 bananas in the fridge ready to go and I am going to venture to the grocery store shortly to pick up some apple sauce and a jar of unsalted peanuts. I ran out a couple of days ago.

Tomorrow: morning HIIT + afternoon chest + core

ps. I forgot to post the pictures I took from yesterday. I remembered and they're up now.

Catch you later,

--Jay