- Joined
- Apr 14, 2011
- Messages
- 611
I'll update all the particulars as soon as I get a chance, but I just wanted to get this thing up. Starting photos will be posted as soon as I get a chance this afternoon 
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The Road to Kansas City - MidwestBeast's 12-Week Transformation Log
- Thread starter MidwestBeast
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2011
- Messages
- 611
I'll grab a newspaper and get photos taken this afternoon.
But to start things off, here is some background. I've been lifting since age 14 (now age 30). I started for baseball training and for those first 4 years, I'd take the 3 months off in the Summer when playing because it messed up my swing and my throwing too much to consistently do it. Starting at age 17 in my freshman year of college, I had one last Summer of baseball, but I started lifting on my own as it was the first time I was without organized sports. For the 4 years of college, I did mostly compound stuff with 3 day lifting splits. In my junior year, I picked up basketball for cardio with a friend and absolutely love it.
I went to graduate school immediately after and over those 2 years, I started lifting more like 4-5 days and tried a lot of new splits. Near the end of that is when I first stumbled onto MD and the likes instead of just Men's Health and I specifically started paying attention to bodybuilding. That was in the Spring of 2009 and I've followed that path ever since. The longest I've taken off from lifting since 2004 has been one month; and that's been very seldom with generally never taking even more than a week off.
Arguably my best shape was Spring of 2009 when I was between 200 and 205 lbs:
I grew up kind of chubby and have had body image issues my whole life, so until I was able to look back at those photos, I still felt like I wasn't near where I needed to be. In hindsight that's pretty messed up.
About a year after that is when things started to go south pretty badly and I went from 208 lbs. all the way up to 300 lbs. over the course of about 2 years (with the first 60 in year one).
I was still training, still cautious of my diet, doing morning cardio -- you name it. But regardless of what I did, the scale would just slowly climb up. Over the next few years I went to more than 10 different doctors, including endocrinology specialists at two Research 1 universities. I found out I have hypothyroidism (which was later determined to be via Hashimoto's autoimmune disorder). I had total testosterone levels around 400, so while not "out of range low" they were certainly not optimal for an otherwise healthy 25 year old male. I tried testing everything that I could and while I still never had full proof, it was pretty close to looking like I had low GH levels (those of you who know GH know how hard this is to actually prove as blood tests aren't all that accurate in determining this). An insulin tolerance test to check that likely would have proved this, except the nurse practitioner allowed my glucose level to drop to 13 (they're supposed to give you the glucose drink and draw when you hit around 40 if your body hasn't decided to bounce back on its own), so I could have been killed and the results were obviously skewed -- though they were still not far from showing GH deficiency.
Amidst all of this, a dynamic brain MRI also showed a very minor tumor (prolactinoma) that had been causing elevated levels of prolactin despite my not using any type of anabolic compounds that would be your normal causes for this. Not enough to warrant a surgery, but a scrip for cabergoline got that into check. Not before it managed to cause some gynecomastia, though (estradiol had always been fine).
After a couple years of trying to do everything by the book and figure out the actual source of the problem, I finally broke down and tried DNP once the scale had actually rolled to 297 lbs.
That made all the difference.
From June until November, I went from 300 to 240 lbs. I was able to get married in a regular tux; not some kind of horrible custom made garbage bag for my 300 pound previous body.
I did not do a single thing different aside from adding in the low dose of DNP. I had maintained my training all the way on the climb to 300 and still paid attention to what I ate. That led me to believe that there is just some type of issue with mitochondrial disorder. I still don't have an answer; I just know that I tried everything and finally found something that worked.
Since hitting 240 in November of 2013, I managed to get down to about 225, but never lower since then. It's also climbed back up to nearly 260 when I've went off the DNP. When I'm very meticulous about my diet, it stays pretty close to consistent, but I can't lose without the DNP. So it just becomes a game of slowly watching it climb back up (or quicker if I decide to get sloppy with my food intake).
My wife and I are currently trying to plan for a baby, so I'm doing everything I can to help with that. She had ovulation issues, so the doctor put her on a low dose of clomid to regulate that and it has worked. So I'm trying to keep my sperm count high and obviously healthy. So my physique goals have taken a back seat to that. It doesn't mean that I stop trying or caring, but it means I have my priorities and a healthy baby is number one. That means no gear or anything that could hinder the process. Now, if she gets pregnant soon, then perhaps that changes -- I'm not sure and haven't made my mind up about that. But I do know that I will be rolling back in a very low dose of DNP when she is not ovulating to keep myself healthy (my veins absolutely disappear without it, my hands and feet get frigid, and my blood flow/circulation just suffers massively).
So, Day 1 of April 1 I logged in at 239.0 lbs this morning (I'm 6' tall).
I will be training this afternoon and I am absolutely psyched to see what I can bring myself to over these next 12 weeks. Exercise is medication to me and I feel like an amazing individual when I train. I took the last 2 days off because I knew I wouldn't be taking any breaks during this window. My body is ready and it's go time.
I'll lay out my supplement regimen for you shortly, too.
Here's to 12 weeks of crazy, intense fun.
But to start things off, here is some background. I've been lifting since age 14 (now age 30). I started for baseball training and for those first 4 years, I'd take the 3 months off in the Summer when playing because it messed up my swing and my throwing too much to consistently do it. Starting at age 17 in my freshman year of college, I had one last Summer of baseball, but I started lifting on my own as it was the first time I was without organized sports. For the 4 years of college, I did mostly compound stuff with 3 day lifting splits. In my junior year, I picked up basketball for cardio with a friend and absolutely love it.
I went to graduate school immediately after and over those 2 years, I started lifting more like 4-5 days and tried a lot of new splits. Near the end of that is when I first stumbled onto MD and the likes instead of just Men's Health and I specifically started paying attention to bodybuilding. That was in the Spring of 2009 and I've followed that path ever since. The longest I've taken off from lifting since 2004 has been one month; and that's been very seldom with generally never taking even more than a week off.
Arguably my best shape was Spring of 2009 when I was between 200 and 205 lbs:
I grew up kind of chubby and have had body image issues my whole life, so until I was able to look back at those photos, I still felt like I wasn't near where I needed to be. In hindsight that's pretty messed up.
About a year after that is when things started to go south pretty badly and I went from 208 lbs. all the way up to 300 lbs. over the course of about 2 years (with the first 60 in year one).
I was still training, still cautious of my diet, doing morning cardio -- you name it. But regardless of what I did, the scale would just slowly climb up. Over the next few years I went to more than 10 different doctors, including endocrinology specialists at two Research 1 universities. I found out I have hypothyroidism (which was later determined to be via Hashimoto's autoimmune disorder). I had total testosterone levels around 400, so while not "out of range low" they were certainly not optimal for an otherwise healthy 25 year old male. I tried testing everything that I could and while I still never had full proof, it was pretty close to looking like I had low GH levels (those of you who know GH know how hard this is to actually prove as blood tests aren't all that accurate in determining this). An insulin tolerance test to check that likely would have proved this, except the nurse practitioner allowed my glucose level to drop to 13 (they're supposed to give you the glucose drink and draw when you hit around 40 if your body hasn't decided to bounce back on its own), so I could have been killed and the results were obviously skewed -- though they were still not far from showing GH deficiency.
Amidst all of this, a dynamic brain MRI also showed a very minor tumor (prolactinoma) that had been causing elevated levels of prolactin despite my not using any type of anabolic compounds that would be your normal causes for this. Not enough to warrant a surgery, but a scrip for cabergoline got that into check. Not before it managed to cause some gynecomastia, though (estradiol had always been fine).
After a couple years of trying to do everything by the book and figure out the actual source of the problem, I finally broke down and tried DNP once the scale had actually rolled to 297 lbs.
That made all the difference.
From June until November, I went from 300 to 240 lbs. I was able to get married in a regular tux; not some kind of horrible custom made garbage bag for my 300 pound previous body.
I did not do a single thing different aside from adding in the low dose of DNP. I had maintained my training all the way on the climb to 300 and still paid attention to what I ate. That led me to believe that there is just some type of issue with mitochondrial disorder. I still don't have an answer; I just know that I tried everything and finally found something that worked.
Since hitting 240 in November of 2013, I managed to get down to about 225, but never lower since then. It's also climbed back up to nearly 260 when I've went off the DNP. When I'm very meticulous about my diet, it stays pretty close to consistent, but I can't lose without the DNP. So it just becomes a game of slowly watching it climb back up (or quicker if I decide to get sloppy with my food intake).
My wife and I are currently trying to plan for a baby, so I'm doing everything I can to help with that. She had ovulation issues, so the doctor put her on a low dose of clomid to regulate that and it has worked. So I'm trying to keep my sperm count high and obviously healthy. So my physique goals have taken a back seat to that. It doesn't mean that I stop trying or caring, but it means I have my priorities and a healthy baby is number one. That means no gear or anything that could hinder the process. Now, if she gets pregnant soon, then perhaps that changes -- I'm not sure and haven't made my mind up about that. But I do know that I will be rolling back in a very low dose of DNP when she is not ovulating to keep myself healthy (my veins absolutely disappear without it, my hands and feet get frigid, and my blood flow/circulation just suffers massively).
So, Day 1 of April 1 I logged in at 239.0 lbs this morning (I'm 6' tall).
I will be training this afternoon and I am absolutely psyched to see what I can bring myself to over these next 12 weeks. Exercise is medication to me and I feel like an amazing individual when I train. I took the last 2 days off because I knew I wouldn't be taking any breaks during this window. My body is ready and it's go time.
I'll lay out my supplement regimen for you shortly, too.
Here's to 12 weeks of crazy, intense fun.
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2011
- Messages
- 611
Starting Photos
April 1
239.0 lbs.
(Full-res photos are saved and can be uploaded for the final judging if need be)
Newspaper:
Front shot with newspaper:
Front relaxed:
Front flexed:
Side relaxed:
Side flexed:
Various back shots:
April 1
239.0 lbs.
(Full-res photos are saved and can be uploaded for the final judging if need be)
Newspaper:
Front shot with newspaper:
Front relaxed:
Front flexed:
Side relaxed:
Side flexed:
Various back shots:
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2011
- Messages
- 611
Supplement timing and meal timing will vary depending on the day, but I'll normally work out first thing upon rising, so this is what a typical day will look like:
5 AM - rise
500mg agmatine
150mcg levothyroxine (Rx)
200mcg huperzine-A
1 cap AlphaBurn
2 caps Ultimate-T
3 squirts BRITE
1 scoop MCT Evolved + BCAAs
Pre-workout (e.g. 1 scoop Max Reps + 3g beta alanine + COP + 400mg caffeine + 25mg ephedrine)
5:45 AM - arrive at gym
1 scoop Compete + 5g taurine sipped intra-workout
7:30 AM - finish workout
75g whey isolate
9 AM - start work
1 scoop Ergonine (sipped on for a couple hours)
11 AM - 1 cap Epitome
1 PM - 2 scoops Alphamine (sipped on for a couple hours)
1:30 PM - 75g whey isolate
3 PM
3 squirts BRITE
1 cap Epitome
1 cap AlphaBurn
6 PM - Dinner (whatever the wife makes or we choose to do)
vitamins and minerals/multi
2 caps Ultimate T
9 PM
1 scoop Keto Induce
1 scoop MCT Evolved
1 cap Gut Health
30mg MK-677
500mg agmatine
As needed:
Defuse, Slintensity, Na-R-ALA (before high carb or high calorie meals)
CardioTryx (pre-cardio; namely just before basketball)
I very well may be forgetting something, but that should be the gist of it currently.
5 AM - rise
500mg agmatine
150mcg levothyroxine (Rx)
200mcg huperzine-A
1 cap AlphaBurn
2 caps Ultimate-T
3 squirts BRITE
1 scoop MCT Evolved + BCAAs
Pre-workout (e.g. 1 scoop Max Reps + 3g beta alanine + COP + 400mg caffeine + 25mg ephedrine)
5:45 AM - arrive at gym
1 scoop Compete + 5g taurine sipped intra-workout
7:30 AM - finish workout
75g whey isolate
9 AM - start work
1 scoop Ergonine (sipped on for a couple hours)
11 AM - 1 cap Epitome
1 PM - 2 scoops Alphamine (sipped on for a couple hours)
1:30 PM - 75g whey isolate
3 PM
3 squirts BRITE
1 cap Epitome
1 cap AlphaBurn
6 PM - Dinner (whatever the wife makes or we choose to do)
vitamins and minerals/multi
2 caps Ultimate T
9 PM
1 scoop Keto Induce
1 scoop MCT Evolved
1 cap Gut Health
30mg MK-677
500mg agmatine
As needed:
Defuse, Slintensity, Na-R-ALA (before high carb or high calorie meals)
CardioTryx (pre-cardio; namely just before basketball)
I very well may be forgetting something, but that should be the gist of it currently.
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2011
- Messages
- 611
First workout of the 12-weeker:
Normally I lift in the AM, but I lifted after work and after I had a chance to get my starting pictures taken. I took the last 2 days off to let my body rest up and also ate a bit more relaxed the past 3 days to get it out of my system. Nothing terrible, but definitely not typical.
The awesome thing was all of the glycogen and fuel especially without having lifted resulted in some INSANE pumps, today.
It was Max-OT arms, and in between sets, I sprinted up the stairs and then walked at a brisk pace a lap on the track. I ended up with 25 total stair sprints and thus 2.5 miles logged on the track in between my sets.
Lifting was this:
Standing EZ Bar Curls: 145x6 (x3) / 90x12 / 70x15
Incline bench DB Curls: 60's x 6 (x3) / 35's x 8
DB Hammer Curls: 140's x 6 / x 5 / x 4 / 60's x 12 / 45's x 15
Tricep Bar Cable Pushdowns: 145x6 / 150x6 (x2) / 100x12
Solo Overhead Cable Rope Extensions: 60x6 (x3) / 37.5x20 / 32.5x30
45* Cable Ring Reverse Curls: 22.5x8 / 27.5x8 (x2) / 17.5x20
Arms are to the point of cramping any time I move them too much lol.
Normally I lift in the AM, but I lifted after work and after I had a chance to get my starting pictures taken. I took the last 2 days off to let my body rest up and also ate a bit more relaxed the past 3 days to get it out of my system. Nothing terrible, but definitely not typical.
The awesome thing was all of the glycogen and fuel especially without having lifted resulted in some INSANE pumps, today.
It was Max-OT arms, and in between sets, I sprinted up the stairs and then walked at a brisk pace a lap on the track. I ended up with 25 total stair sprints and thus 2.5 miles logged on the track in between my sets.
Lifting was this:
Standing EZ Bar Curls: 145x6 (x3) / 90x12 / 70x15
Incline bench DB Curls: 60's x 6 (x3) / 35's x 8
DB Hammer Curls: 140's x 6 / x 5 / x 4 / 60's x 12 / 45's x 15
Tricep Bar Cable Pushdowns: 145x6 / 150x6 (x2) / 100x12
Solo Overhead Cable Rope Extensions: 60x6 (x3) / 37.5x20 / 32.5x30
45* Cable Ring Reverse Curls: 22.5x8 / 27.5x8 (x2) / 17.5x20
Arms are to the point of cramping any time I move them too much lol.
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2008
- Messages
- 2,801
Good luck to you man - you will do incredible!
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2011
- Messages
- 611
Thanks, bro! You as well!
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2011
- Messages
- 611
Okay, Friday night was my first dose of Keto Induce (really excited to see if this lives up to the potential -- if it does, it'll be a game-changer). Diet was very tight all day and the wife made shrimp enchiladas, so that's what I ate once I finally sat down around 8:30 (finished up by 9). Dosed my Keto Induce 2 hours later at 11 PM and I think the problem was I took my first dose of AlphaBurn along with it (8mg alpha-Y). So whether it was the excitement of this new venture or the alpha-Y (in hindsight, I'm now pretty sure that was it lol), I went to lay down about midnight and tossed and turned finally falling asleep. Woke up and had to pee and figured it was nearly 5 AM, but it wasn't even 2. So then I laid there for another half hour and said screw it, sleep wasn't going to happen (and I have zero issues with sleep, so this was new to me). Watched TV and read downstairs laying on the couch thinking that might help, but I finally fell asleep sometime after 5:15 AM. Woof. Had planned on getting up at 6:15 to go lift, but I ended up sleeping til about 8:30 to at least get 3 hours of sleep in before hitting the gym.
Got to the gym around 9:30 and knocked out my normal delts/traps session and added on legs (I normally do those on Friday and arms are normally Thursday, but my extra days of rest before this contest pushed things back and I wasn't going to completely skip a session).
Here was yesterday's workout:
and what it looked like from my Fitbit:
All I had consumed prior to my session was a scoop of MCT Evolved (MCT powder) and 1 serving of Modern BCAA. Drank my Compete + 5g taurine during my workout and finished it off with 75g isolate at Noon.
Had to run to the store and pick up a few things including a small birthday gift for our friend, then rushed home to shower and change. Had a couple leftover enchiladas and then we headed to our friends'. We rode up in their jeep about an hour and a half up to a local winery and did a brief tour and a tasting. Got to sample 8 different wines of our choosing (which was awesome; because not that I've done many tastings, but I'm not a fan of dry wines or anything fancy, so I got to pick out the sweet ones and they were all delicious -- including a raspberry infusion that was made with brandy and taste like a juicebox). After that we each got to split a small pizza and then we went to a restaurant back home where we were going to do dessert, but it took so long that everyone ended up just having dinner, haha. I just had a basic salad with fried chicken tenders on top (not as much as I was hoping). Got home at 10:30, so my day was a little messed up diet wise (I meant to bring a few Quest bars with but forgot them). I was so fixated on dessert I ended up having a pint of Graeter's gelato that I'd had stashed in the fridge. Only 800 calories total, so not bad; and then some Snickers fun size bars that were left over. Not what I had planned on, but still was fine on my total cal intake for the day.
Here is what yesterday looked like as a whole:
Yesterday I weighed in at 233.2 lbs to start off my morning.
This morning I stepped on at 232.0 lbs.
In a few hours I'll go play basketball and I plan to keep calories pretty tight today and raise protein up to make up for yesterday. We'll see what I clock in at tomorrow morning.
Got to the gym around 9:30 and knocked out my normal delts/traps session and added on legs (I normally do those on Friday and arms are normally Thursday, but my extra days of rest before this contest pushed things back and I wasn't going to completely skip a session).
Here was yesterday's workout:
and what it looked like from my Fitbit:
All I had consumed prior to my session was a scoop of MCT Evolved (MCT powder) and 1 serving of Modern BCAA. Drank my Compete + 5g taurine during my workout and finished it off with 75g isolate at Noon.
Had to run to the store and pick up a few things including a small birthday gift for our friend, then rushed home to shower and change. Had a couple leftover enchiladas and then we headed to our friends'. We rode up in their jeep about an hour and a half up to a local winery and did a brief tour and a tasting. Got to sample 8 different wines of our choosing (which was awesome; because not that I've done many tastings, but I'm not a fan of dry wines or anything fancy, so I got to pick out the sweet ones and they were all delicious -- including a raspberry infusion that was made with brandy and taste like a juicebox). After that we each got to split a small pizza and then we went to a restaurant back home where we were going to do dessert, but it took so long that everyone ended up just having dinner, haha. I just had a basic salad with fried chicken tenders on top (not as much as I was hoping). Got home at 10:30, so my day was a little messed up diet wise (I meant to bring a few Quest bars with but forgot them). I was so fixated on dessert I ended up having a pint of Graeter's gelato that I'd had stashed in the fridge. Only 800 calories total, so not bad; and then some Snickers fun size bars that were left over. Not what I had planned on, but still was fine on my total cal intake for the day.
Here is what yesterday looked like as a whole:
Yesterday I weighed in at 233.2 lbs to start off my morning.
This morning I stepped on at 232.0 lbs.
In a few hours I'll go play basketball and I plan to keep calories pretty tight today and raise protein up to make up for yesterday. We'll see what I clock in at tomorrow morning.
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2011
- Messages
- 611
So I'm going to start doing my full summations the day after they occur -- makes it easier for uploading a daily snap of the fitbit info as well as my workout notes.
But I will mention that I played 2 hours of basketball today (almost). Started off the day with sampling 2 different scoops of Finaflex's new Clear Protein (strawberry and frosted churro) each with 8oz. vanilla CarbMaster milk for a total of 420 calories and 66g protein. About 1.5 hours later, I dosed my pre-basketball mix. Today that was:
CardioTryx
200mg caffeine
25mg ephedrine
1 scoop Max Reps
3g beta alanine
500mg COP
15mg GW
Dosed about 30-40 minutes before I play ball, though the Max Reps (with the COP and BA) was sipped on during the drive over and finished just as I started.
Caught 2 full court games before we ended up with 20 people there and forcing us to split into 2 half court games. I hate half court as I just don't get the run in. It's not as bad when it's 4 on 4 because you get decent spacing, but 5 on 5 half court is just miserable. So I half-heartedly played the first game as my energy was just zapped and our team wasn't playing any good D at all (and sloppy on offense just chucking up shots with no ball movement). We lost like 15-1 and I went up to the track to walk.
I started this the last time I played. If I'm not on the court, I'm walking on the track. I'm making sure I'm moving for the entire 2 hours that I'm there. Gets me some good calorie burn, but also keeps my legs loose (as in the past, the tightening up is worse near the end if I've had to sit).
So I walked the track for probably 30 minutes or so total (during one game when we had to play 4 on 4 with 19 total people and one team of 4 to the other 3 teams of 5 -- I volunteered to sit so I didn't have to screw around with subbing in and out -- and then just for a bit when our game finished sooner than the other half). Other than that, moving the entire time and got a good 1500 calories burnt and 5.25 miles covered.
I will say that the endurance was fantastic (I also sip on 1 scoop of Compete + 5g taurine during the game and I mixed that up twice this time over the 2 hours). I think the stack I used will be my go to for a while since you have to avoid creatine close to dosing of CardioTryx and many pre-workouts have creatine in them and I like to get that energy burst before playing.
I had 75g whey isolate with water as soon as I finished up and all I've eaten aside from that thus far was a little energy ball my friend's daughter made when they dropped over by (oatmeal + PB and the likes) -- she's a cute/good little cook and it was actually delicious, haha. I would have eaten all of them if they weren't taking them on the road with them to the Winter Jam concert tonight.
Stepped on the scale for kicks as I got home and started laundry and it was 229.8 -- down from 239.0 all carbed up and full on Friday morning lol.
Sitting at 720 calories and 140g protein right now. Will probably have a couple quest bars and maybe some eggs and ham to round out the night; or maybe go ahead and do some oats with the frosted churro protein added in there. But total cals will be low today to make up for yesterday.
That's all for now, but I'll update tomorrow with today's stats and then follow up on my workout. Chest on tap for tomorrow morning.
But I will mention that I played 2 hours of basketball today (almost). Started off the day with sampling 2 different scoops of Finaflex's new Clear Protein (strawberry and frosted churro) each with 8oz. vanilla CarbMaster milk for a total of 420 calories and 66g protein. About 1.5 hours later, I dosed my pre-basketball mix. Today that was:
CardioTryx
200mg caffeine
25mg ephedrine
1 scoop Max Reps
3g beta alanine
500mg COP
15mg GW
Dosed about 30-40 minutes before I play ball, though the Max Reps (with the COP and BA) was sipped on during the drive over and finished just as I started.
Caught 2 full court games before we ended up with 20 people there and forcing us to split into 2 half court games. I hate half court as I just don't get the run in. It's not as bad when it's 4 on 4 because you get decent spacing, but 5 on 5 half court is just miserable. So I half-heartedly played the first game as my energy was just zapped and our team wasn't playing any good D at all (and sloppy on offense just chucking up shots with no ball movement). We lost like 15-1 and I went up to the track to walk.
I started this the last time I played. If I'm not on the court, I'm walking on the track. I'm making sure I'm moving for the entire 2 hours that I'm there. Gets me some good calorie burn, but also keeps my legs loose (as in the past, the tightening up is worse near the end if I've had to sit).
So I walked the track for probably 30 minutes or so total (during one game when we had to play 4 on 4 with 19 total people and one team of 4 to the other 3 teams of 5 -- I volunteered to sit so I didn't have to screw around with subbing in and out -- and then just for a bit when our game finished sooner than the other half). Other than that, moving the entire time and got a good 1500 calories burnt and 5.25 miles covered.
I will say that the endurance was fantastic (I also sip on 1 scoop of Compete + 5g taurine during the game and I mixed that up twice this time over the 2 hours). I think the stack I used will be my go to for a while since you have to avoid creatine close to dosing of CardioTryx and many pre-workouts have creatine in them and I like to get that energy burst before playing.
I had 75g whey isolate with water as soon as I finished up and all I've eaten aside from that thus far was a little energy ball my friend's daughter made when they dropped over by (oatmeal + PB and the likes) -- she's a cute/good little cook and it was actually delicious, haha. I would have eaten all of them if they weren't taking them on the road with them to the Winter Jam concert tonight.
Stepped on the scale for kicks as I got home and started laundry and it was 229.8 -- down from 239.0 all carbed up and full on Friday morning lol.
Sitting at 720 calories and 140g protein right now. Will probably have a couple quest bars and maybe some eggs and ham to round out the night; or maybe go ahead and do some oats with the frosted churro protein added in there. But total cals will be low today to make up for yesterday.
That's all for now, but I'll update tomorrow with today's stats and then follow up on my workout. Chest on tap for tomorrow morning.
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2011
- Messages
- 611
Total cals are about 1800 (only thing I didn't know stats on were the salsa I added to my scrambled eggs and cheese -- just didn't measure it). Protein at 245g.
Gonna sip some E9 and slam my KI at 9:45.
TWD finale time, kids!
Gonna sip some E9 and slam my KI at 9:45.
TWD finale time, kids!
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2011
- Messages
- 611
Sunday, April 3:
Finished eating around 7:45 PM, drank some Ergonine and then dosed my Keto Induce and MCT Evolved at 9:45 PM. Watched TWD finale and was not at all pleased with it. Laid down a little before 11 PM and didn't sleep well. Wife was gone to the Winter Jam concert and it ended at almost Midnight instead of the 10 PM she initially thought lol. She had a blast, but she didn't get home til 12:45 AM and her friend drove, so she called me to come unlock the door. I got up to do that and went straight back up to pass out.
Fitbit app showed me as restless 23x last night -- nothing like my normal sleep. Not sure how much of that has to do with KI or anything else, but I'll keep an eye on that.
Here are the stats from yesterday's basketball:
and a capture of my entire day:
Monday, April 4:
Weight: 229.6 lbs.
Hit heavy chest and got 2.5 miles in on the track in just under 1.5 hours. I'll post the stats tomorrow for that.
Should be a chill day the rest of the day.
Finished eating around 7:45 PM, drank some Ergonine and then dosed my Keto Induce and MCT Evolved at 9:45 PM. Watched TWD finale and was not at all pleased with it. Laid down a little before 11 PM and didn't sleep well. Wife was gone to the Winter Jam concert and it ended at almost Midnight instead of the 10 PM she initially thought lol. She had a blast, but she didn't get home til 12:45 AM and her friend drove, so she called me to come unlock the door. I got up to do that and went straight back up to pass out.
Fitbit app showed me as restless 23x last night -- nothing like my normal sleep. Not sure how much of that has to do with KI or anything else, but I'll keep an eye on that.
Here are the stats from yesterday's basketball:
and a capture of my entire day:
Monday, April 4:
Weight: 229.6 lbs.
Hit heavy chest and got 2.5 miles in on the track in just under 1.5 hours. I'll post the stats tomorrow for that.
Should be a chill day the rest of the day.
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- Jul 13, 2008
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- 2,801
You are going to kick ass man - stick with it !
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2011
- Messages
- 611
Thanks, brother!
I'm just taking it a day at a time and breaking it down to do one really good week. And then I'll just do that 12 times
It's exciting.
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- Jun 28, 2012
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- 502
This is for a show? Sorry if I overlooked it. Following along!
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2011
- Messages
- 611
Glad to have you aboard!
No show -- just a joke I made in the initial thread. After they announced Big A's Fiji trip for the winner, I joked that I was going to win the natty division that included bus fare to Kansas City lol.
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2011
- Messages
- 611
Okay, today was an INSANELY busy day at the office. I had students in my office from just before 10 AM until just a few minutes ago. I luckily had one finish up about 15 minutes early so I was able to go slam a protein shake at ~2:30, but hadn't eaten anything since my shake at 7:30 AM post-workout. Yowza.
So there was no chance of me getting to hang online with you guys until the work day was over, haha. But I am done now and trying to wrap up this stuff so I can leave the office and go have dinner with the wife.
Monday, April 4:
It was a Max-OT chest day with cardio mixed in. Here are the stats via Fitbit:
And here is the actual workout:
And here is a capture of all of yesterday:
You'll see from the numbers (and from my notes) that my chest (all pressing, really) strength is really stifled. It hasn't been great to begin with after a hip imbalance that developed about 6 years ago, but now nearly 2 months ago I had a brachial plexus injury (that I noticed during deadlifts; it was already tweaked slightly prior to that) and that has made matters worse. My left thumb and index finger are numb/have that tingling sensation on the inner half of each of them. But the bigger issue concerning lifting is that my left shoulder blade is just really odd, now. I don't know how to describe it other than I can't push off from it and I don't have an even/flat base. I went to my chiropractor a couple times, but it didn't do anything aside from get rid of that temporary pain at the onset near my neck. So I'm not sure where I'll go from here. A friend of mine (from the forums, no less) just finished school to become a PT and he was saying that's what I need to get it sorted out. I hadn't thought about that until he mentioned it as an option and it makes sense, but sadly, I can't justify paying for it right now with the way my health insurance coverage is. Only way I could justify it is if I was in agonizing pain.
So that's just a glimpse into why those chest numbers are pretty pathetic (and down DRASTICALLY from what they were just 2 months or less ago). I had worked my way back up to 335x5 for 3 sets and now I can't even press 275x4 for 1. It's bad.
So yesterday's workout was good. Had my 75g whey isolate post workout and then had 2 pumpkin Quest Bars for a late lunch (had a meeting that ran til almost 1 PM) and for dinner my wife made crockpot BBQ chicken that was wonderful. I did 2 open face buns (120cal/4g pro each) with some reduced fat Sargento colby jack cheese (50cal/5g pro each) on each one and just layered a bunch of chicken on top, haha. We ate at 5 since she was off (spring break) and I had barely eaten all day. So, I ended up feeling hungry about an hour after and just pulled some tortilla chips onto a paper plate, layered with some shredded cheese and topped off with a bit more of the chicken and the last of some sour cream we had (maybe 2 tbsp at best) and had some delicious nachos, haha. I'd guess total cals for yesterday were probably about 2500 (less than 3,000 for absolute sure even if I underestimate the cals from the chicken -- I counted the chips and everything else closely enough). Final feeding was at 6:30 PM and Keto Induce along with my other nightly supps were dosed at 8:30 PM.
Went to lay down about 9:15 and wound up saying awake til 11 PM because Castle came on at 10 and I got suckered into watching it live instead of just catching it on Hulu. Had all intention of going to bed early last night lol (maybe tonight).
Got about 6 hours of good, hard sleep.
Tuesday, April 5:
Weight: 229.2 lbs.
Down again and feeling vascular and lean (though my midsection is feeling a bit soft despite the scale drop). Staying the course, though -- no body dysmorphia mental games going to mess with me this time around. Trust the process.
Had a great back session (I'll share those details tomorrow after I have a full capture of today's stats, as always).
A buddy of mine texted just a few minutes ago and said they're playing basketball tonight at the HS he works at, so I'm probably gonna go do that after dinner. If I pull that off, the calorie burn from today will be nuts. Tomorrow morning is supposed to be a cardio day (and the wife is actually planning on going with me since she's off and I'll only be there about an hour), so hopefully I can do this tonight and still go in and at least do some light work. I just need that regularity of going to the gym to get the morning endorphin rush/release.
4 days down, 87 (more like 86.4 lol) to go!
So there was no chance of me getting to hang online with you guys until the work day was over, haha. But I am done now and trying to wrap up this stuff so I can leave the office and go have dinner with the wife.
Monday, April 4:
It was a Max-OT chest day with cardio mixed in. Here are the stats via Fitbit:
And here is the actual workout:
And here is a capture of all of yesterday:
You'll see from the numbers (and from my notes) that my chest (all pressing, really) strength is really stifled. It hasn't been great to begin with after a hip imbalance that developed about 6 years ago, but now nearly 2 months ago I had a brachial plexus injury (that I noticed during deadlifts; it was already tweaked slightly prior to that) and that has made matters worse. My left thumb and index finger are numb/have that tingling sensation on the inner half of each of them. But the bigger issue concerning lifting is that my left shoulder blade is just really odd, now. I don't know how to describe it other than I can't push off from it and I don't have an even/flat base. I went to my chiropractor a couple times, but it didn't do anything aside from get rid of that temporary pain at the onset near my neck. So I'm not sure where I'll go from here. A friend of mine (from the forums, no less) just finished school to become a PT and he was saying that's what I need to get it sorted out. I hadn't thought about that until he mentioned it as an option and it makes sense, but sadly, I can't justify paying for it right now with the way my health insurance coverage is. Only way I could justify it is if I was in agonizing pain.
So that's just a glimpse into why those chest numbers are pretty pathetic (and down DRASTICALLY from what they were just 2 months or less ago). I had worked my way back up to 335x5 for 3 sets and now I can't even press 275x4 for 1. It's bad.
So yesterday's workout was good. Had my 75g whey isolate post workout and then had 2 pumpkin Quest Bars for a late lunch (had a meeting that ran til almost 1 PM) and for dinner my wife made crockpot BBQ chicken that was wonderful. I did 2 open face buns (120cal/4g pro each) with some reduced fat Sargento colby jack cheese (50cal/5g pro each) on each one and just layered a bunch of chicken on top, haha. We ate at 5 since she was off (spring break) and I had barely eaten all day. So, I ended up feeling hungry about an hour after and just pulled some tortilla chips onto a paper plate, layered with some shredded cheese and topped off with a bit more of the chicken and the last of some sour cream we had (maybe 2 tbsp at best) and had some delicious nachos, haha. I'd guess total cals for yesterday were probably about 2500 (less than 3,000 for absolute sure even if I underestimate the cals from the chicken -- I counted the chips and everything else closely enough). Final feeding was at 6:30 PM and Keto Induce along with my other nightly supps were dosed at 8:30 PM.
Went to lay down about 9:15 and wound up saying awake til 11 PM because Castle came on at 10 and I got suckered into watching it live instead of just catching it on Hulu. Had all intention of going to bed early last night lol (maybe tonight).
Got about 6 hours of good, hard sleep.
Tuesday, April 5:
Weight: 229.2 lbs.
Down again and feeling vascular and lean (though my midsection is feeling a bit soft despite the scale drop). Staying the course, though -- no body dysmorphia mental games going to mess with me this time around. Trust the process.
Had a great back session (I'll share those details tomorrow after I have a full capture of today's stats, as always).
A buddy of mine texted just a few minutes ago and said they're playing basketball tonight at the HS he works at, so I'm probably gonna go do that after dinner. If I pull that off, the calorie burn from today will be nuts. Tomorrow morning is supposed to be a cardio day (and the wife is actually planning on going with me since she's off and I'll only be there about an hour), so hopefully I can do this tonight and still go in and at least do some light work. I just need that regularity of going to the gym to get the morning endorphin rush/release.
4 days down, 87 (more like 86.4 lol) to go!
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2011
- Messages
- 611
Tuesday, April 5:
Weight: 229.2 lbs.
Woke up at 5 AM to hit it. Took my standard supps and rock and roll. Here was Workout Number 1 (more on that...lol) via Fitbit:
and here was the actual workout:
Got a text from a buddy as I was about to leave the office that they were playing ball, so I decided to partake since it's been hard the last year to get an extra day of hooping in outside of Sundays at church. My friend is a couple years younger than me and actually coaches one of the local HS teams, so that's where we played which was nice. Turns out he actually had some of his players (since we're on spring break) come out with some of his former players/graduates. I was definitely the oldest dude there lol, but my friend is only 3 years younger at least. Anyway, I was happy that he picked me up to run with his team as I just want to rebound and play D. We won every game we played, which was great.
I had dinner with the wife first (buffalo chicken lettuce wraps that were actually really, really good -- I tried one on a tortilla and ended up having 3 total on lettuce because it was so crisp/fresh that it tasted better -- I was surprised) around 6 PM. Took my pre-cardio mix at 6:45, changed, and headed out (about a 20 minute drive). Ball at 7:15. Here are the stats via Fitbit:
You can see a few lulls in there. We played 2 full court games and then had to go down to half because of the number of guys there. Unfortunately one team only had 4, so the 2 times that happened, I sat to let my team play. Since I was a guest and one of the guys on our team was the coach and another was a current player, I took a back seat just because I was gracious for the invite. Normally I wouldn't be keen on that, but it's okay. I'd already logged 2.5 miles that morning in addition to lifting anyway, lol. But as you can see, it was a pretty nice calorie burn and my average HR was actually impressive considering those 2 times sitting out.
Here is yesterday's capture:
Pretty sure that's the highest calorie burn day I've had since owning the Fitbit back in September, but a day that I played flag football and also lifted in the AM may have been close.
Last time I ate was at about 6 when we finished dinner. After basketball (~9:15) I had 2 scoops of HumaPro. I was exhausted by the time I got home around 9:40 PM and tossed my clothes in the laundry room to dry out, and slammed my pre-bed supps: Keto Induce + MCT Evolved, agmatine, MK677, Gut Health, vitamin B, vitamin C, coQ10. Went to grab a quick shower after that and then did a bit of work on the computer while relaxing in the recliner.
Wasn't tired in a sleepy sense; but physically exhausted. Decided to pop open a bottle of Sleephoria that I have to see if that would help. I generally don't have issues at all with sleep, but it's evident now that since starting this run on April 1, it's being impacted. Now tonight very well may have been just from getting that second workout in late and my pre-cardio mix of 280mg caffeine (via one caffeine cap and CardioTryx), 25mg ephedrine, and AlphaBurn. But I still had felt similarly the past few nights even when not dosing any of that since ~15 hours prior to lying down. I'll keep monitoring it.
I ended up falling asleep sometime after 1:15 AM and woke up several times again. Alarm went off at 5:30 and I said no to cardio since I'd barely slept. Snoozed it to 7:45 and woke up at 6:30 and again at 7:40 before the alarm and decided to just get up at that point. So I at least wasn't completely without sleep, but it wasn't deep, relaxing rest.
That said, I didn't feel groggy or sleepy at all once I got up -- just worn down. Hopefully Sleephoria will help moving forward and obviously watching the stim intake and working out closer to bed (even though that had never bothered me in the slightest previously).
Wednesday, April 6:
Weight: 227.6 lbs.
I expected a drop from the calorie burn yesterday and just depleting everything I had in me (water and glycogen), but this was more than I'd expected. The biggest shock was actually seeing some slight improvement in my lower ab outlines. There's still a good chunk of loose fat down there that's hanging and looking softer as I've mentioned, but there were some areas that it slightly tightened up. Been a very long time since I've seen that particular improvement, so that's very promising.
I may decide to do some light cardio this evening (walk in the neighborhood with the wife or LISS on the treadmill for a couple miles watching some TV). We'll just see how I feel.
Calories will remain on the lower end (with carbs staying on the lower end also) for today and tomorrow I will ramp them up. Nothing crazy, but will definitely refeed a bit as I'll have arms Thursday morning and legs Friday morning, so it will be well utilized.
Other Notes:
Started OG MyoSynergy (my final bottle) this morning and will also start Testruction today, as well. Any other changes I make from the original layout will be addressed as they occur.
Weight: 229.2 lbs.
Woke up at 5 AM to hit it. Took my standard supps and rock and roll. Here was Workout Number 1 (more on that...lol) via Fitbit:
and here was the actual workout:
Got a text from a buddy as I was about to leave the office that they were playing ball, so I decided to partake since it's been hard the last year to get an extra day of hooping in outside of Sundays at church. My friend is a couple years younger than me and actually coaches one of the local HS teams, so that's where we played which was nice. Turns out he actually had some of his players (since we're on spring break) come out with some of his former players/graduates. I was definitely the oldest dude there lol, but my friend is only 3 years younger at least. Anyway, I was happy that he picked me up to run with his team as I just want to rebound and play D. We won every game we played, which was great.
I had dinner with the wife first (buffalo chicken lettuce wraps that were actually really, really good -- I tried one on a tortilla and ended up having 3 total on lettuce because it was so crisp/fresh that it tasted better -- I was surprised) around 6 PM. Took my pre-cardio mix at 6:45, changed, and headed out (about a 20 minute drive). Ball at 7:15. Here are the stats via Fitbit:
You can see a few lulls in there. We played 2 full court games and then had to go down to half because of the number of guys there. Unfortunately one team only had 4, so the 2 times that happened, I sat to let my team play. Since I was a guest and one of the guys on our team was the coach and another was a current player, I took a back seat just because I was gracious for the invite. Normally I wouldn't be keen on that, but it's okay. I'd already logged 2.5 miles that morning in addition to lifting anyway, lol. But as you can see, it was a pretty nice calorie burn and my average HR was actually impressive considering those 2 times sitting out.
Here is yesterday's capture:
Pretty sure that's the highest calorie burn day I've had since owning the Fitbit back in September, but a day that I played flag football and also lifted in the AM may have been close.
Last time I ate was at about 6 when we finished dinner. After basketball (~9:15) I had 2 scoops of HumaPro. I was exhausted by the time I got home around 9:40 PM and tossed my clothes in the laundry room to dry out, and slammed my pre-bed supps: Keto Induce + MCT Evolved, agmatine, MK677, Gut Health, vitamin B, vitamin C, coQ10. Went to grab a quick shower after that and then did a bit of work on the computer while relaxing in the recliner.
Wasn't tired in a sleepy sense; but physically exhausted. Decided to pop open a bottle of Sleephoria that I have to see if that would help. I generally don't have issues at all with sleep, but it's evident now that since starting this run on April 1, it's being impacted. Now tonight very well may have been just from getting that second workout in late and my pre-cardio mix of 280mg caffeine (via one caffeine cap and CardioTryx), 25mg ephedrine, and AlphaBurn. But I still had felt similarly the past few nights even when not dosing any of that since ~15 hours prior to lying down. I'll keep monitoring it.
I ended up falling asleep sometime after 1:15 AM and woke up several times again. Alarm went off at 5:30 and I said no to cardio since I'd barely slept. Snoozed it to 7:45 and woke up at 6:30 and again at 7:40 before the alarm and decided to just get up at that point. So I at least wasn't completely without sleep, but it wasn't deep, relaxing rest.
That said, I didn't feel groggy or sleepy at all once I got up -- just worn down. Hopefully Sleephoria will help moving forward and obviously watching the stim intake and working out closer to bed (even though that had never bothered me in the slightest previously).
Wednesday, April 6:
Weight: 227.6 lbs.
I expected a drop from the calorie burn yesterday and just depleting everything I had in me (water and glycogen), but this was more than I'd expected. The biggest shock was actually seeing some slight improvement in my lower ab outlines. There's still a good chunk of loose fat down there that's hanging and looking softer as I've mentioned, but there were some areas that it slightly tightened up. Been a very long time since I've seen that particular improvement, so that's very promising.
I may decide to do some light cardio this evening (walk in the neighborhood with the wife or LISS on the treadmill for a couple miles watching some TV). We'll just see how I feel.
Calories will remain on the lower end (with carbs staying on the lower end also) for today and tomorrow I will ramp them up. Nothing crazy, but will definitely refeed a bit as I'll have arms Thursday morning and legs Friday morning, so it will be well utilized.
Other Notes:
Started OG MyoSynergy (my final bottle) this morning and will also start Testruction today, as well. Any other changes I make from the original layout will be addressed as they occur.
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2011
- Messages
- 611
Okay, so yesterday ended up being an entire off day. I also cut the stims after my morning Alphamine that I drink as soon as I get to the office on off days. Felt the headache coming on around 3:30 or so and was tired when I got home. Fixed dinner -- took the leftover Buffalo shredded chicken the wife made and scrambled some eggs (with garlic and onion powder, and then cheese mixed in), and made 3 little burritos with the Mission Carb Smart or Carb Balance (whatever it is) tortillas. They were really good. Also had a small glass of Coke Zero (about 6 oz.), so I got a little bit of caffeine, but a drop in the bucket compared to my normal usage. Waited about an hour and had a pint of Halo Top. Wife picked me up the mint chip flavor this past week. It wasn't as good as the birthday cake. It's still good; but the texture just felt a bit different (not as creamy). Not sure if that had to do with me needing to wait for it to thaw a bit or just differences in the 2 mixes. Still good, though. Cals were around 1800 that I could do the specific math for. What I didn't have specifics for were the chicken and the cheese. So it probably ended up being around 23-2400 would be my guess; not high by any means.
Here's yesterday's capture via Fitbit:
Definitely laughable after seeing all my workout days (especially the 0 minutes of activity LOL). But it is what it is and I'm fine with it.
Ended up falling asleep shortly after my ice cream while watching TV in the recliner about 7-7:15 and woke up about 9 PM. Got up, mixed up my Keto Induce and MCT Evolved, along with my night-time supps and headed upstairs to bed. Passed out pretty quickly after lying down, too, which was great.
So here's the weird thing. I slept long and great last night. However, I woke up around 3 AM and felt like I'd been asleep for ages, so I checked the watch on my fitbit -- not close enough to 5 to get up; so I made myself fall back asleep. Happened again at 4 AM. Then I ultimately got up at 5. So I netted 2 hours of nap time and 7.5 hours of real sleep (bed sleep lol). I'm not sure if it was just because of that 9.5 hours total, which is more than I normally get/aim for, or if the KI has anything to do with it. It's not a complaint, just a unique observation. It's a very different feeling than any I can recall when waking up mid-night/mid-morning.
Anyway, had a killer workout today but I'll elaborate on that tomorrow after the day is over.
Thursday, April 7:
Weight: 229.2 lbs.
This was the first day since starting on Friday that the scale has actually not gone down (and in fact, went up). Obviously I'm not concerned by that. Even with 100-130g carbs yesterday, my glycogen stores were going to fill back up and there was no workout to pull more water out. Felt soft again and didn't look as good in the mirror as the day prior.
However, after the morning workout, I weighed in at 228.0 lbs and that was after slamming a protein shake and all the water I drank while lifting. More importantly was I felt significantly tighter.
Full report on Thursday (today) will come after the full day is over.
Here's yesterday's capture via Fitbit:
Definitely laughable after seeing all my workout days (especially the 0 minutes of activity LOL). But it is what it is and I'm fine with it.
Ended up falling asleep shortly after my ice cream while watching TV in the recliner about 7-7:15 and woke up about 9 PM. Got up, mixed up my Keto Induce and MCT Evolved, along with my night-time supps and headed upstairs to bed. Passed out pretty quickly after lying down, too, which was great.
So here's the weird thing. I slept long and great last night. However, I woke up around 3 AM and felt like I'd been asleep for ages, so I checked the watch on my fitbit -- not close enough to 5 to get up; so I made myself fall back asleep. Happened again at 4 AM. Then I ultimately got up at 5. So I netted 2 hours of nap time and 7.5 hours of real sleep (bed sleep lol). I'm not sure if it was just because of that 9.5 hours total, which is more than I normally get/aim for, or if the KI has anything to do with it. It's not a complaint, just a unique observation. It's a very different feeling than any I can recall when waking up mid-night/mid-morning.
Anyway, had a killer workout today but I'll elaborate on that tomorrow after the day is over.
Thursday, April 7:
Weight: 229.2 lbs.
This was the first day since starting on Friday that the scale has actually not gone down (and in fact, went up). Obviously I'm not concerned by that. Even with 100-130g carbs yesterday, my glycogen stores were going to fill back up and there was no workout to pull more water out. Felt soft again and didn't look as good in the mirror as the day prior.
However, after the morning workout, I weighed in at 228.0 lbs and that was after slamming a protein shake and all the water I drank while lifting. More importantly was I felt significantly tighter.
Full report on Thursday (today) will come after the full day is over.
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2011
- Messages
- 611
Busy weekend meant not being able to sit at a computer until now -- updates since Thursday:
Thursday, April 7:
Weight: 229.2 lbs.
Had a great workout Thursday morning. Got in a great arm session and the pump was solid.
Fitbit capture:
Workout log:
and Fitbit capture for the entire day:
Planned on staying up to watch the Spurs/Warriors game and made it til 10:30 when it started, but managed to pass out in the recliner before tip even happened lol. Woke up a minute into it, fell back asleep, and then woke up maybe 2 other times, but saw in the 3rd when I did that it wasn't close, so I didn't fight it. Ended up waking up at 2 AM and headed up to the bed. Took a vacation day in advance for Friday since my wife was wrapping up spring break that day so we could take a day trip to Louisville.
Friday, April 8
Weight: 231.6 lbs.
Wasn't a big fan of seeing my weight jump up, but it was bound to happen sooner or later (just mentally hard for me to deal with). Went ahead and took some photos so I can keep track of my progress. I'll be doing so every Friday to have a week-to-week comparison across the entire 3 months.
Planned on getting up at 5 to lift like normal, but decided to hit snooze and do 5:30 since I had the day off -- except I turned it off instead and woke up at 7:45 -- ugh. Got everything together and headed in to lift and banged it out as quickly as I could so we could head up to Louisville.
High volume legs with my normal cardio mixed in. Fitbit capture:
Workout log:
Daily capture via Fitbit:
Banged out 30 laps in between all my sets, which meant 30 stair-sprints. Headed home to shower really quick, and then we were off for the city. Grabbed brunch at a great place my wife likes, but I'd never gone to. Got a nice omelette and 2 pancakes (could have even gone with 1, though I ate a little over 1.5). She had some salmon eggs benedict and a unique grits of the day they did that was great. After that, we headed to the Louisville Slugger Factory & Museum. She grew up in the area, but had never been. I've been down here for almost 6.5 years now and I'd only walked through it once when I first moved down (to cut through while we were going to another museum, of all things). So we signed up to do the tour and it was really cool -- learned a lot I didn't know. Then we walked through and looked at everything else we could. Headed to the mall for just a bit, got a present for my buddy's new little son, and then we headed home to go to a going away party for our fire chief who just took a new job. I grabbed a brief nap on the drive home, but it wasn't solid at all lol.
A lot more food spread at the party than what I'd anticipated. All I'd eaten for the day was my 75g isolate shake post-workout and aforementioned brunch, so I was protein deficient lol. Loaded my plate down with a huge pulled pork sandwich, some extra meat, a small scoop of baked beans, some lunch meat/cheese from one of those trays (no need for crackers), a couple deviled eggs, a hot dog, and a couple little cream cheese/meat pinwheels. Went back and tried a few of the desserts (mostly only the really small things; just to sample each). So obviously I got some cals in, but it was actually pretty restrained considering how I can put down food at buffets and such situations. Stayed there from about 7-9:30 and then headed home and actually got stuff together to go to bed as soon as I got my supps in.
Saturday, April 9
Weight: 233.6 lbs.
Again, not happy to see the scale go up, but it was expected given dinner. Just hated seeing it climb 6 lbs. over the past few days. That's the type of thing that gets to my emotional/mental issues that I've dealt with my whole life and something that could cause me to fall off the wagon, say "poor me, nothing works" and start binge-eating. Not this day. Went straight to the gym to make sure I didn't stumble. High volume delts/traps session.
Workout stats via Fitbit:
Workout log:
Daily capture via Fitbit:
Workout was great and got my head on straight. Biggest thing to note was that on Friday, I started taking Nerve Restore (EvoMuse). I've used it once before for about the length of a bottle, but I didn't notice that much from it because I actually didn't have any real nerve problems -- which was a big plus. Well, a few months ago, I had my brachial plexus injury and my left thumb/index finger are still partially numb from it, but the initial neck pain that accompanied it was gone after a few days and a couple chiro adjustments. The lingering part, however, was the fact that my presses (bench/overhead) have been absolute trash ever since that happened -- I'm talking major drop-off in weight. Well, this was the first time since the injury that I felt improvement. The real test will be tomorrow (Monday) morning when I do chest work. I'll be sure to keep notes on this.
After the gym, I headed home to do some housework and get some things together. Headed out for the first mow of the season and had to change the oil in the mower and realized I didn't have any here; ran to the gas station at the end of the highway and no luck there, so headed back into town to Walmart and grabbed some (as well as a bottle of "Start Your Engines" at the recommendation of my father). Got back home, got the oil in there, added the SYE, but unfortunately I'd already topped off the gas, so it was a bigger pain lol. Anyway, fired right up and that was nice. We're on about 1.75 acres and some of it is woods, but it's a lot of lawn. I only have a push because we weren't sure how long we'd be here or where next, so that's what I bought. But, it's a good workout (and the front yard is a HORRIBLE hill that would be awful to do with a rider), so I just call it that. Anyway, knocked out the front yard and the front side yard as best I could -- the rest I'm going to have to walk and check for limbs/rocks and clear before I can mow it (very overgrown), and the backyard I'll get this week.
Funny thing is my fitbit catalogued the mowing as bicycling via auto-detect, haha. So the steps didn't get counted, but the HR was up and the floors are insane (as you can see in the above capture).
Baked a protein cheesecake for dinner and watched the Cardinals game and then flipped over to watch the Grizzlies choke up a win to the Warriors.
Sunday, April 10
Weight: 231.0 lbs.
FINALLY! lol
About time to see the weight dip after those several days in a row of increases.
I'll do a full update tomorrow, but I got in about 1.25 hours of basketball (5 halfcourt games) because only 8 people showed up today. Have kept carbs non-existent for the day. Felt a bit weak in the evening, but that may just be feeling worn down from all the working out since Wednesday.
Full update tomorrow.
Thursday, April 7:
Weight: 229.2 lbs.
Had a great workout Thursday morning. Got in a great arm session and the pump was solid.
Fitbit capture:
Workout log:
and Fitbit capture for the entire day:
Planned on staying up to watch the Spurs/Warriors game and made it til 10:30 when it started, but managed to pass out in the recliner before tip even happened lol. Woke up a minute into it, fell back asleep, and then woke up maybe 2 other times, but saw in the 3rd when I did that it wasn't close, so I didn't fight it. Ended up waking up at 2 AM and headed up to the bed. Took a vacation day in advance for Friday since my wife was wrapping up spring break that day so we could take a day trip to Louisville.
Friday, April 8
Weight: 231.6 lbs.
Wasn't a big fan of seeing my weight jump up, but it was bound to happen sooner or later (just mentally hard for me to deal with). Went ahead and took some photos so I can keep track of my progress. I'll be doing so every Friday to have a week-to-week comparison across the entire 3 months.
Planned on getting up at 5 to lift like normal, but decided to hit snooze and do 5:30 since I had the day off -- except I turned it off instead and woke up at 7:45 -- ugh. Got everything together and headed in to lift and banged it out as quickly as I could so we could head up to Louisville.
High volume legs with my normal cardio mixed in. Fitbit capture:
Workout log:
Daily capture via Fitbit:
Banged out 30 laps in between all my sets, which meant 30 stair-sprints. Headed home to shower really quick, and then we were off for the city. Grabbed brunch at a great place my wife likes, but I'd never gone to. Got a nice omelette and 2 pancakes (could have even gone with 1, though I ate a little over 1.5). She had some salmon eggs benedict and a unique grits of the day they did that was great. After that, we headed to the Louisville Slugger Factory & Museum. She grew up in the area, but had never been. I've been down here for almost 6.5 years now and I'd only walked through it once when I first moved down (to cut through while we were going to another museum, of all things). So we signed up to do the tour and it was really cool -- learned a lot I didn't know. Then we walked through and looked at everything else we could. Headed to the mall for just a bit, got a present for my buddy's new little son, and then we headed home to go to a going away party for our fire chief who just took a new job. I grabbed a brief nap on the drive home, but it wasn't solid at all lol.
A lot more food spread at the party than what I'd anticipated. All I'd eaten for the day was my 75g isolate shake post-workout and aforementioned brunch, so I was protein deficient lol. Loaded my plate down with a huge pulled pork sandwich, some extra meat, a small scoop of baked beans, some lunch meat/cheese from one of those trays (no need for crackers), a couple deviled eggs, a hot dog, and a couple little cream cheese/meat pinwheels. Went back and tried a few of the desserts (mostly only the really small things; just to sample each). So obviously I got some cals in, but it was actually pretty restrained considering how I can put down food at buffets and such situations. Stayed there from about 7-9:30 and then headed home and actually got stuff together to go to bed as soon as I got my supps in.
Saturday, April 9
Weight: 233.6 lbs.
Again, not happy to see the scale go up, but it was expected given dinner. Just hated seeing it climb 6 lbs. over the past few days. That's the type of thing that gets to my emotional/mental issues that I've dealt with my whole life and something that could cause me to fall off the wagon, say "poor me, nothing works" and start binge-eating. Not this day. Went straight to the gym to make sure I didn't stumble. High volume delts/traps session.
Workout stats via Fitbit:
Workout log:
Daily capture via Fitbit:
Workout was great and got my head on straight. Biggest thing to note was that on Friday, I started taking Nerve Restore (EvoMuse). I've used it once before for about the length of a bottle, but I didn't notice that much from it because I actually didn't have any real nerve problems -- which was a big plus. Well, a few months ago, I had my brachial plexus injury and my left thumb/index finger are still partially numb from it, but the initial neck pain that accompanied it was gone after a few days and a couple chiro adjustments. The lingering part, however, was the fact that my presses (bench/overhead) have been absolute trash ever since that happened -- I'm talking major drop-off in weight. Well, this was the first time since the injury that I felt improvement. The real test will be tomorrow (Monday) morning when I do chest work. I'll be sure to keep notes on this.
After the gym, I headed home to do some housework and get some things together. Headed out for the first mow of the season and had to change the oil in the mower and realized I didn't have any here; ran to the gas station at the end of the highway and no luck there, so headed back into town to Walmart and grabbed some (as well as a bottle of "Start Your Engines" at the recommendation of my father). Got back home, got the oil in there, added the SYE, but unfortunately I'd already topped off the gas, so it was a bigger pain lol. Anyway, fired right up and that was nice. We're on about 1.75 acres and some of it is woods, but it's a lot of lawn. I only have a push because we weren't sure how long we'd be here or where next, so that's what I bought. But, it's a good workout (and the front yard is a HORRIBLE hill that would be awful to do with a rider), so I just call it that. Anyway, knocked out the front yard and the front side yard as best I could -- the rest I'm going to have to walk and check for limbs/rocks and clear before I can mow it (very overgrown), and the backyard I'll get this week.
Funny thing is my fitbit catalogued the mowing as bicycling via auto-detect, haha. So the steps didn't get counted, but the HR was up and the floors are insane (as you can see in the above capture).
Baked a protein cheesecake for dinner and watched the Cardinals game and then flipped over to watch the Grizzlies choke up a win to the Warriors.
Sunday, April 10
Weight: 231.0 lbs.
FINALLY! lol
About time to see the weight dip after those several days in a row of increases.
I'll do a full update tomorrow, but I got in about 1.25 hours of basketball (5 halfcourt games) because only 8 people showed up today. Have kept carbs non-existent for the day. Felt a bit weak in the evening, but that may just be feeling worn down from all the working out since Wednesday.
Full update tomorrow.
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