Same old trip it was back then

I have very little energy at the moment, hopefully about to be remedied by the Spike Shooter I’m drinking before the gym. Work has not been that busy, I just think my body needs rest after Workout B on Monday and intervals yesterday. Really yesterday should have been a day off but I screwed that one up.  Tonight is 4 sets of 8 which I’m not really feeling, but sucking it up anyway.

I haven’t foam rolled or done any ankle or hip flexor stuff in over a week and seeing as that’s important, it’s time to do some before I work out.
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Now playing: Alice In Chains – Would?
via FoxyTunes

Here’s the clincher

I did my intervals completely today plus a little walking (not as much as I planned), followed that up with two turkey burgers (no buns) and a small amount of BBQ sauce (too much sugar). I’m feeling extra-motivated right now, the endorphins are a-flowing, so I’m headed out for a walk and listening to music. Downloaded some heavy new Chevelle, looking forward to it.

I did buy a Shuffle the other day and for lifting, it’s pretty good. Normally I take it as a personal offense if I see anybody wearing a Shuffle, as Molly already commented on, because only having space for 240 songs and not having control over what you’re listening to (no display screen) is a scary thought to me, but during lifting it’s much less hassle.  Cardio, on the other hand, is a bit tougher with it, because I tend to be more particular and can get roped into listening to a very specific song depending on my mood, but overall this is good.

I still plan on getting the 80gig fixed at some point soon, but at 180 smacks it’s not terribly pressing. For the moment I’ve hijacked Jaylynn’s 30gig (seriously this girl does not need a 30g iPod, she has about 100 songs and only listens to “Get Right”) for the walk.
I feel great at the moment, I’ve forgiven myself for the weekend.

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Now playing: Mike Robertson – Ep. 06 – In the Trenches with Nate Green
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What you want me to do? I’m sorry, I’m back.

A few days off from the blogosphere and everybody is still alright? Survived without me? Great.

So last week ended up being a wash. Between working late and the broken iPod I didn’t man up and get the job done. I did, in fact, eat that pizza last Wednesday, along with some on Sunday, not to mention chicken pot pie, a gigantic hot dog, a slice of pizza, and some chips during Ethan’s bachelor party day on Saturday. Oh, plus beers. OH, and then waffles and bacon Sunday morning. So, yea, a wash.

I was mentally prepared for the bachelor party and actually figured I would drink more (more on that later), it’s the rest of the week’s end that is bugging me. Two weeks ago I weighed 190.8 pounds, my lowest in a few years, but last week I tipped the scales at 192.2. I KNOW SCALE WEIGHT DOESN’T MATTER, but it still means a lot to me to get under 190. Had last week gone better I was going to get there, too.  Still need to keep plugging away.

Yesterday’s Workout B was not my greatest, and I crapped out on the intervals after a couple of minutes (doing those plus low-intensity today). I did add some bench work just because I felt the urge to bench, and it wasn’t bad considering I haven’t done a lot of chest in these past couple of months, let alone do heavy bench. After some warm-ups I was able to put up 215 x 1, and I was not feeling great to start, so pretty good considering.  Once these next 6+ weeks of fat loss are done, it’s strength time. I’m anxious (not that anxious, I’m not bailing on this yet) to start lifting heavy following a legit program, and hopefully the foam rolling and warm-up plans I’ve been using will really show their worth when front squats and deadlifts start coming into play. I’m telling you, with a good plan and some modifications, I think I can get really strong in a short amount of time. I used to do pretty well when I had no idea what I was doing, so it can only go up from there.

That being said, the next 6 weeks or so are going to be hard. This is the last week of the first summer phase, and the workouts change after that to include giant sets (sets of 4 exercises in a row without rest) which looking at them in the Built for Show book, are going to be hard to do at Planet Fitness because of the proximity of weights to each other. Doing squats, cable rows, db bench, and ball crunches back-to-back-to-back-to-back might require some serious relocating of gym equipment. Maybe it will be easier in our shitty apartment gym.

Anyway, the Spike is flowing through my veins (yea I caved on that big time), which means it’s cardio time.

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Now playing: Jay-Z – Show Me What You Got
via FoxyTunes

…

…

I was so angry about my iPod last night I ate a pizza. I feel like shit about that. I’m feeling like ANY cheating at this point is a failure, even though that isn’t really true as long as I keep it to last night. Mentally that’s where I am. Combined with the iPod debacle and quitting my workout 15 minutes in, I’m really pissed right now. I need to really dig in tonight and re-do the planned workout from last night. Looks like about 3 cups of broccoli today for me to atone.

I’ve grown so dependent on headphones to work out, but I’m not interested in purchasing a new iPod (well, yes I am) or having this one repaired ($180 to have it fixed! Unbelievable!) Checking BestBuy.com they have a 1G Shuffle for $50, less with my points, so maybe that’s an option if this thing is really shot.

Anyway, I need to get to work.

I think my iPod is broken…

I am distraught if this thing doesn’t fix itself. DISTRAUGHT!

I worked out for 15 minutes with it going haywire in my ears it in the shitty little gym at our apartment and I couldn’t stand any more.

Spending the night on the internet searching for cures that don’t require a lot of money.

We are letting you get away.

Just got back from a long day at work and brewing some espresso before doing cardio. I said last week that the espresso and caffeine prior to working out would be ending, but I’m not sure that’s going to happen. I really want a Spike Shooter right now, but at least for now I’ve sworn those (I give it another week before I cave). They taste so good and give the best buzzes, it’s hard to stay away. My skin is getting itchy.

Now that work is getting really busy again, I’m faced with another challenge. The past two or three weeks have been pretty light and at 3:59 I’ve been out the door, leaving me plenty of time to come home, eat, change, foam roll, stretch, get a workout in, and come home at a time where my wife isn’t pissed at me for making her wait to eat dinner. Luckily she’s at her parents’ house tonight so I’m free to keep my own schedule, but pretty soon it’s going to catch up to me.

I guess that’s the reason most people fall off at the gym, but I’m not ready for that to happen.

Anyway, my caffeine shot is ready so I gotta get going. More on my two recent workouts when I get home.

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Now playing: Nine Inch Nails – Letting You
via FoxyTunes

Time marches on…

Just finished Workout A, the second time around with 2 sets of 25 reps with 45 seconds of rest, and it was killer. I was able to do all the intervals in addition to the regular workout (and improvement over last time) but was totally woozy after, and I needed a 10-minute treadmill walk at zombie-speed to avoid throwing up. Two days in and already I think I’m going to scrap the espresso shake beforehand and save that for a regular treat.  Not making me feel great. I’m going to try some green tea and a regular protein shot instead.

A1) goblet squat 2 x 25

A2) db rows (did two at once instead of one arm at a time) 2 x 25

A3) side planks 2 x 75s

B1) bulg. split squats 2 x 25

B2) pushups on ball 2 x 25

B3) swiss ball crunches 2 x 25

Intervals: 5 min warm up; 10s ON/ 20s OFF x 11

Making sausage with feta and spinach from the TNT Diet recipe section. I’ve never tried this but I love sausage, feta, and spinach so it should be good.

I quickly mentioned green tea, I’m starting another 7-day challenge to drink a cup of green tea (I bought some berry-flavored stuff) per afternoon instead of the second cup of coffee. It’s supposed to be really good for you for a number of reasons that I don’t understand. Whatever.

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Now playing: Metallica – For Whom the Bell Tolls
via FoxyTunes

Peanut Butter Cup Protein Latte

This is a good one. My kitchen wizardry continues.

-2 shots of espresso

-1 scoop chocolate protein powder

-1 tbsp natural peanut butter

-1 tbsp cream

Blend it up, pour it in a mug, then say hello to deliciousness! About 250 calories, 20 grams of protein, very few carbs.  Trying these instead of Spikes this week. It’s still caffeine, though not nearly as much, and it saves me a ton of money.

I think my one-cup-a-day thing is long out the window, but I’m much more restrained than I was. The one cup in the AM means one in the afternoon doesn’t do much damage.

Today is a steady-state walking day on the treadmill. Trying to burn about 400 extra kcals. I also haven’t foam rolled in a week so going to work over time on that tonight.

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Now playing: The Decemberists – When The War Came
via FoxyTunes

Wash the day away

I would say the weekend was a relative success nutritionally. After my near killing spree Friday night when I almost ate a tin can, I hunkered down and had a pretty good Saturday with scrambled eggs in the AM, protein/almonds at the beach, steak, a baked potato, and corn for dinner, plus a couple Sam Summers and Guinness. Sunday was more eggs and wheat toast, protein/peanut butter at lunch, and a real cheat meal with BBQ chicken pizza from Imperial last night.  It had been at least 6 weeks since my last pizza from there, and it was so good. I was expecting to feel guilty about it after, but I’m back on track today and I feel comfortable. I think this ensures that I have a great week with the diet, because I treated myself and now I’m ready to bear down again for a while.

Both Ethan and I really sucked it up at golf at Black Hall on Saturday (me worse than him), but it was still a lot of fun. Even though I had’t swung a club since my wedding day at the range, I thought I would play better. I was in shambles. My swing isn’t even that bad-looking and with a couple of lessons and consistent play I could straighten out a few flaws and be a little more respectable out there.  It’s a hobby I wish I could spend more time on, but the priorities right now are work, family, and the gym.

Though they can very expensive, I would to try eating more organic foods when I can, including things like grass-fed beef and chicken.  I don’t want to start nitpicking too much because I’ll end up ruining the good thing I have going at the moment, but a few more organic choices down the road would be a good idea. My snacks at work are primarily organic almond butter and blueberries, plus I occasionally but the organic frozen spinach for my smoothies, so that’s a start. I’ll have to cruise the Whole Foods at some point and see what I’d be dealing with. The only time I’ve been to Whole Foods (or “Whole Paycheck” as my friend Rick says), I bought sage and cooking twine, totaling a whopping 9 American dollars. I hope the Stop-N-Shop Nature’s Promise brand is just as good.

Speaking of Stop-N-Shop, yesterday while grocery shopping I celebrated the 1,000th consecutive trip I’ve been there where that bad remix of U2’s “One” with Mary J. Blige was playing. Confetti and everything. Congratulations Bono.

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Now playing: TV On the Radio – Wash the Day Away
via FoxyTunes

192.2 and UFC 100

Just weighed in at 192.2. I was hoping for a little less, but it’s still progress and scale weight doesn’t matter much in the grand scheme of things.  Three weeks ago I was 196, two weeks ago I was 194. Maybe another week of this and I’ll break the barrier.

I’ve never been a fan of UFC.  In fact I’ve always thought of it as barbaric. As a former pro wrestling fan I admit there is something disturbing about UFC/MMA taking over WWE as the top entertainment option for my demographic, even though I haven’t watched wrestling since 2003 (save for a few minutes of TNA last week when I was bored in a hotel room) and it’s pretty terrible now.  I don’t see any grace in UFC. I don’t get the characters. Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture bore me. Seeing those damn Tap Out! t-shirts on kids at the gym bothers me.  I sincerely doubt the kid wearing lifting gloves and struggling with a 185 bench is putting anybody in a knee bar any time soon.

That being said, it’s been hard to ignore the hype for UFC 100 with Brock Lesnar fighting Frank Mir, along with Georges St. Pierre facing Thiago Alves.  I spent all last night watching YouTube videos of Lesnar and other fights, trying to get a little more comfortable with what was happening. Three-minute fights still aren’t that entertaining, but the theatrics are better than I thought. Lesnar was amazing as a pro wrestler, and he’s the type of freak athlete who is just fun to watch, regardless of the setting. Having him succeed in a real fight legitimizes everything else he’s done is his career. Bill Simmons had an extensive podcast yesterday involving UFC 100 and debating whether or not to become a fan, and I think I’m in the same boat. Lesnar might be the star to make it happen.

I finally bought Love Vs. Money by The-Dream, and I’m pretty happy with it. Complex called it it’s album of the year so far, and while I don’t agree, it’s still a lot of fun.  The combination of the two songs “Love Vs. Money” and “Love Vs. Money Part 2″ reminds me a lot of FutureSex/LoveSounds.

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Now playing: The-Dream – Love Vs. Money
via FoxyTunes