Build Me - An Ongoing Journey

 Sunday 1/18/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 151.0lb – +0.4lb
Body Fat: 8.1% – +0.0%
Lean Mass: 138.77lb – +0.37lb
Fat Weight: 12.23lb – +0.03lb
 
Diet:
9:15am:
                2 small Apples
                1 small-medium Apple
                1 bowl Oatmeal
                5 Egg White Omelet with Ham [a little more than usual], Onion (Mustard)
12:15pm:
                1 small Apple
                1/2 bowl Oatmeal
                1 slice Whole Wheat Bread [with HFCS] with Deli Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato (Mustard)
                1 small cup Vegetable Bean Stew with Tofu
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Hot Pepper (Low Calorie Light Italian Dressing)
                1 bowl Chicken Rice Creole Soup
2:40pm:
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Hot Pepper, Cottage Cheese, Tunafish [with Mayo] (Low Calorie Light Italian Dressing)
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Hot Pepper, Deli Turkey (Low Calorie Light Italian Dressing)
                1 bowl Chicken Rice Creole Soup
5:45pm:
                1 plate Wild Race, Bean Stew, 2 large slices Honey Glazed Ham
                1 bowl Chicken Rice Creole Soup with Tofu
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Hot Pepper, Deli Turkey (Light Olive Oil Vinaigrette)
               
                That was my diet.
 
 
 
The Day:
 
Like yesterday, there isn’t a lot to report back to.  Every front of my overall fitness plan seems to be going well. My only concern is that I have had some feelings of malaise recently that started with a stirring in my throat last night.  Throughout the day I also had an ear problem probably related to the above.  I’ve been popping vitamin c Echinacea pills all day.  I’m attacking this possible cold head on.  I will destroy it before it has any chance of developing past infancy.  So far so good, as this sickness didn’t stop me from my Sunday routine.
 
 I did my pushup maximum test around 10 minutes ago and improved my new record by 6 pushups.  I am liking these reliable weekly increases.  It’s been a little over a month now and I’ve gone from 46 to 60 REAL pushups.  I know that’s most likely newbie gains, but I don’t care.  I’m happy with them regardless of the reasons.  The fact is I can now do a lot more pushups than I used to, and that’s a good feeling.  I tried to test my new maximum for my sit-ups but there were way too many factors that hindered the exam.  First, my tailbone is still giving me trouble.  For this reason along I only went to the up position 90% of the way, and the full down position only 90% as well.  In total meaning I was only doing around an 80% sit-up.  I also was using a pillow to position my pelvis over (to ease the pressure on my tailbone).  This I believed gave me a handicap as it helped the way it curved my body helped the rhythm of the sit-up.  Just for the sake of it, I did get a measurement and hit 50 sit-ups.  Yes this would be a new record, but I can hardly count it as such.  Taking that into account, I will not be changing my reps nor adding 50 to my performance chart.  Not until I completely heal will I be able to truly gauge my new self.  Meanwhile, I’ll keep doing what I can: working those abs.
 
 
That was the day.
 
 
 
 
 
This concludes Entry #45.

 Monday 1/19/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 152.8lb – +1.8lb
Body Fat: 8.2% – +0.1%
Lean Mass: 140.27lb – +1.5lb
Fat Weight: 12.53lb – +0.3lb
 
Diet:
9:15am:
                2 small-medium Apples
                1 bowl Oatmeal [more than usual]
                5 Egg White Omelet with Ham (Mustard, Ketchup, Hot Sauce)
11:25am [Post-Workout]:
                1 medium-large slice 12 Grain Bread [with HFCS] with 3 Egg Whites, Ham, Onion, Hot Pepper (Mustard)
1:15pm:
                2 small Apples
                1 bowl Chinese Wild Rice Soup
                1 bowl Vegetable Mix and French Dipped Hot Roast Beef
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper (Light Olive Oil Vinaigrette)
                2 slices Whole Wheat Bread [with HFCS] with Deli Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato (Mustard)
3:15pm:
                1 bowl Chicken Soup with Tofu
                1 large bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Hot Pepper, Cottage Cheese, Tunafish [with Mayo], Deli Turkey (Low Calorie Light Italian Vinaigrette)
6:00pm:
                2 bowls Chicken Soup [extra Chicken]
                1 plate with 1 piece Roast Chicken Breast, 1 Stuffed Bell Pepper with Couscous
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Cottage Cheese (Light Olive Oil Vinaigrette)
                1 bowl Broccoli with Tofu (Soy Sauce, Chile Sauce)
               
                That was my diet.
 
 
 
The Day:
 
Today started with a bang.  I upped my intake in the morning with a very decently overflowing portion of oatmeal.  But it wasn’t for nothing.  I had a great pump at the gym to follow it up.
 
I got angry at the barbell.  I was breathing fire before I started the squat already my pulse was increasing.  I felt the blood pulse throughout my muscles.  I was ready for some serious muscle tearing lifting.  And that is exactly how I performed.  I focused all my strength on every single movement.  This focus continued throughout the entire hour.  As for raw numbers, everything felt hard so I don’t think any increased are in order.  Every lift was about the perfect weight.  As always though, for that day, there were a few slight variances.
 
First I deloaded with my shoulder presses back to 20 pounds.  At 25 I was failing way too early for myself to be even near completion.  Lifting 20 pounds again actually seemed quite easy now that I shocked my muscles with the more intense 25’s.  I decreased my speed and forced myself to make the 20 pounds become a harder workout than they were worth.  I hope that within a week or two I will be able to move back up to the 25’s this time with success.
 
I went through my chin-ups today at 40 pounds.  The low offset has been giving me some difficulty.  I don’t want to say it’s too hard as I can complete all reps.  I just have to say that this lift seems almost impossible at the weight.  I actually surprise by myself that I do complete the movements successfully.  But, hey, that’s not a problem!  I’m happy I found a weight that so perfectly is suited for my abilities.  I won’t be changing this, but I just thought I should mention it as the lift really does stand out from the rest.
 
Immediately following the chin-ups I executed the dips.  They have been steadily improving, and this day saw the same trend.  I experimented without using the offset bar at all (which has been set with no weight plates).  My dangling legs kept hitting the bar making a zero assist option very difficult to perform.  For this reason I moved back to using the handicap just so I could complete the dips with the right form.  Next time though I think I will use a normal set of dip bars and get rid of the offset machine for that exercise entirely.  I can’t wait!
 
As always my day at the gym ended with my classic finishers: pushups and abs.  Like last time I was able to do all 10 reps of knuckle pushups for each set, totaling 3 sets in the end.  This feeling of completion always makes me happy as it seems this is one of my more finicky exercises.  I then went on to do knee raises on the captain’s chair.  I secured some added cloth and padding to the arm rests so that I could fix the issue I have previously been experiencing at my crappy school’s gym equipment.  This time my arms no longer slipped and I was able to narrow all my attention on squeezing that six-pack.  It was great.
 
My diet today scared me a little.  I really felt like I overate (if that’s possible on a bulk!).  I don’t know if that is a good or bad thing for my goals.  Only the numbers of the future will tell.  Regardless, I don’t want to experience this “stuffed” feeling, so I won’t be doing it again.  I think I can eat a lot, at least I have been, without feeling overly full.  The weird part about today is it was the dinner that made me get this feeling and yet all I had extra was one bowl of soup, hardly a filling entrée.  But hey, the body doesn’t lie.  Next time I’ll listen to it.
 
 
That was the day.
 
 
 
 
 
This concludes Entry #46.

 Tuesday 1/20/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 153.8lb – +1.0lb
Body Fat: 9.3% – +1.1%
Lean Mass: 139.50lb – -0.77lb
Fat Weight: 14.30lb – +1.77lb
 
Diet:
7:45am:
                1 bowl of 3 scoopfuls Oatmeal
                1 small-medium Apple
                1 medium Apple
                5 Egg White Omelet with Ham (Mustard)
12:00pm:
                2 small Apples
                1 bowl Kasha with Grilled Vegetables and Tofu
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper (Low Calorie Light Italian Vinaigrette)
                1 bowl Vegetable Barley Soup with Tofu
                2 slices Whole Wheat Bread [with HFCS] with Deli Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato (Mustard)
5:45pm:
                1 plate Vegetable Barley Stew with a little Tofu, 2-3 pieces Acorn Squash, 2-3 large slices Turkey London Broil [white meat], 1 small slice Turkey London Broil [dark meat]
                1 large bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Cottage Cheese (Light Olive Oil Vinaigrette)
                1 bowl Roasted Vegetables with Tofu, Deli Turkey
                1 bowl Vegetable Barley Soup
               
                That was my diet.
 
 
 
The Day:
 
My numbers today were not so satisfactory.  I pray that it is just a fluke from what is now definitely true, my yesterday splurge.  Until I am able to verify the results with future reports I will try to put this out of my mind.  In the end though, it is not a huge deal.  I mean, even if I do gain the fat I know that I will be stopping my bulk at 10% or 160lb regardless; meaning at some point I will be that fat (it’s just now I’m getting there faster than I should with less muscle).  With that said, let’s not pay mind to the extra baggage over my muscles right now and move on with the rest of the day.  Know this:  when it’s all said and done I will be shredded.
 
I am really not getting organized here.  I again had to cut my workout 10 minutes short today, missing my 10 minute cool down on the treadmill.  This annoys me.  I can balance it out though by happily reporting that I did 2 miles again for running.  I hit an even better time of 14:33 this time.  I am very proud of this accomplishment since I’ve been semi-sick recently with a mild-cold/sour throat thing going on.  The run was tough though, especially because I forced myself to control my breathing only through my nose.  It was well worth it as I had a nice big grin on my face afterwards.  I also did complete the elliptical workout at my normal intensity (65rpm to 80rpm increasing by 5 every 5 minutes).  It said I burned an impressive 278 calories in 20 minutes; I’m guessing this is because of my higher weight.  Speaking of calories, I believe it was 227.8, or something around there, for my running.  That’s nearly 100 calories more than my 1.5 mile run so for this reason in a way it makes up for me missing the 10 minute 4mph walk which usually burns 80 or so.  Regardless, I am still disappointed that I missed it.  Maybe I’ll make up for it later today: we’ll see.  Meanwhile, I’ll work on figuring out some consistent way to make sure I get my full workout in.
 
While this has been going on I have been getting sicker and sicker.  I pray that this day is the worst of the days.  I am lucky that during my workouts it seems the affects dissipate to near non-existence.  I did a fair amount of walking today and honestly feel exhausted from it.  I think it was the tough workout, the 2 mile run that I’m now pushing for, combined with the weakness derived from being sick that did it.  Despite all this, I decided to complete my routine later at night and do the 10 minute 4mph 6% incline walk.  The usual cool-down felt exhausting and left me winded, but I was happy afterwards that I continued my streak of undefeated routine.  Meanwhile the sickness drove onward.  I almost didn’t do the pushups and sit-ups.  But notice I said almost.  Nothing can stop me.
 
I performed all my pushups, though I do admit that I was fearful of failing early because of my lethargy from sickness.  I think my form became slightly comprised to say I successfully pushed through the sets.  I am OK with this: I did my best with the bad hand dealt to me today and that is all I can ask for.  There is some good news to go along with all this ill talk.  My tailbone is now fully recovered and I was able I’d say to do 95-100% full sit-ups.  My foot did keep sliding out of the lip of my dresser, which brought me to an interesting conclusion.  I think if I wear my non-running sneakers (of which I was wearing because today is a run day) my feet don’t slide out.  Tomorrow I’ll be testing if my hypothesis is true enough to be theory.  Until then, goodnight.
 
 
 
 
That was the day.
 
 
 
 
 
This concludes Entry #47.

Wednesday 1/21/09
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 153.2lb – -0.6lb
Body Fat: 9.0% – -0.3%
Lean Mass: 139.41lb – -0.09lb
Fat Weight: 13.79lb – -0.51lb
 
Diet:
7:45am:
                1 small-medium Apple
                1 medium Apple
                1 bowl Oatmeal [3+ scoopfuls]
                5 Egg White Omelet with Deli Ham (Mustard)
12:20pm:
                2 small Apples
                1 bowl Turkey Rice Soup
                1 bowl Vegetables, Refried Beans, Deli Ham, Lettuce, Tomato, Salsa, Jalapeno, Onion
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper (Low Calorie Light Italian Vinaigrette)
                2 slices medium-large 12 Grain Bread [with HFCS] with Deli Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion (Mustard)
3:10pm:
                1 bowl Turkey Rice Soup [extra Turkey and Rice]
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Cottage Cheese (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette)
6:00pm:
                1 bowl Turkey Rice Soup [extra Turkey and Rice]
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Tunafish [with Mayo], Deli Turkey (light Red Wine Vinaigrette)
                1/2 bowl Green Beans, Bean Stew, Yellow Squash / Zucchini
                1 large bowl Lettuce Salad with Flank Steak (Salsa)
                1 bowl Cauliflower [cooked with Oyster Sauce] and Deli Turkey
               
                That was my diet.
 
 
 
The Day:
 
I woke up again this early morning to some disappointing numbers.  They have dropped down a little from yesterday’s high, but the fact that remains that my body fat took a fairly sever jump.  Why this is I still have no idea.  Maybe it is because I’m sick.  Maybe it’s real.  The only way to tell is to wait longer, be patient, and eventually the truth of these reports will reveal themselves.
 
I had a good workout today as my sickness began to subside.  I was able to stay in the 85-90rpm range on the elliptical.  I’m not sure what attributed to this new feat, but I feel like the experience was slightly easier than normal.  Maybe the elliptical I was using had a lower default resistance?  It seems that the RPI ellipticals suffer from inconsistency even amongst the same models.  Regardless I am happy that I did this achievement and even more satisfied that it netted me a nice 355 calories.  I did have time as well to actually do my 10 minute walk afterwards; I’m looking forward to not having to do that at night again.
 
I felt like I did a fairly good job with my diet today.  I ate as many times as I could and kept my proportions in check to make sure that I was eating definitely with a bulking manner but at the same time not stuffing myself like I did a few nights ago.  I hope to keep this balance in the future, but as always school seems to make that quite hard.  I’ll do my best.  I always do.
 
It is odd though, still talking about my diet here, that around an hour before sleep and therefore an hour before my pushups and sit-ups, I began to feel the stirrings of hunger.  Is this a sign that I did not eat enough?  I definitely felt like I ate all I could have for dinner, but, maybe not?  I’ll have to keep a close eye on such feelings as sometimes they deceive, and sometimes they tell truths.  Feelings are a dangerous thing I find; instead, best to go by the numbers.  Numbers don’t lie and it won’t be long, a few days, before we see if this hunger was falsified.
 
And so, while a bit hungry (dining halls were closed even if I did want to try and cure it), I ended the day with my pushups and sit-ups.  I definitely feel like I have overcome the worst of my sickness as I had more energy this night to perform my routine.  I even excelled at my pushups making them seem surprisingly easy.  I’ll wait till Friday to make a judgment on this, but I just may be increasing the reps for next week.  That would be nice, to be able to push myself to another limit.  My sit-ups on the other hand are still having issues.  Worst of all is that the issues aren’t actually related to muscle failure.  I talked about yesterday using different shoes perhaps to solve my feet plantation problem.  Well, it didn’t work.  During the entire movement of up and down I felt the burn more in my legs than anywhere else as they struggled to keep my feet grounded.  I have one last pairs of shoes to try before I really have to consider a completely different means to solve this dilemma.  Like the pushups, Friday will give us more clarity.
 
Tomorrow is a lifting day.  I’m excited to hit the weights again.  Goodnight.
 
 
That was the day.
 
 
 
 
 
This concludes Entry #48.

 Thursday 1/22/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 155.4lb – +2.2lb
Body Fat: 9.2% – +0.2%
Lean Mass: 141.10lb – +1.70lb
Fat Weight: 14.30lb – +0.51lb
 
Diet:
7:40am:
                2 medium Apples
                1 bowl Oatmeal [3+ scoopfuls]
                5 Egg White Omelet with Ham[slightly more than usual] (Mustard)
9:40am:
                2 slices Whole Wheat Bread [with HFCS] with 3 Egg Whites, Deli Ham (Mustard)
11:50am:
                1 medium Apple
1:40pm:
                1 bowl Vegetable Chili, Couscous, Yellow Squash, Tofu (Marinara Sauce)
                1 bowl Chicken Tomato Soup [extra Chicken]
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Cottage Cheese (Low Calorie Light Italian Vinaigrette)
3:00pm:
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper (Low Calorie Light Italian Vinaigrette)
                1 cup Deli Turkey
                1 bowl Beef Vegetable Soup with Tofu
5:45pm:
                1 large bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Onion, Deli Turkey, Tunafish [with Mayo] (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette, Low Calorie Light Italian Vinaigrette)
                1 plate 3 medium pieces Roast Beef, Garbanzo Beans and Couscous, Brussels Sprouts
                1 bowl Beef Vegetable Soup
                1 bowl Vegetable Minestrone Soup
               
                That was my diet.
 
 
 
The Day:
 
My weight really spiked today.  But, it doesn’t matter!  My body fat changed so little in relation that apparently I am showing significant muscle mass gains.  It’ll probably equalize to some other level, a most likely lower level, tomorrow but for now I will relish this new weight gain.
 
My lifting today went perfectly.  I hit every lift with everything I had in me.  I even was able to do the dips with ZERO assistance, a goal I set for myself on Monday.  I’ve gone a long way to reach that accomplishment and it feels great to do each and every 5 reps for each and every 3 sets.  I have nothing else to say really, it was just a great lifting hour.
 
There was a gap where I got hungry between my post-workout meal and my snack and my late lunch.  But, there was nothing I could have done about it.  I had class, and that’s that.  Besides this one flaw my diet was like my workout: perfect, and unlike my workout, tasty!
 
And so the day comes to an end.  I’m feeling fairly exhausted right now because of my workout, my hellish day of classes (I have yet to get used to my Monday and Thursday schedule of straight schoolwork).  My cold has also began to focus purely on my nose which has become irritating to say the least.  I thought it was over, but it appears resilient.  It’s mind over matter like all things though and I will combat this with the same intensity that I use against the barbell.  Wish me luck and goodnight.
 
 
That was the day.
 
 
 
 
 
This concludes Entry #49.

 Friday 1/23/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 155.8lb – +0.4lb
Body Fat: 9.4% – +0.2%
Lean Mass: 141.15lb – +0.05lb
Fat Weight: 14.65lb – +0.35lb
 
Diet:
7:15am:
                2 medium Apples
                1 bowl Oatmeal [over the top]
                5 Egg White Omelet with Deli Ham, Pepper, Onion (Mustard)
12:00pm:
                1 medium Apple
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber (Low Calorie Light Italian Dressing)
                1 bowl Hearty Tomato Soup with Beans
                2 medium-large slices 12 Grain Bread [with HFCS] with Deli Turkey, Lettuce, Onion, Tomato (Mustard)
                4-5 Pickle Spears
3:15pm:
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper (Low Calorie Light Italian Dressing)
                1 cup Deli Turkey
                1 bowl Hearty Tomato Soup with Beans and Tofu
5:45pm:
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Cottage Cheese (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette)
                1 bowl Broccoli, Tofu (Light Thin Chinese/Oyster Sauce, Soy Sauce, Chile Sauce)
                1 bowl Hearty Tomato Soup with Beans
                1 cup Mixed Raw Vegetables (Light Citrus Vinaigrette)
                1 plate 2 large fillets Catfish, a little Rice, a little Mixed Vegetables
               
                That was my diet.
 
 
 
The Day:
 
Today was a rollercoaster.  The ride started with the ring of my alarm clock.  I woke up feeling like ****.  My cold had moved its entire company to the battlefield of my nose.  I could only breathe through one nostril and I was weak.  But, I was determined.
 
I stuck to my schedule and had an early morning breakfast, skipping my coffee, so that I could fit in my routine before classes at 9:00am.  To compensate for last Friday’s tardiness I made sure to leave early enough and therefore left at 7:45am for the gym.  I was concerned about this being too close to breakfast time (I finished around 7:30am), but put this out of my mind.
 
At the gym I started stretching and getting myself pumped up for the run in front of me.  I bought a new Chinese rip-off iPod shuffle that I was excited to try so that gave me even more incentive.  Of course, none of my nasal problems went away during this whole time and even with all that I had going for me to get the run done, this sickness seemed to not be deterred.  The worst part of it all was that I really thought yesterday was the finality.  I thought it would be good things from then on out.  I was wrong.
 
As I walked into the cardio area I was confronted with the ultimate problem, one that know determination, no mind over matter or anything of the sort, could overcome.  All the treadmills were occupied, taken!  Nothing I could do!  And the seconds were ticking.  I couldn’t be late to my recitation because of a quiz planned during the hour block.  After waiting it out a few short minutes, I had to make a choice.  I admit I made the decision partly based on my sickness, but I try not to think of that influencing me.  The fact is, I had to leave.  I couldn’t get my workout in if I wanted to ace this quiz at the same time.  And so, that ended the morning attempt.
 
But, the day was still young!  For the rest of the morning I felt still fairly lethargic and weak.  It wasn’t until after lunch that I began to think that I could actually do this day at the gym.  In reality, I would have gone to the gym even if I didn’t think I could do it.  I would have pushed myself to the edge regardless.  But, the fact that I did think I would be able to perform was a nice bonus.
 
At 1:30pm, a good hour and a half after eating, I walked back to the gym.  I felt good.  I bought some Vaseline for my nose earlier, and it seemed that my symptoms were dissipating.  Like the morning, I went through my stretching, went through talking myself up, warming my muscles, getting pumped.  Now I was ready.  Or so I thought.
 
The treadmill was a disaster.  I used a slightly different model today.  That shouldn’t matter I would think, but it’s worth mentioning as you never know what factors contribute to a horrible 14 and a half minutes.  The first sign of distress occurred within minutes.  I was running and my iPod rip-off started skipping, started shutting off, started disaster.  This problem didn’t stop until the treadmill stopped.  I stopped the treadmill, clipped it to my shorts.  I stopped the treadmill, clipped it to my collar.  I put it in my pocket.  I put it on the little treadmill cubbyhole.  Nothing solved the issue.  Finally I decided to stop this on and off running and just restart from the beginning, music skipping and all.
 
I had run before without decent music, so I don’t take that as a contributor to what was to come.  Instead, I take only one valid explanation: my sickness, my cold, my congestion.  Despite what good feelings I had going in, the feelings during the motion were of no such type.  I was breathing through my mouth within minutes.  I was sweating profusely at the same time.  Both of these conditions of the body were abnormal to me.  Worst yet, it wasn’t even a mile on the machine.  I wasn’t even half way done!
 
I still can’t believe it.  I made it.  I somehow made it.  The amount of willfulness that I exemplified must have been uncanny.  But, I made it.  I finished my 2 miles exhausted, out of breath, sneezing, coughing, weezing, nearly collapsing.  But, I finished.
 
What was next to come?  Well, after taking a nice drink from the water fountain, it seemed my old morning dilemma took a sly vengeance.  All the ellipticals were taken!  Luckily, I now had the one weapon that was missing from the morning’s trials: time.  I waited it out.  At first I figured I would go on the treadmill at my standard 4mph 6% incline until a proper machine opened up.  I quickly found I couldn’t handle that though, not in my current condition of exhaustion.  I instead dialed in at 3mph, but didn’t spend much time.  Less than 2 minutes later a women got off the elliptical 2^nd from the left.  I took it.
 
I knew before getting on that this was the faulty piece of equipment, the most inconsistent of the lineup.  This one was magnitudes harder in resistance than any other.  I tried to do my standard routine regardless.  I couldn’t.  I simply could not keep my legs moving at 65rpm with the level of pressure the machine gave back.  I went on for as long as I could.  Luckily, I didn’t have to see how long that would be.  3 minutes later other women got off another elliptical.  I was all too happy to transfer over.
 
By now I was really sneezing my brains out.  I made sure to use tons of antibacterial spray on everything I touched.  I didn’t want to be that guy.  But all of this snot, this disgusting liquid, was hampering my 20 minutes of up down back forth motion.  I did my best, pushed myself through my own body’s responses, and finished it with nearly the same level of intensity and performance I normally dish out.  I burned 273 calories if that’s any measurement.
 
I was ready to fall down now into a nice slumber.  But, my routine was calling me.  I had to finish.  And that I did.  I did my full 10 minutes on the treadmill at 6% incline going my full 4mph.  Normally this is my cool down, but it didn’t feel like it.  It felt like ****.  I was so happy when that timer hit zero.  I think that was the first smile of my workout, the only smile of my workout.
 
And so the gym day ended.  I stretched out, got changed, and left the building.
 
The rest of the day went by on the normal.  I ate as I normally eat and walked as I normally walked.  I did some schoolwork and etcetera.  Then came my pushups and sit-ups.  I was in a particularly good mood (while being sick mind you!) at around 7:00pm so decided to do my nightly exercise then.  This is to hedge against the future, and quite possible chance, that I am feeling like a piece of **** later at night (when cold symptoms tend to fluster).  My pushups went by fairly well as I pumped out each and every one.  I mentioned last time of possibly considering increasing the reps.  I’ve thought about it some and don’t think I’m quite ready.  I don’t want to be failing every night or else the fear of failure will break me down to not wanting to go at it at all (I’m that type of person – all or nothing).   So for now, it stays at 30.  My sit-ups similiarly will be staying where they are, but for a different reason.  They are still on the harder side of a perfect workout.  What I mean by this is that I failed tonight.  On the last set I hit 21 and couldn’t bring myself up.  The good news is that it means I’m pushing myself beyond my bounds.  The bad news is, well I failed after many days of not failing on this exercise.  I’m not sure what to attribute it to.  Maybe it’s my increased weight which is making it harder to curl up my upper body.  Possibley, quite possibly, it’s just me being weak from sickness.  Or it could be that I am not used to doing full sit-ups since I for the last weak I’ve been doing these 90% variety because of my tailbone (which is now no longer an issue – it healed!).  Oh, one last thing I should mention regarding sit-ups.  I said last Wednesday that I would be trying out these other shoes to see if they make a difference in holding my feet down.  The verdict is in.  They do!  They did an excellent job of keeping my lower body exactly where it should be.  Now that all the hindering factors are gone, the tailbone, the feet, it should all be clear roads of progress ahead.
 
OK I’m done.  What a long entry!  I hope you enjoyed my story.  The sad thing is I didn’t even exaggerate.  Everything felt as bad as it sounds:  actually probably worse.  The lingering of the experience was already fading as soon as I left that fitness building.  Anyway, I’m off to go see a violin concerto.  Good night.
 
 
 
That was the day.
 
 
 
 
 
This concludes Entry #50.

Saturday 1/24/09
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 151.6lb – -4.2lb
Body Fat: 8.4% – -1.0%
Lean Mass: 138.87lb – -2.28lb
Fat Weight: 12.73lb – -1.92lb
 
Diet:
8:10am:
                2 small-medium Apples
9:15am:
                1 medium Apple
                1 small Apple
                1 bowl Oatmeal [over the top]
                5 Egg White Omelet with Deli Ham (Mustard)
12:10pm:
                1 small-medium Apple
                2 medium-large slices 12 Grain Bread [with HFCS] with Deli Turkey, Lettuce, Onion, Tomato (Mustard)
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Deli Ham (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette)
                1 bowl Turkey Noodle Soup [extra Turkey and Noodles]
                4-5 spears Pickles
2:40pm:
                1 large bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Garbanzo Beans, Cottage Cheese, Deli Ham (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette)
                1 cup Pasta Salad (Light Clear Dressing)
                1 bowl Turkey Noodle Soup [extra Turkey and Noodles]
5:55pm:
                1 plate with 3 Turkey Cutlets [breaded], Vegetable Chili, Broccoli
                1 bowl Turkey Noodle Soup [mostly broth]
                1 bowl Chinese Pepper Steak with Mixed Vegetables [mostly vegetables]
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette)
                1 cup Pasta Salad [mostly vegetables] (Light Clear Dressing)
                1 cup Deli Turkey
               
                That was my diet.
 
 
 
The Day:
 
Ah, the signs of well being!  I am feeling much much better today.  I woke up energized.  Oh, I love this feeling of clarity.  It almost makes sickness worth it just for that amazing relief when it is all over.  I still have some small lingering symptoms, but now I truly believe the core of it is gone with.  It’s great.
 
I also woke up this morning to a surprise in the numbers.  I’m not sure what attributed to this sudden drop in weight and body fat.  I do have two guesses though.  One is it could be that while being sick I was retaining lots of water for whatever reason.  Now that my cold has broken, my body may have equalized back to its equilibrium.  This is possible; we’ll know in the next few days if I am truly around 152 instead of 155.  Another possible explanation is because I took a giant crap this morning before taking my weight.  I always go to the bathroom before measuring, but normally it’s just number 1.  That inconsistency could have caused some discrepancy in the results.  Again, we’ll find out tomorrow where I really stand on the scale.
 
I walked around doing errands for a bit today.  That was my own real movement.  It was a pretty average college Saturday.  I felt like I ate often and in decent portions for a bulk.  I may have gone overboard on the dinner; I’m not sure.  As always feelings themselves are tough to tell, and even when you can tell, the consequences are inconsistent with the feeling.  So yes, I felt over fed, but that doesn’t mean much.  Hey: I’m on a bulk anyway.  It’s better to eat more than eat less, right?
 
I’m just going to end this by saying how damn happy I am that I’m disease free.  Goodnight.  And this night, will be that: a good night.
 
 
 
 
That was the day.
 
 
 
 
 
This concludes Entry #51.

 No, I didn't forget :D. I got some new progress pictures today! Yes, I'm excited. Not much can be seen from my relaxed shot, except maybe some fat gain. But! My flexing shot, in my view, seems to show a definite increase in muscular mass. It could just be what I want to see though. I'll let you guys be true judge. So let me know what you think. Here they are:

 Sunday 1/25/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 156.6lb– +5.0lb
Body Fat: 9.2% – +0.8%
Lean Mass: 142.19lb – +3.32lb
Fat Weight: 14.41lb – +1.68lb
 
Diet:
9:10am:
                1 small-medium Apple
                1 medium Apple
                1 bowl Oatmeal [slightly over the top]
                5 Egg White Omelet with Deli Ham, Onion (Mustard)
12:15pm:
                1 medium Apple
                3/4 bowl Vegetable Chili
                1 bowl French Onion Soup [no cheese]
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette)
                1 cup Pasta Salad [mostly vegetables] (Light Clear Dressing)
                2 slices Whole Wheat Bread [with HFCS] with Deli Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion (Mustard)
2:40pm:
                1 bowl French Onion Soup [no cheese]
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Hot Pepper, Cottage Cheese (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette)
                1 cup Deli Turkey
5:50pm:
                1 bowl French Onion Soup [no cheese]
                1 cup Chinese Stir-Fried Chicken
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette)
                1 bowl Pasta Salad (Light Clear Dressing), Cottage Cheese, Tunafish [no mayo], Lettuce, Hot Pepper
                1 cup Deli Turkey, Deli Ham
                1 cup Cottage Cheese
                1 plate 3 small-medium pieces Beef Brisquit, Broccoli and Cauliflower, Mashed Butternut Squash
               
                That was my diet.
 
 
 
The Day:
 
My numbers today reported what I had suspected.  Yesterday was a fluke.  Now I have back on record what my true stats are.  The result: awesome muscle mass.  I am liking this continuation of building up that size.  I am liking it for the incredible physique it will hopefully lead up to when I cut.  I can’t wait: almost there, almost at the end line where I can begin to truly get the look I want.
 
Of course, I can’t deny the factors of bulking that do appeal to me.  My strength is, well, strengthening!  I just tested my new max for pushups and broke one of my goals.  I can now perform seventy of those devils in a clean one minute.  I am extremely proud of this achievement.  I crossed out the goal and wrote a new one write under it.  Get ready for eighty!  Following it up I executed as many sit-ups as I could in another clean minute.  And guess what.  I broke my other goal!  I curled myself into a 100% sit-up fifty-two times.  It was glorious.  Next time it will be sixty.  Count on it.  Goodnight.
 
Oh one last thing I forgot to mention.   I redid my schedule today to better fit college life.  I switched my running days with my lifting days.  This shouldn’t impact much.  The benefit is now Fridays should no longer be an issue with time constraints as I have little problem lifting right after eating compared to running, where eating can be disastrous.  Anyway, all this means is for tomorrow I will be starting the week with a nice run.  OK, now goodnight.
 
That was the day.
 
 
 
 
 
This concludes Entry #52.

 Monday 1/26/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 157.2lb – +0.6lb
Body Fat: 9.3%– +0.1%
Lean Mass: 142.58lb – +0.39lb
Fat Weight: 14.62lb – +0.21lb
 
Diet:
7:45am:
                2 small Apples
                1 small-medium Apple
                1 bowl Oatmeal [over the top]
                5 Egg White Omelet with Deli Ham (Mustard)
9:45am:
                1 medium Apple
                1/2 bowl Oatmeal and Deli Ham
11:55am:
                1 medium Apple
1:45pm:
                2 bowls Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Garbanzo Beans, Tofu, Cottage Cheese (Low Calorie Light Italian Dressing)
3:10pm:
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Garbanzo Beans (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette)
                1 bowl Chicken and Rice Soup [extra chicken and rice]
                2 slices Whole Wheat Bread [with HFCS] with Deli Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato (Mustard)
6:00pm:
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Tunafish [with mayo] (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette)
                1 bowl Chinese Green Beans and Tofu (Chile Oil, Soy Sauce)
                1 bowl Chicken and Rice Soup [lots of extra chicken and rice]
                1 bowl Deli Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato, Salsa
                1 plate 1 piece Chicken Breast, Squash Medley, a little Deli Turkey and Deli Ham
               
                That was my diet.
 
 
 
The Day:
 
Today was my sickness comeback day.  I dominated in every area.  My mentality was spot throughout the entire 24 hours.  I had bundles of energy.
 
My workout at the gym was immaculate.  I ran the 2 miles easy.  I could have kept going, I may even have done it if it wasn’t for time.  I kept up to my standards on the elliptical and performed as always on the cool down treadmill.  It was excellent.
 
My pushups were executed in rapid succession.  I am getting much better at speed.  I fear slightly that I may be sacrificing some level of form for this quickness.  It is something that I’ll have to keep an eye on.  Believe me when I say that that is not a trade off I want to be making.  Meanwhile my sit-ups are hard as ever.  I think the fact that I’m gaining weight is balancing out my strength gains.  Even still, I do think I am getting better at them.  I really worked on my mind to muscle connection today with the curling of my abs.  I focused all my attention on that six-pack.  I think it helped the overall movement.
 
My only real doubt for today is my diet which was a little finicky.  It is always finicky on Mondays and Thursdays, but even moreso today because I had less time to get a proper meal inbefore my hell line-up of schedules.  Also dinner tonight didn’t offer much in terms of protein so I had to substitute the usual deli cold cuts.  I think this is something I am going to give up.  I’m really getting sick of them and I think my stomach is too.  I’m going to try to limit the deli meats now to only the ham for my omelet and the turkey for lunch sandwiches.  I’ll have to figure something else out as a consistent method to get my protein in for each meal.  I’m sure it won’t end up being a problem.  I’ve become used to having to be adaptive (college, going back home, traveling, etc...).  I know I’ll find a way.
 
One last comment before I call it a night.  I have noticed my belt seems to want to move open one notch up.  I’m keeping it where it is for now.  I have a feeling that by the time I hit my end goals and switch over to cut it will be exactly at the same time that I would have to move that notch.  Hopefully the two will coincide perfectly so that I will never have to expand the constraint.  That’s my wish.
 
 
That was the day.
 
 
 
 
 
This concludes Entry #53.

 Tuesday 1/27/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 157.8lb – +0.6lb
Body Fat: 9.4% – +0.1%
Lean Mass: 142.97lb – +0.39lb
Fat Weight: 14.83lb – +0.21lb
 
Diet:
7:15am:
                1 small-medium Apple
                1 medium Apple
                1 bowl Oatmeal [over the top]
                5 Egg White Omelet with Deli Ham [a little yolk slipped in]
9:45am:
                2 slices Whole Wheat Bread [with HFCS] with 3 Egg Whites, Deli Ham (Mustard)
12:10pm:
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Tunafish [no mayo] (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette)
                1 bowl Turkey Chili [thin] with Tofu
                3/4 bowl Thai Tofu Curry with Rice
                1 medium Apple
                5 Pickle Spears
                1 slice 12 Grain Bread [with HFCS] with Deli Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato (Mustard)
5:45pm:
                1 bowl Turkey Chili [thin]
                1 bowl Chinese Pepper Steak with Brocolli and Tofu (Chile Sauce, Soy Sauce)
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Cottage Cheese, Tunafish [no mayo] (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette)
                1 plate Turkey Breast, Curried Chicken, Tofu Stir Fry with a little Rice, Peas, Onions, Mushrooms
               
                That was my diet.
 
 
 
The Day:
 
My numbers are steadily increasing.  I think it’s a good sign as I was beginning to get a little iffy about the violent jumps they were taking earlier.
 
This morning was pretty chaotic.  I had to scarf down breakfast because I had a meeting at 8:00am.  The meeting was immediately followed by me rushing to the gym to get my lifting in.  I hate feeling stressed before lifting so it became a pretty weak day.  I mean I performed decently.  I would say my complete average as far as difficulty and weights go.  But my head just wasn’t in the game.  I also tried music for the first time while lifting.  It wasn’t for me.  It distracted my focus more than narrowed it.
 
I have lots of work to get through these days and it’s late so I’m going to call this a night.  There really isn’t much to say anyway.  If I did forget something to mention I’ll include it in a separate post or possibly in tomorrow’s entry.  Now: time for sleep.
 
 
That was the day.
 
 
 
 
 
This concludes Entry #54.

 Wednesday 1/28/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 156.8lb – -1.0lb
Body Fat: 9.8% – +0.4%
Lean Mass: 141.56lb – -1.41lb
Fat Weight: 14.74lb – -0.09lb
 
Diet:
7:45am:
                1 medium Apple
                1 small-medium Apple
                1 small Apple
                1 bowl Oatmeal [over the top]
                5 Egg White Omelet with Deli Ham (Mustard)
12:10pm:
                2 small-medium Apples
                1 bowl Spanish Rice, Vegetables, Garbanzo Bean Salad, Tofu
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper (Red Wine Vinaigrette)
                1 bowl Beef Vegetable Soup
                2 medium-large slices 12 Grain Bread [with HFCS] with Deli Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion (Mustard)
2:45pm:
                1 bowl Beef Vegetable Soup
                1 large bowl Lettuce Salad, Cucumber, Pepper, Garbanzo Bean Salad, Tofu, Cottage Cheese, Tunafish [with mayo] (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette, Olive Oil, Red Wine Vinegar)
5:50pm:
                1 bowl Beef Vegetable Soup
                1 large bowl Lettuce Salad, Cucumber, Pepper, Garbanzo Bean Salad [less than last time, Cottage Cheese [more than last time], Tunafish [with mayo, more than last time] (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette, Olive Oil, Red Wine Vinegar)
                1/2 large Bowl Mexican Beans and Chicken
               
                That was my diet.
 
 
 
The Day:
 
I’m still bad at estimating time.  I had to rush again this morning.  Luckily I was rushing after my workout instead of before it.  For that reason, unlike yesterday, it didn’t affect my mindset and I was pumped and ready to beat myself to the ground with some Elliptical HIIT.  And that I did.  I was huffing and puffing by the end.  I made sure to stay in the 69-70rpm range for rest intervals and to always stay in the 85+rpm range for sprints.  In total the machine said I burned 352 calories.  This is 3 calories lower than last week.  That’s irrelevant though, as always calories are inconsistent and even then -3 is way way within any margin of error.
 
The rest of the day consisted of walking through a violent snow storm.  Well that’s exaggerating: the snow storm wasn’t too bad.  But, I did have to walk through a great deal of slushy ice which made the entire experience that much harder, and that much slower.  I tried to think of the positive though: hey, if it feels harder it probably is more exercise and why not get more exercise since I have to walk back and forth from class anyway.
 
I thought I had my diet completely check, but I was wrong.  I screwed up with dinner tonight.  You wouldn’t be able to tell from the log, but I definitely did.  As I’m typing this I feel stuffed to the brim.  I feel like I want to stay away from food for a week.  I got to learn to trust my feelings of fullness more.  I know I’m on a bulk, but it isn’t worth going through what I’m going through right now.  From now on, if I feel like I am approaching that stuffed boundary I will stop.  Obviously I can get around this by eating less per meal and having more meals.  As I’ve pointed out numerous times my class schedule simply doesn’t allow for that.  So, I am forced to eat in huge quantities every meal.  But now, I know my limits.  I will stick to those limits.
 
I got a **** ton of work to do and it’s already way later than normal.  My pushups and sit-ups went normal.  That is all.  Goodnight.
 
 
 
 
That was the day.
 
 
 
 
 
This concludes Entry #55.

 Thursday 1/29/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 158.8lb – +2.0lb
Body Fat: 10.5% – +0.7%
Lean Mass: 142.13lb – +0.57lb
Fat Weight: 16.67lb – +2.2lb
 
Diet:
7:40pm:
                1 small-medium Apple
                1 medium Apple
                1 bowl Oatmeal [over the top]
                5 Egg White Omelet with Deli Ham (Mustard)
9:45pm:
                1/4 bowl Oatmeal
                1/2 bowl Cottage Cheese and Fruit Yogurt
                1 small-medium Apple
11:50am:
                1 small-medium Apple
1:45pm:
                1 bowl Whole Wheat Penne Pasta, Couscous Salad, Tofu (Marinara Sauce)
                1 bowl Egg Drop Soup
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Cottage Cheese (Light Olive Oil Vinaigrette)
3:15pm:
                1 bowl Chicken and Bean Soup [extra chicken and vegetables]
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Tunafish [no mayo] (Low Calorie Light Italian Dressing)
                1 slice Whole Wheat Bread [with HFCS] with Deli Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion (Mustard)
5:50pm:
                1 bowl Chicken and Bean Soup
                1 bowl Mushroom Barley Soup [very little barley, mostly broth]
                1 large bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Tofu, Tunafish [no mayo], Cottage Cheese (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette, Olive Oil, Red Wine Vinegar)
                1 plate 3-4 medium pieces Roast Beef, 2-3 medium chunks Sweet Potato, a little roasted Corn and Peppers
               
                That was my diet.
 
 
 
The Day:
 
I don’t think today’s numbers are real.  Yesterday was such an odd day with that weird overly stuffed protruding stomach feeling after dinner and then staying up to near 2:00am while having to wake up at 6:00am.  I’m sure both of these, and in most likelihood, a combination of the two, created this sudden increase in weight and sudden increase in body fat.  My new rule to limit these flukes and inconsistencies is I have to stay at 160lb+ or 10+% BF for 3 days before changing to cut.  This means if both Friday and Saturday prove to me that I am fitting into one of those two categories than by Sunday I will begin my cut.  I must say even if today was a miscalculation, I do feel fat.  I feel it all through me.  For this reason, I’m excited for the restriction on calories, excited for the feeling of being thin, of losing weight.  I’m excited for the cut.
 
I had an average workout today.  I ended up switching back to my old Zune from that knock-off iPod clip thing because it seemed incapable of being able to play what was on it beyond repeating 5 of the same songs over and over again.  My run went well, but I found myself sweating more than normal (though my breathing was good: using only my nose the whole duration).  Could the sweating be because of my increased weight?  I don’t know.  Anyway, besides that one slight abnormal aspect, the rest of the 45 minutes (as it is 45 not 40 minutes anymore since my 2 mile run increase from 1.5 miles) went completely on par.  After the gym I had to quickly gobble something to eat.  As I didn’t have long I decided to eat whatever I could get my hands on that was healthy and fast.  Cottage cheese and yogurt was the solution.
 
My diet for the rest of the day I think was perfect, well as perfect as it could be for the chaotic Thursday.  I ate a decent amount, but this time did not push myself on dinner.  I came out feeling very full (as I should on my bulk) but not overly, painfully, stuffed.  Speaking of food, I took a giant, and I mean giant, crap around 20 minutes after breakfast.  Maybe that’s what tipped the scales :P.
 
I ended the day, actually this will be the last of the week (feels weird to say that on a Thursday), with my pushups and sit-ups.  I got into a new kind of mindset at this late hour that I think improved my performance.  Normally I’ve been afraid of failure and instead have been trying to motivate myself by completion.  Meaning I’ve been saying, “OK I did all 3 sets last week, I can do it again this week”.  I’ve now completed switched that up.  Instead I tried motivating myself by saying “I don’t give a **** how many I do, but if I do less than 3 sets and fail than it’s better than 3 doing 3 sets that are too easy”.  For this reason my form improved, my cadence improved (I now do slower pushups to get more of a burn), everything went up.  The burn was great.  And of course it’s just a plus on the side, a cherry on the top, that with all this focus on muscle fatigue, I completed all 30 reps for each 3 sets of pushups and all 32 for each 3 sets of sit-ups.  Now isn’t that nice.  Goodnight (this time I’ll get some good sleep in).
 
That was the day.
 
 
 
 
 
This concludes Entry #56.

 Friday 1/30/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 157.4 – -1.4lb
Body Fat: 10.4% – -0.1%
Lean Mass: 141.03lb – -1.1lb
Fat Weight: 16.37lb – -0.3lb
 
Diet:
7:15am:
                3 small Apples
                1 small-medium Apple
                1 bowl Oatmeal [over the top]
                1 plate Deli Ham with Peppers, Onions (Mustard)
                1/4 bowl Cottage Cheese
8:50am:
                1/3 bowl Oatmeal
                2 slices Whole Wheat Bread [with HFCS] with Deli Ham, 3 Egg Whites, Peppers, Onions (Mustard)
12:15pm:
                1 medium Apple
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Cottage Cheese (Low Calorie Light Italian Dressing)
                1/3 bowl Falafels with a little Rice (Sweet Sauce)
                1 bowl Seafood Soup
                1 slice 12 Grain Bread [with HFCS] with Deli Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion (Mustard)
2:40pm:
                1 bowl Seafood Soup
                1 large bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Garbanzo Beans, Chicken Breast, Cottage Cheese (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette)
5:45pm:
                1 bowl Seafood Soup
                2-3 small pieces Broccoli (Light/Thin Chinese Chile Garlic Sauce)
                1 large bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Cottage Cheese (Low Calorie Light Italian Dressing, Olive Oil, Red Wine Vinegar)
                1 plate 3 medium Chicken Quarters, Fusilli Pasta Vegetable Mix, Hearty Rice
               
                That was my diet.
 
 
 
The Day:
 
My day didn’t start out too hot.  I had an annoying time at breakfast.  As my Fridays require, I went to the lesser of the dining halls this morning.  They were out of eggs, had only a bunch of these very tiny iffy looking apples, oatmeal like water.  I ate it what I could: replacing the missing eggs with some extra ham and a side of cottage cheese.  The good news?  None of these deterred me from my workout.
 
There really isn’t much to say except that it was great.  Every exercise was great.  I felt the burn with every push, with every pull.  My strength seemed to be consistent with previous days, though I did find chin-ups to be slightly easier.  That could have just been the heat of the moment though as it was a very marginal difference.  I should mention that during my knuckle pushups my wrist dropped to the ground in the middle of a rep.  I didn’t hurt myself, but it was scary.  I’m not sure why it happened.  The rest of the reps went fine.  They were followed by bicycle kicks for abs.  Now those were intense.  I focused more this time by slowing down the entire movement.  By the 3^rd set I was failing before I even started.  I tried my best to last the 30 seconds while my stomach was at failure.  It was awesome.
 
My diet, like my workout, was pretty consistent through other days.  I honestly feel fat now though.  I don’t like eating this much.  I know it’s probably psychological, but I do feel it.  I can’t help it.  It’s good that my bulk seems to be coming to an end anyway.  If tomorrows numbers ring what today’s have, and what yesterdays have, than it is official: I will be switching.  I’m ready for it.
 
 
That was the day.
 
 
 
 
 
This concludes Entry #57.

 Saturday 1/31/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 156.4 – -1.0lb
Body Fat: 9.6% – -0.8%
Lean Mass: 141.39lb – +0.36lb
Fat Weight: 15.01lb – -1.36lb
 
Diet:
9:15am:
                1 medium Apple
                1 small-medium Apple
                1 bowl Oatmeal [over the top]
                5 Egg White Omelet with Deli Ham (Mustard)
12:15pm:
                1 medium Apple
                1/4 bowl Oatmeal
                1 Vegetarian Burger with a little Garbanzo Beans [slightly oily]
                1 bowl Vegetable Bisque
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper (Low Calorie Light Italian Dressing)
                2 slices Whole Wheat Bread [with HFCS] with Deli Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato , Onion (Mustard)
2:40pm:
                1 bowl Beef Noodle Soup [extra beef]
                1 large bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Cottage Cheese (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette, Olive Oil, Red Wine Vinegar)
5:45pm:
                1 bowl Beef Soup [extra beef]
                1 bowl Vegetable Stew
                1 large bowl Chinese Beef and Broccoli with Stir-Fried Tofu and Vegetables
                1 large bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Cottage Cheese (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette, Low Calorie Light Italian Dressing, Olive Oil, Red Wine Vinegar)
               
                That was my diet.
 
 
 
The Day:
 
Well it looks like my weight and body fat finnaly did take a rebound.  I saw, as you now see, decreases in both today.  This means that my bulk will not be over.  I will not be beginning my cut.  Instead I must wait for another confirmation.  I will follow my same structured plan as before.  It must be 3 days straight that I be at either 10% body fat or 160 pounds.  Since it has to happen in a run, this Saturday technically resets that counter.  I can’t say I’m a little disappointed with this.  I did want the cut.  But hey, I should be thinking of the positive light.  Really this is good news.  It means I can pack on more muscle than I thought!
 
As for the day, it was a completely normal average Saturday.  There isn’t really anything to report back.  I did some walking, obviously less than a normal weekday because I didn’t have classes.  But I did walk to the playhouse so at least I was up and about somewhat.  I also ate fairly well, but may have overdone it on the cottage cheese.  I had to though to get my protein in.  Commons Dining Hall wasn’t offering a great selection today in regards to that nutrient and as I mentioned earlier I didn’t want to fall back onto Deli Meats; so, cottage cheese it was.  This all may have amounted to a little too much fat in my macros, but I’m not too worried about it.  Overall, I think I did a good job with my cards dealt to me.
 
It is late and I’m off to bed now.  Expect pictures tomorrow.  Goodnight.
 
 
That was the day.
 
 
 
 
 
This concludes Entry #58.

 My body fat today increased back past my cut-off line. If this holds for 3 days I will be cutting again. My guess is that this time it will. Anyway, here are my pictures. Not much can be seen from my relaxed shot, but this time I truly think my flexing shot shows some increases. What do you think?

I think your at like 10% bf so you need to keep bulking. If you gain just a bit of fat and decide you need to cut back down because you can't see your abs and it's winter your not going to get very far bulking..Looking good though.

Goals by end of 2009:
Bench 205
Squat 255 ATG
Squat Clean 185

"There is no elevator to success, you must take the stairs."

Connelly I think for me it is still a mental thing that is preventing me from bulking any further.  I understand your point completely, and maybe in the future when I get more used to the idea of gaining weight for the endgoal benefit I will try a longer bulk.  For now the problem remains that even when I was "cut" I still couldn't see my abs.  That was a serious annoyance of mine and the reason for me to try bulking in the first place.  I figured I would start small, which is looking to be around a 15 pound bulk, and then cut back down to see if I do get some definition in my abs.  If not, well, I'll figure it out when it happens.  I'm not going to think about that right now.

Anyway, thanks for your reply.  I don't seem to get too much interest on this journal, even with the amount that I write to, so it is always a very nice suprise to see someone reading it and taking the time to respond.

Thank you,
Michael

I think more people look at it then you realize, alot just don't post..I completely understand where your coming from, as I used to be a bit on the heavy side..There is nothing wrong with a 15 lb. bulk that's pretty good actually. I could definitly see change in your photo's Awesome job.

Goals by end of 2009:
Bench 205
Squat 255 ATG
Squat Clean 185

"There is no elevator to success, you must take the stairs."

 Sunday 2/01/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 158.2lb – +1.8lb
Body Fat: 10.3% – +0.7%
Lean Mass: 141.81lb – +0.52lb
Fat Weight: 16.30lb – +1.29lb
 
Diet:
9:15am:
                2 small-medium Apples
                1 small Apple
                1 bowl Oatmeal [over the top]
                5 Egg White Omelet with Deli Ham (Mustard)
12:20pm:
                1 medium Apple
                1 cup Oatmeal
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Tunafish [no mayo] (Low Calorie Light Italian Dressing)
                1 bowl Chicken and Rice Soup [extra Chicken and Rice]
                1/2 bowl Peas, Tofu Stir-fry with Broccoli and a little Rice
                2 slices Whole Wheat Bread [with HFCS] with Deli Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion (Mustard)
2:45pm:
                1 bowl Chicken and Rice Soup [extra Chicken and Rice]
                1 large bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Tunafish [no mayo], Cottage Cheese (Low Calorie Light Italian Dressing, Olive Oil, Red Wine Vinegar)
5:45pm:
                1 small plate Meatballs and Rice and Bean Burrito [most of the wrap taken off]
                1 bowl Chicken and Rice Soup [extra Chicken and Rice]
                1 bowl Chinese Chicken and Broccoli with Mixed Vegetables [mostly vegetables]
                1 large bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, a lot of Tunafish [no mayo], a little Cottage Cheese (Low Calorie Light Italian Dressing, Olive Oil, Red Wine Vinegar)
               
                That was my diet.
 
 
 
The Day:
 
I already discussed my weight and my picture in the earlier thread so I’ll get right down to the meat of this one.  Quickly summarizing: my diet went fairly normal today though I did opt for some meatballs for protein during dinner, not sure if that was worth it.  My daily activities were pretty much sitting work, but as I tend to do there was some walking involved as an average Sunday would call for.  The real news is in regards to my pushups and sit-ups.  I performed less this evening than normal for my pushups.  I hit the 66^th rep and failed.  I’m not sure if I attribute this to possibly slightly better form (I’ve gotten used to having now to take this into account as a variable) or maybe my weight gain (those marginal extra pounds can add up).  Or it could have just been not as good as a night as last Sunday; I mean the number of reps is within a fairly small range of my maximum achieved.  So, I guess the conclusion is: who knows what happened.  I did my best, performed to failure, and that is what counts.  My sit-ups offered slightly better results.  I performed exactly to the rhythm of last week with a decent 50 reps.  I think I could have gotten more though if I quickened my pace.  I’ll have to keep working on that as it is definitely the one thing holding my records back.  I’m off to bed now.  Curious to see what my morning numbers are?  I am.  Goodnight.
 
 
That was the day.
 
 
 
 
 
This concludes Entry #59.

 Monday 2/02/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 159.8lb– +1.60lb
Body Fat: 10.2% – -0.1%
Lean Mass: 143.50lb – +1.69lb
Fat Weight: 16.30lb – +0.0lb
 
Diet:
7:45am:
                1 small-medium Apple
                2 small Apples
                1 bowl Oatmeal [over the top]
                5 Egg White Omelet with Deli Ham (Mustard)
9:45am [Post-Workout]:
                1 small-medium Apple
                3/4 bowl Oatmeal
                3 Egg White Omelet with Deli Ham
11:50am:
                1 medium Apple
1:40pm:
                1 bowl Minestrone Soup
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Black Beans, Garbanzo Beans, Cottage Cheese (Low Calorie Light Italian Dressing)
                1 bowl Sloppyjoe Meat, Whole Wheat Pasta, Tofu (Marinara Sauce)
3:10pm:
                1 bowl Chicken Noodle Soup [extra chicken and noodles]
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Tunafish [no mayo] (Low Calorie Light Italian Dresing)
                1 slice Whole Wheat Bread [with HFCS] with Deli Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion (Mustard)
5:45pm:
                1 bowl Chicken Noodle Soup [mostly broth]
                1 cup Tofu in Light Brown Sauce
                1 large bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Tunafish [no mayo] (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette, Olive Oil, Red Wine Vinegar)
                1 plate 4-5 pieces London Broil, 2 Potato Skin Halves (Salsa), 2 large pieces Korean Barbeque Tofu
               
                That was my diet.
 
 
 
The Day:
 
And the results are in: another day past my border line.  Tomorrow will lead to the conclusion if this bulk lasts any longer.  It is great news though that as my final days approach the tables turned and I went from gaining what I thought was a little too much fat to what now seems to be all muscle.  Obviously the daily numbers are skewed in the simple fact that they are daily, but it is nice to know that the reality is not as bad as the last few days have shown.  I can’t wait now to cut and see myself ripped with all this new fought after muscle.
 
I’ve now learned that the only true solution to solve my scheduling and timing issues that have been plaguing my workout is to simply start working out sooner.  I have been reluctant to do this (though its necessity is now clear) because it puts the running up and down motion closer to the putting food down my throat motion.  The two sadly do not mingle well.  Basically my timings work like this now: eat at 7:30am (meaning I’m really eating at an average time of 7:45am) and then head to the gym at 8:25am (meaning I’m really starting my run at around 8:40am).  In all this is most likely a little less than hour, which still isn’t bad but obviously isn’t ideal.  But hey, I did it today and survived.  Speaking of the gym today…
 
My workout was slightly harder than normal.  I noticed myself sweating more and even having to take one or two breaths out of my mouth during running.  This could have been because of my increased weight or because of the close proximity of eating and gym.  It wasn’t too bad though and I still completed my run and every other exercise to their full extent.  I even apparently burned 294 calories on the treadmill.  I doubt that number, but if it’s true it’s a personal record.  My guess is the accuracy was skewed because of my increased weight as I didn’t change any other variables (intensity was normal, average).  I also have to mention that I did seem to begin to get some shin splints during my cool down walk.  I’m blaming this on my weight as I don’t see what else it could be.  Like the other changes though, these were small and hardly worth worrying about.  Besides, from the looks of it, my bulk is almost over and all of these small occurrences should begin to disappear as I start to cut.  Of course, I now have to worry about new side effects from that.
 
There isn’t much to say on my pushups and sit-ups.  The difficulty was pretty much spot on with pushing me to failure, though I do admit that my sit-ups seem to require slightly more effort than the pushups.  What this means is probably in the near future I will be increasing my reps for the easier exercise, the pushups.  Obviously I won’t be increasing my reps for the sit-ups at the same time as right now they are pushing me already to the very brink of failure.
 
That’s all I have for today.  Tomorrow should be interesting; it could be the first day of my first real cut.  Goodnight.
 
 
That was the day.
 
 
 
 
 
This concludes Entry #60.

 Tuesday 2/3/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 159.2– -0.6lb
Body Fat: 10.3% – +0.1%
Lean Mass: 142.8lb – -0.7lb
Fat Weight: 16.4lb – +0.1lb
 
Diet:
7:45am:
                2 small-medium Apples
                3/4 bowl Oatmeal
                5 Egg White Omelet with Deli Ham (Mustard)
9:40am [Post-Workout]:
                1 slice Whole Wheat Bread [with HFCS] with 5 Egg Whites, Onion (Mustard)
12:10pm:
                1 bowl Chunky Vegetable Soup
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Pepper (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette)
                1 bowl Black Beans, Ground Taco Meat, Refried Beans, Lettuce, Tomato, Salsa
                1 slice 12 Grain Bread [with HFCS] with Deli Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion (Mustard)
3:00pm:
                1 medium Apple
5:45pm:
                1 bowl Chunky Vegetable Soup
                1 plate with 1 Chicken Quarter [white meal only, skin removed], a little Steak [light brown sauce], a little Lentil Stew, Vegetable Mix
                1 large bowl Lettuce Salad with Pepper, Tunafish [no mayo], Cottage Cheese (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette)
               
                That was my diet.
 
 
 
The Day:
 
Well today’s the day.  Funny that my first day on my cut lands on the my 61^st entry; odd how those things happen.  Anyway I’m looking forward to this change of pace and can’t wait to see some results.  My plan of attack is to basically decrease my carbs out of every meal in some kind of way.  A close look at my diet for today should show you this pattern.  As for exercise, I plan on keeping up with it as if I was on a monster bulk.  I want to see all my numbers go up in lifting.  Hey, and now that I’m losing weight there’s a pretty good chance that at least the body weight exercises will.  So, that’s the schedule.  Lower carbs, keep intensity = ripped.  We’ll see how it goes.
 
After my smaller than average breakfast (also to note that the deli ham amount slightly decreased) I went off to the gym for some lifting.  For whatever reason a lofty mood must have hit me because I was really pumped up, motivated, and excited for the 1 hour period I would be around iron.  Every lift was exactly how it should be.  I even seemed to perform better on my finishing pushups as well as the knee raises (an exercise that I usually fail at before the 30 seconds are up on the last set – but this time no failure).  If I had to guess I would say I overall simply excited for my cut which brought about all this extra determination in not just diet but exercise as well.  I finished up with my post-workout meal which consisted of no ham this time and only one slice of bread.  I’m going to say it right here as well that for future reference I won’t be including the fact that the bread has high fructose corn syrup.  Instead it should be assumed to be true unless stated otherwise.  So, overall: a great day at the gym.  I hope tomorrow I will come by the same fantastic results.
 
I think my diet today was pretty much spot on towards my goals.  I cut back on every meal enough to feel it, but not enough to make me feel starved.  I may have made a slightly poor choice for some foods, such as the bean and taco mean bowl for lunch as well as the lentil stew and steak for dinner.  I am not sure how much such choices will actually affect my cut.  My gut instinct tells me that they aren’t a big deal as the foods are in general still fairly healthy and really it is much more about calories in and calories out than stressing over the slight extra amount of bad fats in ground meat.  Of course if I ever stall in my cut, making such decisions will be the first to go: I don’t have a problem with that.  Also, and this may or may not be due to my diet, but I did notice myself lacking some energy later in the day.  It could be just me being stressed over the amount of work I have from school.  I think it is a little premature to immediately blame energy fluctuates on eating right now.  If this is consistent, I may just mentally have to plow through it until I reach the end of my cut.  So, I hope it isn’t a side effect; I would rather not have to deal with a lack of energy in moments where my school is sapping me of it already.  Hah, I’m making my classes sound bad: not so!  I love learning!  I just have a lust for the dramatic :P.
 
I’m off to bed now.  I had a long day and am looking for some nice sleep.  I’m curious to see what tomorrow’s numbers will entail.  I guess we’ll just have to wait and find out.  Good night.
 
That was the day.
 
 
 
 
 
This concludes Entry #61.

 Wednesday 2/4/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 156.4lb – -2.8lb
Body Fat: 10.3% – +0.0%
Lean Mass: 140.29lb – -2.51lb
Fat Weight: 16.11lb – -0.29lb
 
Diet:
7:45am:
                1 small-medium Apple
                1 medium Apple
                1 near-full bowl Oatmeal [very thin and runny]
                5 Egg White Omelet with Deli Ham (Mustard)
9:45am [Post-Workout]:
                1 cup Oatmeal
                5 Egg Whites
12:15pm:
                1 small Apple
                1 bowl Rice, Beans, Shrimp, Okra and Tomatoes, Eggplant, Vegetables
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Tunafish [no mayo] (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette)
                1 bowl Northern Bean Soup [thin broth]
                1 slice 12 Grain Bread with Deli Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion (Mustard)
2:30pm:
                1 bowl Turkey Vegetable Soup [extra turkey]
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Cottage Cheese (Low Calorie Light Italian Dressing)
5:45pm:
                1 bowl Northern Bean Soup [thin broth]
                1 bowl Broccoli (Light Chinese Dark Sauce) with Tofu (Chile Sauce, Soy Sauce)
                1 bowl Ratatouille with Tofu
                1 large bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Pepper, Tunafish [no mayo], Cottage Cheese (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette)
               
                That was my diet.
 
 
 
The Day:
 
The numbers are in!  And the results are of course completely skewed.  There’s no way I dropped nearly 3 pounds in one day.  Most likely this is all water weight which also explains why my body fat didn’t change and explains why the math is giving me some absurd 2.5 pounds of muscle lost.  I’m safely going to cal this report a fluke and move on.
 
I woke up sore this morning which to me means two things.  One is that my workout yesterday was as awesome as I thought it was.  And two is that without my over the top amount of food I may not be able to recover as fast, hence the soreness.  I’m not too worried about it affecting my performance though.  From experience being sore is only noticeable when you’re not actually workout out.  Once I hope on that elliptical today I’m sure the faint throb on the back of my thigh will be the last thing I’m worrying about.
 
I was disappointed with my breakfast this morning as the Oatmeal which is normally excellent was extremely runny.  I compensated by having a little more than I did yesterday because I figure the actual calories of this Oatmeal per volume was substantially less than normal.  In truth I probably ended up eating too little this morning because of this.  But, during a cut, I would rather eat too little than too much.
 
My elliptical performance was awesome today.  This could have been because of the lower weight (meaning when inputted into the machine it returns with a lower resistance) or it could have just been the inconsistencies with the machines in general, but I found myself able to stay at 90+ rpm on sprints almost half of the time.  I nearly broke another one of my goals!  I think a few more weeks, hell maybe even just one more, and I’ll be able to scratch that achievement off my list as well (and of course bring about my next one, 95+rpm!).  I’m glad to see that my change in diet has not hindered my performance in cardio.  Oh, and I burned 393 calories on the elliptical.  That’s a new record as well (and quite a large one as well!).
 
My diet today went fairly smooth.  I was, am, a little worried about the heavier red wine vinaigrette dressing that I was forced to use because the dining halls were out of stock of the really low calorie one.  Hopefully the extra calories won’t matter too much.
 
My pushups are definitely getting easier.  I am putting more and more distance between the feeling of completion and the feeling of failure.  Of course, this isn’t necessarily a good thing.  In the near future I plan to close that gap yet again with an increase in reps, an increase in intensity.  Meanwhile my sit-ups are still hard as ****.  I’m not sure why I am not seeing as dramatic increases in them, but I have faith.  Time will play its part and I must have patience.  Until then I’ll keep pushing myself to the edge.  I did note today while sitting myself up 32 times for 3 sets that I found my back curling more than I think it should be.  I’ll have to work on keeping it straighter.  I’m not sure if that means more or less intense sit-ups: we’ll just have to wait and see.
 
Tomorrow is another results day of course.  I wonder if my weight is going to shoot back up.  Most likely it will, but I’m prepared mentally for that.  It’s good to feel in control.  Goodnight.
 
 
 
 
That was the day.
 
 
 
 
 
This concludes Entry #62.

 Thursday 2/5/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 156.8lb – +0.4lb
Body Fat: 10.0% – -0.3%
Lean Mass: 141.12lb – +0.83lb
Fat Weight: 15.68lb – -0.43lb
 
Diet:
7:45am:
                1 near full bowl Oatmeal [runny]
                2 small-medium Apples
                5 Egg White Omelet with Deli Ham (Mustard)
9:30am [Post-Workout]:
                1 cup Oatmeal
                5 Egg Whites
11:50am:
                1 medium Apple
1:40pm:
                1 bowl Chicken Soup [extra chicken]
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Tofu (Low Calorie Light Italian Dressing)
3:10pm:
                1 bowl Minestrone Soup [broth only]
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Green Pepper, Cottage Cheese (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette)
                1 slice 12 Grain Bread with Deli Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion (Mustard)
5:45pm:
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Green Pepper, Cottage Cheese (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette)
                3/4 bowl Sweet Potato Soup
                1 cup Grilled Steak
                1 plate with 2 large pieces Chicken Marcela [slightly heavy on the butter] and a very tiny amount of Orange Couscous
               
                That was my diet.
 
 
 
The Day:
 
My weight this morning increased as suspected.  Surprisingly the marginal difference was not that large (I was expecting to balloon back up to where I was).  I’ll give it still a few more days before I can gauge any true results.  Right now in my mind it is very likely that I will still see weight increases as my body makes up for the lost water weight.  The nice part about today though is that my body fat did decrease.  Body fat is what really matters here so it is a very good sign that it is on the trend towards the lower.
 
Today was my first day where I had to deal with implementing a cutting diet with a class schedule that is in no way accommodating.  As you can see from my outlined eating up above I believe I fared well.  I was able to eat as often as was allowed while at the same time making sure not to overeat.  In the end it worked out well enough that I don’t believe there will be problems in the future.  The only quirk that bothered me was the amount of fat that may have been hidden in the chicken I had for dinner.  From experience though I now realize it isn’t worth stressing over those small things, over the long term they become trivial (still thought I will more carefully watch for possibly overly fattening foods that at first sight seem healthy).
 
Exercising today went normal.  I didn’t notice an increase or decrease in performance for my run.  I found it still very hard and still struggled to maintain my breathing through my nose.  But hey, I did it and that is a good feeling.
 
After my workout I came across the sad fact that I may be becoming sick again.  I noticed a runny nose and a consistent need to sneeze that was in no way encouraging.  It would really be horrible to be sick twice in pretty much one month.  But hey, it’s college, the harborer of air-borne disease.
 
To finish the day I almost broke a habit.  I was quite near to not doing my pushups and sit-ups.  A lethargic sleepiness hit me around 8:30pm that I couldn’t seem to shake off.  I even took a power nap of 30 minutes, something I never do, which helped somewhat but still didn’t improve my attitude on the body weight movements.  Of course, I did them anyway.  My head wasn’t in it, but I forced my body to be.  I performed average on both exercises.  I’m happy I ended the day on a note of satisfaction that I did not succumb to weakness.
 
 
That was the day.
 
 
 
 
 
This concludes Entry #63.

That's dedication right there. I can't be bothered writing anywhere near as much by the day. Good job.

Still can't find your routine though. :p

 Hey Wryms,

Thanks for the compliment :P.  I think I did post my routine somewhere towards the beginning, but it's probably burried in posts that no one wants to sift through so here it is again:

"Tues Lifting":
3x5x145 BB Squat
1min rest
3x5x165 BB Deadlift
1min rest
3x5x115 BB Bench Press
1min rest
3x10x20 DB Shoulder Press
30sec rest
3x10x25 DB Bent-Over Rows
30sec rest
3x5x40 Assisted Chin-Ups
1min rest
3x5x10 Dips (triceps version, straight)
1min rest
3x30secx(bicycle, captain's chair, exercise ball crunch) Ab Exercises
30sec rest
3x10 Knuckle Pushups
30sec rest
 
 
"Fri Lifting":
3x5x145 BB Squat
1min rest
3x5x165 BB Deadlift
1min rest
3x5x115 BB Bench Press
1min rest
3x5x35 DB Shoulder Press
1min rest
3x5x50 Assisted Pull-Ups
1min rest
3x5x40 Assisted Chin-Ups
1min rest
3x5x10 Dips(chest version, leaning forward)
1min rest
3x30secx(bicycle, captain's chair, exercise ball crunch) Ab Exercises
30sec rest
3x10 Knuckle Pushups
30sec rest
 
 
"MonThurs Cardio":
During Day:
"Pre-Cardio Stretching"
2mile 1(flat) incline 8.3mph Treadmill Machine
20min Elliptical Machine
Starting at 60-65rpm and increasing in 5rpm increments every 5min
Last 1min sprint at 80+rpm.
10min 6 incline 4mph Treadmill Machine
"Post-Cardio Stretching"
At Night:
3x30 Pushups
1min rest
3x32 Sit-ups
1min rest
 
 
"Wed Cardio":
During Day:
"Pre-Cardio Stretching"
Warmup: 4min resistance 65-70rpm Elliptical Machine
2min 1(lowest)resistance
2min 2resistance
16min HIIT Elliptical Machine
1:15min 85-90rpm
45sec 65-70rpm
Increase resistance by 1 after every interval (causing last interval to be 10resistance)
10min 6 incline 4mph Treadmill Machine
"Post-Cardio Stretching"
At Night:
3x30Pushups
1min rest
3x32 Sit-ups
1min rest
 
"Sun Test":
1x1min Pushups
1x1min Sit-ups

Niiice. So what are your goals?

 I have a seperate list of goals that I constantly repeat to myself for motivation, but they all really sum to 3 basic ideals. 1)  I want a six-pack.  2) I want to be able to pass any physical fitness test (military, etc...) with flying colors.  3) I want to look ripped (veins popping out and such)

 Friday 2/6/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 155.0lb – -1.8lb
Body Fat: 9.6% – -0.4%
Lean Mass: 140.12lb – -1.0lb
Fat Weight: 14.88llb – -0.8lb
 
Diet:
7:10am:
                3 small Apples
                1 bowl Cream of Wheat
                5 Egg White Omelet with Deli Ham
8:45am [Post-Workout]:
                1/2 bowl Cream of Wheat
                5 Egg Whites
12:10pm:
                1 medium Apple
                5 Pickle Spears
                1 bowl Seafood Soup
                1 large bowl Lettuce Salad [extra greens] with Cucumber, Bell Pepper, Cottage Cheese (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette)
                1 slice 12 Grain Bread with Deli Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion (Mustard)
2:50pm:
                1 bowl Seafood Soup
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Bell Pepper, Cottage Cheese (Low Calorie Light Italian Dressing)
5:45pm:
                1 bowl Seafood Soup
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Bell Pepper, Cottage Cheese (Low Calorie Light Italian Dressing, Light Red Wine Vinaigrette)
                1 bowl Chinese Chicken with Cashews, Broccoli
                1 plate with 2 thin pieces Flounder [lightly breaded] and a little Vegan Chili
               
                That was my diet.
 
 
 
The Day:
 
I’m not too happy about these numbers this morning.  In fact I’m down right concerned.  To me this is too fast of a weight loss.  I’m going to give it till the end of the week before I make any changes to my diet, but if it continues at this absurd pace (it can’t all be water weight now) than I will have to make changes, most likely by eating more.  Right now the simple truth is that my weight is decreasing faster than my body fat.  It should be the other way around.  No worries though, I know that it has only been a few days so it’s not like my muscle has actually dwindled away.  I can fix this easily in due time as long as I challenge it before it is too late.  Hence, come Monday, if this keeps up, you will notice a change in my eating.
 
My lifting day was just OK today.  I started out fairly pumped but for some reason that feeling progressively faded through each rep.  I did have some good moments though.  For instance I felt especially powerful today during my chin-ups.  I also completely burned out my stomach during the bicycle crunches, which had an awesome feeling.  Besides that though, like I said, just OK.
 
I was feeling oddly fat after dinner tonight.  I’m not sure why because it isn’t like I overate.  Or maybe this is telling me I did?  Who knows: I try not to stress over such things.  For now I’ll just push this foreign feeling out of my mind.  Good night.
 
 
That was the day.
 
 
 
 
 
This concludes Entry #64.

 Saturday 2/7/09 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 155.4lb – +0.4lb
Body Fat: 9.9% – +0.3%
Lean Mass: 140.02lb – -.11lb
Fat Weight: 15.39lb – +0.51lb
 
Diet:
9:15am:
                2 small-medium Apples
                3/4 bowl Oatmeal
                5 Egg White Omelet with Deli Ham
12:15pm:
                1 small-medium Apple
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Bell Pepper, Cottage Cheese (Low Calorie Light Italian Dressing)
                1 bowl Beef Lentil Soup [extra beef and lentils]
                1 slice 12 Grain Bread with Deli Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion (Mustard)
2:40pm:
                1 bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Bell Pepper, Cottage Cheese (Low Calorie Light Italian Dressing)
                1 bowl Chunky Tomato Soup
5:45pm:
                1 bowl Beef Lentil Soup [extra beef and lentils]
                1 cup Chinese Pork and Green Beans
                1 plate Turkey Pot Pie [just turkey part] with Vegetables
                1 large bowl Lettuce Salad with Cucumber, Bell Pepper, Cottage Cheese, Deli Turkey (Light Red Wine Vinaigrette)
               
                That was my diet.
 
 
 
The Day:
 
I was so busy with homework last night that I completely forgot to post this entry.  There isn’t a lot to tell anyway.  My weight seems to be balancing off from the sudden drop, which I find a relief.  I don’t want to lose too much all at once less some of it be taken from muscle.  My diet yesterday was pretty much dead on up until dinner where there was nothing to have from my dining hall.  I made do with this Turkey Pot Pie and Chinese Pork but next time I think I’ll skip that.  Both were unhealthy choices and I shouldn’t be eating them just for the sake of eating.  That’s not me.  I even added Deli Turkey to increase my calories, again not me.  This is a promise to myself:  if there’s nothing good to eat then don’t eat.  On a cut I have to remember it is the opposite philosophy of my bulk: best to not eat enough than to eat too much.
 
 
That was the day.
 
 
 
 
 
This concludes Entry #65.