Cheat Day 2: Aug 30 2009

This is the second cheat-day checkpoint in my quest on the 6/7 Plan. This morning I weighed in at an impressive 206 lbs, a full 9 lbs lighter than last Sunday. Smashing job -- even on a raw vegan diet I could barely lose that much weight that fast. Still, bodyfat% only dropped 1% from 21% to 20%, so I imagine a lot of that weight is water weight (duh). However I'm encouraged to keep rocking it out now, although my upcoming trip abroad will make things tougher to stick to -- I guess I'll have to beef up the cardio while I'm out there.

On to the cheat day... the most glorious day of the week. What am I going to eat? In front of me I've got two bagels, one with veggie cream cheese and the other with egg/onion/cheese. For lunch I'm deciding between some pizza and Chinese food, and dinner I'm leaving open to some friends in town to decide. I also stocked up on plenty of junk food, enough to make me want to throw up after having some. Check it:

That's right, milk duds, swedish fish, pretzels, and more! Onward to the day of gluttony!

Exercising without using my Rotator Cuff

Since most upper body workouts are off the menu for the next few weeks thanks to a inflammation of my right rotator cuffs, I'm trying to find alternative workouts I could do other than heavy lifting. Here's my current game plan:

• Continue the Lose Belly Fat workout; this Monday is week 2 and I will do this M/W/F.
• Monday evenings before the wave of meetings is Yoga at the Rivendell gym.
• Tue/Th/Sat are going to be a combination of the 200 Sit Up challenge, jump rope, and either lunges or jumping lunges.
• If I have time, I can do 7:30 PM Yoga on Tuesdays and 8:30AM Yoga on Saturdays.
• I will continue on the Lose 20 Lbs in 30 Days diet, which I actually call the 6/7 Plan. (diet 6 days, eat whatever you want on the 7th day)

So far the diet is going well and I'll report more tomorrow, which is my day off, and I intend to eat like a total pig.

Second Sinusian War

The three first legions have failed to defeat the defenders inside my sinuses. Augmentin, the favored force, was the greatest disappointment and has been withdrawn. The doctor has decided to keep pressure on the force with Nasonex and Neti, while replacing Augmentin with Levaquin.

However, I still have my doubts. I fear we may have no choice but to go to the last ditch effort, a surgical strike. We'll see how Levaquin puts up a fight this week and through the rest of this, the Second Sinusian War.

I can't imagine how life would feel like if I didn't have this sinus pain. You have no idea what I'm talking about but I could try to explain. Imagine putting a tight band over your forehead and keeping it there... permanently. While you're doing that, put an additional band across your cheekbones and also keeping it there permanently. Bad diet or smoking makes it worse, but nothing makes it go away. Yes, that's my life. Perhaps now you can understand why I don't really care about anything else right now.

Bad Times on the Right Rotator

My shoulder was injured almost two months ago while waterskiing in Minnesota. I could still deadlift and row, but pushups were tough and anything involving suspending weights from my outstretched arm was no dice. Earlier this week while doing left-handed kettlebell swings, I thought I might try two-handed swings... and then right-handed swings. Bad idea, the pain is back.

So, I'm seeing an orthopedic surgeon on Monday. Hopefully he'll wave his magical wand and say I am out of the game for 1-2 months, do this and that, take this and that, drink plenty of water, and you'll be OK. We can hope.

But I fear this might keep me out of the upper body game for a while. We'll see, if I can still dead lift that's a start. Otherwise I may have to start nothing but core and lower body exercises. I guess I could still sprint, do crunches, and all forms of leg exercises. Dead lift is my primary hope, and a stretch would be barbell press. We'll see after Monday... bad times on boats though, I was so close to a solid routine!

First Cheat Meal Day

I was doing pretty well this week overall. I drank a lot of wine on Monday and Wednesday nights, and I had a ton of sushi on Monday, but other than that I've done very well holding to the diet. You need to ramp up to these things.

Today was my first cheat day. It's about 10 PM and I just finished an enormous meal. I think I probably consumed over 3,000 calories today alone, maybe 4,000. I am so stuffed and bloated I want to go to sleep all weekend. So while the cheat days are awesome and a great relief, I think my stomach size had shrunk enough that it was uncomfortable.

I think I am going to move cheat days to Sunday. This makes a lot of sense since I can feel bloated all day and start Monday on a good note, versus starting your weekend (Friday) feeling like crap.

On a very positive note, I've lost 5 lbs this week already. I think I could get used to this...

Returning to Mordor

I'm finally returning home after a week out and am looking forward to getting back to hard core work. I also think I'm almost physically capable of working out again, which is great since I've been on the bench and eating heavily the last month since I was injured.

I have a bunch of goals over the next few months, but the first two (in order) are easily measurable.

Goal 1: get bodyfat% to 9%. I should buy a new and improved Tanita scale to have consistent measurements one day/week. I may also get a proper measurement that I pay for once I really start getting shredded. This will most likely take me at least 3 months of consistent diet and workout to get there, but it's doable.

Goal 2: finish the "300 workout" in under 30 minutes, and have it all recorded on my iPhone so the world can see it.

Here's my plan so I can be held accountable:

• I've canceled my CrossFit for now -- it was $115/month and my gym is $34/month, and I haven't gone in two months now due to injury and travel. Also I have specific goals now that I can't achieve with three days/week of CrossFit, partially due to its focus but also due to timing and my work hours these days
• This coming week is 2 hours/day on the stationary bike, or 1,000 calories, whichever comes first. Slow cardio, nothing intense, nothing requiring I use my upper body. This is important since my arm has been injured for the last month, and while it's not hurting as much now, I don't want to push it.
• Next week I'm starting up high intensity interval training, 3x/week. I'm following the ideas listed on the site "The Lose Belly Fat Workout". I already know the benefits of HIIT, but again I have something solid to follow. The HIIT program is for 8 weeks, but if I can do 10-15 intervals by then with only 30-60 second rests, I'll be getting shredded in no time.
  
• If I'm feeling better that week, I am also going to start into a muscle building program. Basically, I am going to follow one of the 4-day workout programs listed on my iFitness program on my iPhone. (my new 3GS, by the way, which is iAwesome).
  
• I will also be doing yoga 2x/week on Tue + Thu. I like yoga, it feels good, and the studio is 90% very attractive ladies. Plus it's part of my gym membership so why not?
  
• In a few weeks I will re-assess with my new healed body and start focusing on the 300 workout. My major concerns here are the two sets of 25 pullups, since I can only do about 5 on a good way, and the 50 pushups. The dead lifts I can do after a few weeks of muscle building. I need to lose a good 20-30 lbs of pure fat to really help get to this goal.
• After I've accomplished the 300 goal, I intend to start into heavy kettlebell training and start working my way back up to the Greek statue look. I am going to work with a guy who trains the Naval Academy students and I'm told he's awesome.
• So what about diet? Of course, this is the most important part! Diet is still mostly vegan with some seafood, but I am shifting it towards the ideas listed in this article on the four hour work week. I've already been doing a lot of these anyway, but now I can focus on keeping it simple. I like the idea of making all my meals in the morning, carrying them with me, and always knowing what I'm doing. I'm a simple man, and I do like the idea of the cheating Saturdays.
  
• I am modifying his principles slightly: I will most likely have some fruit during the day, maybe just an apple/day the first thing after I wake up. Also, when I'm done my HIIT workouts outside, I will stop by the juice bar and get a 1-oz shot of wheatgrass before my 5 minute cool-down jog back to the apartment.

So to summarize the workout plan itself:

• Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat: weight training on iPhone
• Tu/Th/Fr: HIIT (yes, Fridays are going to be rough, so I may switch to Saturday as that's a cheat day for dieting so two workouts could be rewarded with heavy binge eating)
• Tu/Th: yoga in the evenings

The diet does deserve additional mention. Here are the basic rules:

1. Avoid anything white or that can be white: that means no rice, bread, pasta, potatoes. If it's white, skip it. A lot of these foods can be much healthier in their pure forms (e.g. brown rice) but to be safe, we'll just forget about them.
2. Eat lots of the same small meals 4-5 times/day, with lots of veggies, some legumes like black beans or lentils, and some lean protein (I'll probably use quinoa)
3. Don't drink calories. Basically, drink only water, black coffee if you must (but try to avoid), and at most one glass of red wine/day
4. Eat whatever you want one day/week

This is fantastic. I can make all my meals in the mornings, I can eat whatever I want on Saturdays, and I can still have my Maryland blue crabs on Tuesday evenings (with red wine though; that will be an interesting taste)

We'll see how things go and I'll report back in September. The best part is I can visualize this routine, see the lifestyle, and know that I can get there. Visualization and having a strong focus and goal is super important to getting there.

Sinusian Wars: Week 2

Last week I began my campaign against my sinuses. Well, not really against my sinuses, but against the invaders that attacked them almost a decade ago and set up shop. The first legion, Augmentin, attacked twice per day over the last five days, but as of today the only differences I've noticed are that my left maxillary sinus is really sore, and that I have slightly less phlegm each day.

Tomorrow I send in the second two legions: Neti Pot and Nasonex. These two will provide suppressive fire while the Augmentin does its heavy lifting. We shall never surrender!