Optimum Anabolics - Day 81/Tuesday

Just a quick workout and diet summary today.

**YAWN**

WORKOUT - BACK

All 3 supersets of the Week 12, Day 4 workout were focused on the back.

Superset 1: Twisting DB Rows, Pull Ups (Assisted)
Superset 2: Wide Arm Cable Row, Close Grip Lat Pull Down
Superset 3: Close Grip Cable Row, Wide Arm Lat Pull Downs

Total Time => 38:02

Comments:

Focused on my form again today.

Struggled with pull ups even more than usual. Not sure what was up with that.

I felt very strong during the remainder of the workout.

My grip muscles got a bit of a break but still plenty of pulling during this workout.

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN (PLUS 1)

Post workout breakfast was a homemade grass fed beef Italian sausage patty with 1 oz. of grass fed, organic mozzarella cheese topped with 2 TBS of organic pasta sauce. To carb up, I had some leftover Easy Overnight Oatmeal and mixed in some sweet potato pie and maple syrup. Delicious!

Mid-morning I reached for a 1/2C of plain yogurt with 4 tsp milled flax seed and 1/3 scoop of protein powder mixed in.

For lunch, wasabi salmon from Ultra-Metabolism by Dr. Mark Hyman was back on the menu. I stuffed what I could into a green/red pepper from the farmer's market and then stuffed the rest in my face with a spoon. :-)

Mid-afternoon, I snacked on the last homemade protein bar from the previous weeks batch.

The fall weather was gorgeous here today (Indian summer??) so we fired up the grill and covered it with chicken breast tenders from Trader Joe's. While the chicken was grilling, I heated up a plateful of roasted spaghetti squash and cut up an ounce of grass fed mozzarella cheese. Once the chicken was done, it was plated up and covered with TJ's new Putanesca tomato sauce and "parm".

For overnight muscle-building, I drank 30g of whey protein isolate powder mixed up in water.

Optimum Anabolics - Day 74/Homemade Protein Bars

In an attempt to mix up my snack routine, I did some looking around and found a recipe for making your own protein bars. Easy, portable, convenient, and cheap. Perfect.

A note of caution: this recipe is not for the fat or calorie fearing folks.

Better sit down for this long ingredient list :)

1. Natural Nut Butter of your choice – I used almond butter
2. Heavy/Double Cream - I used full fat coconut milk this time around
   
3. Whey Protein – The flavor of your choice.

Almond butter and protein in the bowl prior to mixing:
















Got it nice and crumbly for addition of coconut milk (did not use the milk this time):

















Snack time!
















WORKOUT - BACK

All 3 supersets of the Week 11, Day 4 workout were focused on the back.

Superset 1: Twisting DB Rows, Pull Ups (Assisted)
Superset 2: Wide Arm Cable Row, Close Grip Lat Pull Down Superset 3: Close Grip Cable Row, Wide Arm Lat Pull Downs
Total Time => 38:48

Comments:

Focused on my form today.

My grip muscles got a bit of a break but still plenty of pulling during this workout.

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN (PLUS 1)

After my workout this morning I cooked up a 2 egg white and 1 whole egg omelet. I mixed in some red onion and bell pepper sauteed in coconut oil and topped it off with 1 oz of grass fed mozzarella cheese. For carbs, I made a primal waffle sandwich with chocolate and maple syrup...

















In hindsight, I should have glopped on some of the roasted pie pumpkin. Next time!

Mid-morning, I had a 1/2 cup of yogurt (back to the regular kind) mixed up with 4 tsp of ground flax seed and 1/3 scoop of whey protein isolate.

For lunch I heated up a hunk of tahini covered meatloaf and had a big ol' salad with spinach, arugula, carrots, celery, tomato, red pepper, and scallions.

See photo above for afternoon snack details.

Leftover lamb roast with steamed broccoli and brussel sprouts (fresh, local veggies from the farmer's market today!) on the side was dinner tonight.
















Look at that plate of veggies!

Pre-bed snack was 30g of whey protein isolate powder mixed in water.

Optimum Anabolics - Day 67/The Losers Missed It

Christina and I kicked back and watched Week 4 of The Biggest Loser this evening. One very important concept surfaced in this episode that was all but glazed over by everyone, including the professional trainers/coaches on the show.

One of the contestants on the Purple Team is medically unable to participate in any of the boot camp style workouts until her inflammation markers (blood work stuff) come down. In the meantime, the other contestants are putting in upwards of 6 hours per day in the gym performing all sorts of workouts varying in style from traditional, steady-state cardio to high intensity intervals, to circuit training with resistance. Despite not working out AT ALL, this purple lady managed to lose 4 LBS during this week.

What? How'd she do that without killing herself at the gym like the rest of the teams?

Diet. Diet. Oh, and diet.

Everyone thought this lady would be in line to go home this week because she was forced to be a couch potato. Not so! And, as I said previously, NO ONE ACKNOWLEDGED IT. In fact, they all treated her like she didn't deserve to be there and there was no way she could've lost that amount without being in the gym.

Show me your nutrition and I'll show you your body. What you eat is 90% of the game, I believe. Workout to sculpt your body, not to make up for the damage you might do in the kitchen.

After 8 seasons of doing this, how could The Biggest Loser skip over this point??

WORKOUT - BACK

All 3 supersets of the Week 10, Day 4 workout were focused on the back.

Superset 1: Twisting DB Rows, Pull Ups (Assisted)
Superset 2: Wide Arm Cable Row, Close Grip Lat Pull Down
Superset 3: Close Grip Cable Row, Wide Arm Lat Pull Downs

Total Time => 38:46

Comments:

Focused on my form today.

My grip muscles got a bit of a break but still plenty of pulling during this workout.

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN (PLUS 1)

I started my post-workout meal off with a hunk of tahini meatloaf from last night's dinner. Meatloaf for breakfast? Hey, why not? I followed that up with a bowl full of Asian Fusion oatgurt. I tweaked it for my taste by using 1 TBS tahini, 2 tsp raw honey, and 2 tsp of miso paste, 1 TBS of Udo's oil.

Refueling with scenery:
















That gorgeous Lincoln rose was from our back yard and it smelled 10 times better than it looks. Yes, that good.

Before a meeting this morning, I had a 1/2 cup of Greek-style yogurt with 4 tsp of ground flax seed and 1/3 scoop of plain whey protein isolate powder.

After the meeting, a salesman took us out to lunch at a local restaurant, Barley's Smoke House. My meal was a house salad followed by a half a roasted chicken (BBQ sauce on the side) with a side of green beans. On the surface, this sounds like a darn fine meal. It was meh at best. Glad someone else was picking up the check on this one. (~:

I skipped an afternoon snack today for two reasons. First, that lunch chicken was plenty to tie me over until dinner. Second, I wanted to be hungry for dinner that was going to be at 5:00 which is early for me.

As it turns out, dinner wound up being breakfast. I agreed to take part in a taste test for Wendy's International at their headquarters here in Columbus. I tasted two different types of breakfast burritos that may (or may not) be hitting the market soon. A fast food fan I am not, but these burritos were of fairly decent quality. Sauteed green and red peppers and onion, eggs, and monterey jack cheese were stuffed inside a grilled whole wheat tortilla. Good ingredients but only fair taste. I was hoping the chipotle hot sauce would save it but no luck. My egg scrambles at home are much better. Maybe I need to go cook breakfast for the Wendy's folks, huh?

Before bed, I chugged back my 30 grams of plain whey protein isolate powder mixed in water along with my supplements.

Optimum Anabolics - Day 60/Busy So I Need An Answer

It was a crazy busy day today, so I thought it'd be a good time to ask a question about something that has me stumped.

We bought the baked, not fried, organic blue corn tortilla chips at Trader Joe's this past weekend (see photo below). For a 7 oz bag, the price was $1.99. For a 16 oz bag of FRIED chips, they charge $2.99.

How is it that the fried version costs more than the baked? Anyone?

WORKOUT - BACK

All 3 supersets of the Week 9, Day 4 workout were focused on the back.

Superset 1: Hanging Row, Pull Ups (Assisted)
Superset 2: Wide Arm Cable Row, Close Grip Lat Pull Down
Superset 3: Twisting DB Row, Wide Arm Lat Pull Down

Total Time => 46:15

Comments:

This workout just murders my grip and forearms. With the exception of the rows, all the exercises require me to hold on tight. This is terribly taxing for that "pump" set of 15 at the end of each superset!

The "pump" sets lived up to their name today. My back felt very wide all day.

The heat warmers are "on call" for tomorrow. Started feeling my legs tighten up later in the day.

DIET - PROTEIN DEPRIVATION

I started my post-workout meal off with a bowl full of oatgurt. I got brave today and, with guidance from my oatgurt pal, Heather, went with Asian Fusion for the flavor theme. I tweaked it for my taste by using 1 TBS tahini, 2 tsp raw honey, and 2 tsp of miso paste. My hesitation on stirring in that miso paste quickly turned to excitement on my first bite. Wow! What a great combination of flavors. Not sure why I doubted it would taste good. Sweet and salty. Yum!

To get my post workout protein requirement taken care of, I had a coffee smoothie with the following:

• 1 C of chilled coffee (Cafe Brioso, of course!)
• 1 C of almond milk
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 scoop of plain whey protein isolate powder
• 1 tsp chocolate extract
• 2 TBS of cocoa powder
• 2,000 shakes of cinnamon powder
• 3 TBS of coconut milk
• 1/2 packet of Vitargo Muscle Fuel & Recovery (more on this tomorrow)

Outstanding of course!

I had a couple of The Cookie Cop's oatmeal-cinnamon-flax cookies and 3 raw brazil nuts as a mid-morning snack.
















At lunch time, I had raw tortilla soup along with a sandwich baggie full of the aforementioned baked blue corn tortilla chips.
















My afternoon snack was half of a tomato and a green bell pepper loaded up with hummus.

The left over veggie burgers and cole slaw from Day 58 made a convenient dinner for a busy evening.

And that's all she wrote....

Optimum Anabolics - Day 53/Arriba!

Hey Amigos!

Looking back on my day today, I had quite the Hispanic theme going. I had to drop off a business payment on my lunch break and wound up browsing through a new Mexican grocery store near my original destination. Lunch itself (see below) was raw tortilla soup with tostadas purchased from said Mexican grocery. Dinner included blue corn tortilla chips. Chulo! (that's Spanish for "cool")

Anyway...it was a great experience to walk into this Mexican grocery where all the food labels, pricing signs, and advertisements were in Spanish. I wish I would have had my camera! All of the workers were speaking Spanish as well. It reminded me of being in a big city like Chicago or New York where small markets like this are everywhere.

The best part was seeing all the homemade, fresh foods they had available in addition to grocery items from producers you will not see in a chain grocery store. As I mentioned, I purchased some tostadas (see below) that were made in Chicago and tasted amazing!

Next time you're driving to Trader Joe's, or Whole Foods, or your local grocery chain, stop into one of these markets that might be on the way. You never know what you might find there that could become a new favorite food for you. Besides, I'd much rather give my cash-ola (that's Spanglish for money...haha) to the local guy than the big, bad corporation any day.

WORKOUT - BACK

All 3 supersets of the Week 8, Day 4 workout were focused on the back. I tend to build in the chest area fairly quickly so this is good for balancing out my upper body.

Superset 1: Hanging Row, Pull Ups (Assisted)
Superset 2: Wide Arm Cable Row, Close Grip Lat Pull Down
Superset 3: Twisting DB Row, Wide Arm Lat Pull Down

Total Time => 47:53

Comments:

This workout just murders my grip and forearms. With the exception of the rows, all the exercises require me to hold on tight.

Very pleased with the weights I chose today. I kept my form tight.

My calf muscles were actually somewhat sore today. I have trouble working this area due to the limited equipment I have available so this is a good sign.

DIET - PROTEIN DEPRIVATION

I started my post-workout meal off with a 4 oz piece of leftover grass-fed beef meatloaf that was nearing the end of it's life in the fridge...so glad I rescued it. :) Next up was a bowl full of fresh oatgurt with a chopped up apple, a libra (that's Spanish for pound) of cinnamon, and a big spoonful of almond butter.

Breakfast bowl...















"I want that apple core now! You're killing me!"...















Had to throw in a gratuitous dog shot in there. :)

2 apples and raw almonds, cashews, brazils, and walnuts was my snack mid-morning today.

For lunch, I experimented with another new recipe. Raw tortilla soup! Here is the recipe copied from the blog Choosing Raw...

Raw Tortilla Soup (serves two people with appetites)

Ingredients:

2 tomatoes, chopped
2 large red bell peppers, chopped
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, packed
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, packed
2 large stalks celery, chopped
3/4 cup water
1 tbsp lime juice
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1 clove garlic (optional!! raw garlic is powerful, folks)
Dash cayenne pepper (optional)

Optional toppings: tomato, avocado, onion, corn chips

Instructions:

Blend all ingredients in a minus the olive oil in a blender (a high speed blender will work best, but any will do). When the ingredients are well combined, drizzle in the olive oil with the motor running until the whole mixture is creamy and emulsified.

All the ingredients ready to become soup...
















The soup alone was excellent but wound up being outstanding with the crispy tostadas I bought at the local Mexican market.















The only ingredients for these are corn, water, salt, and coconut oil. Very nice!

As mid-afternoon rolled around, I snacked on a fresh red bell pepper and a tomato from the farmer's market dipped in some lemony hummus.

At dinner time, we tried out a recipe for Greek Wraps with White Bean Hummus that was on line from Vegetarian Times. My plate....
















We totally skipped the wrap part of the recipe and went with blue corn tortilla chips. Really good stuff!

I popped a teaspoon of fish (pescado...hehe) oil before bed and that was it for the night.

Buenas noches!!

Optimum Anabolics - Day 46/Canocrapola Oil

I have been suspicious of Canola Oil for quite some time and rarely use it when cooking and/or baking. My suspicions were confirmed today when I received an email from a trusted nutrition and fitness guru, Mike Geary.

Here's a bit of what Mike had to say:

... one of the biggest problems with highly processed and refined vegetable oils such as corn oil, soybean oil, and yes, even canola oil, is that the polyunsaturated component of the oil is highly unstable under heat, light, and pressure, and this heavily oxidizes the polyunsaturates which increases free radicals in your body.

The end result of all of this refining and processing are oils that are highly inflammatory in your body when you ingest them, potentially contributing to heart disease, weight gain, and other degenerative diseases.

The reason that extra virgin olive oil is good for you is that it is cold pressed without the use of heat and solvents to aid extraction.

Canola oil, on the other hand, is typically extracted and refined using high heat, pressure, and petroleum solvents such as hexane. Most canola oil undergoes a process of caustic refining, degumming, bleaching, and deoderization, all using high heat and questionable chemicals.

That's enough for me to say "no thanks!" to the Canola oil. Bleaching? Seriously?

Mike and I are rather like-minded when it comes to Overall Fitness. Click here to check out all his helpful information on nutrition, exercise, and the power of your mind ==> Mike's site

What's your favorite oil for cooking and baking?

I'll let you know what my grease of choice is in a later post, ok? (~:

WORKOUT - BACK

All 3 supersets of the Week 7, Day 4 workout were focused on the back. I tend to build in the chest area fairly quickly so this is good for balancing out my upper body.

Superset 1: Hanging Row, Pull Ups (Assisted)
Superset 2: Wide Arm Cable Row, Close Grip Lat Pull Down
Superset 3: Twisting DB Row, Wide Arm Lat Pull Down

Total Time => 36:49

Comments:

Another good workout today. Very efficient.

Overall the weights I used were in line but I started a little heavy on the last exercise and noticed my form was breaking down.

Legs and glutes were starting to tighten up by the end of the day. Tomorrow could be interesting...

DIET - PROTEIN DEPRIVATION

My post-workout breakfast this morning was excellent but I went overboard on the sweet stuff...even for me! :) I started with a serving of Cream of Buckwheat cereal cooked up with almond milk and a whole lot of cinnamon. To cool things down a little, I put in a tablespoon of maple syrup and 2 TBS of TJ's raw almond butter.

After gobbling down the cereal, it was smoothie time. Here is what went into today's blended goodness:

• 1 cup of chilled coffee
• 1 cup of almond milk
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 scoop of plain flavored whey protein isolate
• 2 TBS of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp chocolate extract
• 1 tsp flax oil
• 1 TBS raw almond butter
• 1/4 tsp xanthan gum

This filled up a 32 oz mason jar and required a spoon for consumption. (~:

As a mid-morning snack, I had 2 Asian pears and my raw nut mix of cashews, brazils, walnuts, and almonds.

Lunch was a fantastic cashew salad with cabbage cole slaw mix, red peppers, carrots, and scallions dressed with an almond butter, rice vinegar, lemon juice dressing. The recipe was from our favorite Ultra-Metabolism Cookbook by Dr. Mark Hyman. It's becoming clear there are no losers in this book!

Mid-afternoon, I snacked on a cut up tomato and green pepper with a couple of tablespoons of lemony hummus from the same cookbook as above.

At dinner time, Christina made yet another Ultra-Metabolism Cookbook recipe...3 bean chili. We were both amazed (though we shouldn't be after making so many great dishes from this book) at how well it turned out. Typically chili is better the day after it's made so the leftovers should be unbelievable.

Optimum Anabolics - Day 39/Dinner For Breakfast

Or maybe the other way around?

When I was a kid, my mom would occasionally declare that dinner that night would be something that we would typically have for breakfast. Scrambled eggs and sausage. Waffles with bacon. Maybe soft boiled eggs on toast. One of my favorites!

A college roommate and best friend of mine and I carried this event on when I was at Texas A&M for a couple of years, too. His favorite was pancakes and eggs so that was our standard dinner about once a month.

Later, another roommate and I would randomly pick a night and do BLT's. "Back in the day" we'd go through a couple pounds of bacon, a few tomatoes, a head of lettuce, and probably a loaf of white death...I mean...bread.

Those were fun nights...something different.

I was in a bit of a breakfast rut so today I decided to mix things up and have pizza for breakfast. It's been a while, but my sister's and I used to go to town on leftover pizza right out of the fridge. How many times have you done that?

What do you do to break out of a rut or bust a plateau of any kind?

WORKOUT - BACK

Today was a repeat of Day 32 and Day 25. All 3 supersets of the Day 4, Week 6 workout were focused on the back.

Superset 1: Straight Arm Pull Down, Pull Ups (Assisted)
Superset 2: Wide Arm Cable Row, Close Grip Lat Pull Down
Superset 3: Close Grip Cable Row, Wide Arm Lat PD

Total Time => 39:19

Comments:

I did well at pre-setting the weights today and meeting the prescribed rest periods. To get this done in one minute or less meant go, go, go!

Weights used today were just about perfect. Third time (week) is a charm!

Felt very strong again today. Is this a trend?

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN

As I mentioned in the opening part of this post, I went with dinner for breakfast today. I had the last of the gluten-free pizza and half an energy bar I bought at the farmer's market from my buddy, Craig, The Cookie Cop. I also knocked back a low-fat, low-carb smoothie. I blended up 1 cup of almond milk, 2 heaping tablespoons of cocoa powder, some stevia, 1 tsp of chocolate extract, and a touch less than a 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum. Nice and frosty!

Mid-morning I polished off my yogurt, ground flax seed and whey protein isolate powder.

Lunch was tuna salad stuffed into a fresh and crispy red bell pepper. I hope peppers keep showing up at the farmer's market for another couple of months! Before crunching up the pepper, I spooned out yet another delicious zuke salad.

Mid-afternoon, I knocked back a whole egg and another egg white along with a raw nut mix of almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts, and walnuts.

For dinner, we heated up the last portions of our eggplant parm from the other night. Half of a zucchini was spiral cut for our noodles. I cut up the remaining grilled chicken for a little added protein.

I guess it was pretty good. :-)















Time for lunch. Or breakfast? Or? What time is it??

Time for bed...

Optimum Anabolics - Day 25/Go Ahead...It Won't Kill You!

Before I list the days workout and food details, I thought I'd mention something briefly that I think plays a big part in our society's disease epidemic.

Today was a milestone birthday for one of my co-workers (Happy Birthday Terri!). About 9:00, the office staff gathered in the conference room, sang the HB song (poorly...think Office Space here people!), and had cake.

As the cake pieces were getting passed (again, picture Office Space) I was, of course, offered a piece. I declined but got a rather typical response from some folks of "go ahead! It won't kill you!". This happens a lot since I often take a pass on things like this.

I'm the first to admit that I have my days or periods of indiscretion (please see Day 22 post) when it comes to food choices but I try to limit my intake of straight up, no doubt about it "Franken-foods". In my opinion, there's a big difference between eating a baked good made from scratch with whole food ingredients in someone's home versus eating a factory-made cake.

Still, would that piece of cake kill me? If I ate it and other similar chemical concoctions on a regular basis, my answer would be yes. Since I really prefer to not eat these sort of things AND I had just had a "screw it" meal a few days ago, I chose to abstain. This works for me. For others, it may be different. However, I believe that until we get back to eating "the old fashioned way" (whole, fresh, simple ingredient foods) on a consistent basis, our health as a species will continue to suffer.

Perhaps, too, it comes down to your goals and your values. Is that piece of cake moving you closer or further away from that goal or that value? Additionally, no matter which choice you make, you must accept responsibility for it. Own what you choose.

What would you do?

WORKOUT - BACK

All 3 supersets of the Day 4, Week 4 workout were focused on the back.

Superset 1: Straight Arm Pull Down, Pull Ups (Assisted)
Superset 2: Wide Arm Cable Row, Close Grip Lat Pull Down
Superset 3: Close Grip Cable Row, Wide Arm Lat PD

Total Time => 40:15

Comments:

I did well at pre-setting the weights today and meeting the prescribed rest periods. Felt good!

Weights used were a little light which is probably ok during this phase of the program.

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN

Breakfast was a tropical paradise today. Hehe. I started with a bowl of oatgurt mixed up with a mango, some cinnamon, and a solid spoonful of almond butter. Who needs packaged, processed cereal?? Next I blended up another "toffee" smoothie with almond milk, chilled coffee, espresso flavored whey protein isolate, a frozen banana, cocoa powder, and about 2 TBS of coconut milk.

Here's the smoothie before shot...















Hey! Our favorite cookbook made the photo! (~:

Mid-morning snack was 1/2 cup of yogurt, 4 tsp ground flax seed, and 1/3 scoop of plain whey protein isolate powder.

Lunch was a repeat of yesterday...wasabi salmon from this book and a salad of raw broccoli slaw, with cucumber, peppers, celery, and scallions. As a dressing for the salad, I made the ginger, sesame oil dressing from our favorite book.

As a mid-afternoon snack I had a 1/2 cup of cottage cheese along with my raw nut mix of walnuts, cashews, almonds, and Brazil nuts.

Dinner tonight was a fabulous summer time meal of grass-fed beef burgers on the grill wrapped up in a turnip green "bun" with big slices of tomato. There also may have been some salsa involved. Since the grill was all fired up for the burgers, I threw on some eggplant burgers, too. Maybe I could be a vegetarian, huh? (~:

As a quick snack before bed, I had a half scoop of plain whey protein isolate mixed with a little water.

Optimum Anabolics - Day 11/Hot Cross Buns

Yeah, you know you're singing it! "One a penny, two a penny..." (~:

Fans, I have never felt such deep, consistent muscle soreness like I have today after yesterdays leg workout!

Seriously, it was so intense, the seat warmers in the car got their first use in like 6 months! Now you know where the title for this post came from. (~:

The culprit, you ask? Lunges! Damn them!

Today was nuts at work as it was the day before project bids are due to the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) for the work my construction company does. I did not return to the homestead until after 8:30 P.M.!

WORKOUT - BACK (JACK)

All 3 supersets of the Day 4, Week 2 workout were focused on the back. Very cool, man!

Superset 1: Hanging Row, Pull Ups (Assisted)
Superset 2: Twisting DB Row, Wide Arm Lat Pull Down
Superset 3: Wide Arm Cable Row, Close Grip Lat Pull Down

Total Time => 41:17

Comments:

I did better at pre-setting the weights but need to watch my rest periods closer. Too much wasted time!

Weights used were more in line with what I needed this week.

Legs and booty were sore, sore, sore! Seat warmers were employed again! :~)


DIET - HIGH PROTEIN

Breakfast (post-workout) kicked off with a little creation I'll call apple-cinnamon oatgurt. Into the oatgurt base went a chopped up apple, tons of cinnamon (duh), almond butter and a little bit of agave syrup. It was eye brow raising good! In addition, I had one egg and two egg whites scrambled up with more of that homemade salsa goodness, green and red peppers, and my homemade Italian sausage. Phew! What a meal!

Mid-morning snack was a 1/2 cup of yogurt, 1 T of ground flax seeds, and 1/3 scoop plain whey protein isolate powder.

For lunch, I brought back a good friend, wasabi salmon. Wass-dat-be, you ask? Salmon mixed up with some yogurt, wasabi powder, ginger, and chopped celery and peppers. Another great summer lunch. The salmon got rolled up in some collard leaves with some extra green and red pepper strips for some added crunch and flavor.

My afternoon snack was a 1/2 cup of cottage cheese with some white chia seeds mixed in.

Dinner, like lunch, came in front of the computer. Let's replay lunch from yesterday, shall we? I had a grass-fed beef burger wrapped in collard green leaves along with a blended zucchini salad. The recipe is here and has quickly become a favorite. Very refreshing during the hot summer months!

Optimum Anabolics - Day 4/Take Me Out To The Ballgame

To help ease the pain of a Monday after vacation, one of the companies that supplies stone to the construction company I work for took us to a "business man's special" today. An afternoon at the ballyard. Fantastic!

Muscle building foods? Uh, no, not so much. I had a couple beers, too, but, hey, it was a ball game and someone else was buying!

WORKOUT - BACK (JACK)

All 3 supersets of the Day 4 workout were focused on the back. Very cool, man!

Superset 1: Hanging Row, Pull Ups (Assisted)
Superset 2: Twisting DB Row, Wide Arm Lat Pull Down
Superset 3: Wide Arm Cable Row, Close Grip Lat Pull Down

Total Time => 41:17

Comments:

I need to make sure I pre-set exercises better for this workout. Too much wasted time!

Weights used will be bumped up next time

Legs and booty were sore but not as bad as expected.

Still feeling those abs!

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN

I switched things up a little for breakfast today. I cranked out some scrambled eggs with salsa and had some butter with sour oat bread on the side. :~)

Mid-morning snack was a 1/2 cup of yogurt, 1 T of ground flax seeds, and 1/3 scoop plain whey protein isolate powder.

For lunch, we hit up the concession stand before it was time to "Play Ball!". I had a Leinenkugel Summer Shandy brewski and a chicken tenders basket with fries. Of course I had to have some BBQ sauce for dipping the tenders and ketchup for the fries. The horror! Not a lot of good options at the ballpark...at least not yet.

Mid-afternoon snack was a few handfuls of peanuts in the shell around the 6th or 7th inning of the game.

For dinner it was Green Monster time and boy did I need it!

• 1/2 banana frozen
  
• 1/2 C strawberries frozen
  
• 1 tsp Carlsons lemon flavored fish oil
  
• Couple handfuls of fresh organic spinach
• 1 C water
• 1 scoop plain whey protein isolate powder
  

Tonight's was super cold which felt good after being in the sun earlier at the stadium.

No snack tonight...just my supplements of L-arginine and branch chain aminos (BCAA's). A good place to get quality supplements is here.

See you tomorrow for the last weight day of the week!