Optimum Anabolics - Day 72/Gluten Free, Dairy Free Waffles

There are times when I do not care for the internet. Today, I love it.

Not too long before my wife determined it was in her best interest to not consume dairy or gluten, I had hooked her on homemade waffles (and pancakes). My mom could make a heck of a waffle so they were Sunday morning, post-church comfort food for me growing up. But how to make them gluten free, dairy free, AND taste good had me scratching my head.

I had been craving waffles lately and then it happened. One of the blogs I follow, Mark's Daily Apple (thanks, Heather), recently posted a link to a grain-free waffle recipe. With a substitution of coconut milk for cow's milk we made it dairy free, too. Beautiful!

Grain-free Gluten-free Waffles:

• 2 Tbsp melted coconut oil
• 3 eggs
• 3 Tbsp milk (we used coconut milk)
  
• 2 Tbsp vanilla extract
• Optional – 1 Tbsp maple syrup, honey, or other sweetener (we'll use more next batch)
  
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3 Tbsp coconut flour

Simply mix everything together, and let the ingredients meld for about 5 minutes (or during your workout :-) while your waffle iron gets warm. The coconut flour seems to react better if it has time to “soak” so please don’t leave out this “melding” time.

Then, thinly spread over your waffle iron – I didn’t need to use nonstick spray for these. You’ll want to just barely cover the “hole” lumps of the waffle iron, because this batter expands a lot.

Close the iron and wait several minutes, until the steam stops coming out quite as much. If you want, you can open it to peek… it won’t hurt anything. When the steam isn’t as crazy, and the waffles are starting to brown, remove them to a plate.

The verdict? Delicious!

I would not hesitate to serve these to any waffle lover.

WORKOUT - ARMS/ABS

The Week 11, Day 2 workout included 2 supersets of arms followed by a superset of ab work.

Superset 1: DB Concentration Curls, Cable Push Downs
Superset 2: Twisting DB Curls, Dips (tricep version)
Superset 3: Plank (1 minute hold on stability ball), Stability Ball Jackknife

Total Time => 38:29

Comments:

It seems my biceps and triceps are getting significantly stronger each week.

Stability ball plank holds were tough when combined with the jackknifes (jackknives??...haha).

Mowed the lawn (again) this afternoon for some "extra credit" cardio.

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN (PLUS 1)

Breakfast was later in the morning after my workout and included waffles (see above) covered in homemade chocolate syrup (maple syrup and coco powder) and homemade bacon from my friends at Bluescreek Farm Meats. Awesome breakfast, fun pictures. :)






































Since breakfast was late today, I skipped lunch and had a mid-afternoon snack of cottage cheese and raw walnuts, almonds, brazils, and cashews.

Earlier in the day, I dusted off the crock pot (literally) and put dinner in to cook. A 3+ LB lamb shoulder roast (also from Bluescreek Farm Meats) simmered all day long in chicken broth, spices, and onions. Outstanding. I think I could have eaten the whole roast...it was that good.

Before bed, I had my 30g of whey protein isolate powder and called it a day.

Optimum Anabolics - Day 71/Soul Fitness

Too often my focus gets caught up in the physical aspects of life...workouts, nutrition, work, business, etc. Being in excellent Overall Fitness, however, involves balance and not just the kind where you stand on one foot. I'm talking about the well-being of your soul.

Mid-morning today, Christina and I made the trek to downtown C'bus to attend the 2009 version of the Universal Light Expo. This year there were over 300 vendors advertising and/or selling services such as reiki, psychic readings, massage, alternative medicine and selling items like jewelry, gems and stones, and hand crafted items.

This was our first time attending and what a great experience it was. I left feeling very energized and peaceful. We saw many friends from our spiritual community, met all sorts of interesting people, and were introduced to new stuff we had not seen or heard of previously. For example, one vendor was relieving back stress/pain by manipulating various bones just by asking them to move. I'm all about alternative medicine so this was incredible stuff.

My point is that sometimes we all need to put aside our physical body and play with our soul. It needs attention, too.

What do you do to give your soul the attention it needs? Listen to music? Meditate? Cook? Paint? Blog (hehe)?


WORKOUT - SHOULDERS

Week 11 of the Optimum Anabolics program is the 2nd of 3 weeks of lighter workouts. Rest period remains at 3 minutes between supersets and the number of repetitions of each exercise are reasonable.

Superset 1: Lying Cable Pullovers, Barbell Military Press
Superset 2: Dip Bar Shrugs, Side DB Raises
Superset 3: DB Shrugs, Twisting DB Presses

Total Time => 36:19

Comments:

I was pleased with the weights I was able to do with these exercises.

It was a good workout despite not needing to push my muscles to failure.

I took a 15 minute bike ride after the weights for some light cardio work.

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN (PLUS 1)

Before heading out to the expo this morning, I cranked up the blender and made a "chocoffee" smoothie to get me going.

• 1 C of chilled Cafe Brioso coffee
• 1 C of Snowville Creamery whole milk
• 2 scoops of plain whey protein isolate powder
• 2 TBS of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 TBS Udo's Oil blend
• 2 TBS+ of coconut milk
• 1/4 tsp stevia
• 1/4 tsp Xanthan gum

Christina and I ate lunch out today at Ted's (as in Ted Turner) Montana Grill. We had not been in a long while and once again left happy. The corporation behind the name gets more impressive every time I go there. Here are some highlights...

• Fresh, never frozen, bison meat direct from Ted's ranch
• Extensive gluten-free menu
• Use of recycled paper for menus and table coverings
• Use of low energy bulbs and fixtures
• Paper straws
• Complimentary pickles (instead of rolls!) made fresh daily

Pretty cool, huh?

Needless to say, we both had bison burgers (no bun!) along with plenty of pickles and green beans for me.

It was pizza time for dinner after my workout. We used Gluten Free Pantry's crust and topped it off with peppers, onion, mushrooms, tomato sauce, and home made grass fed beef sausage. My "zah" also had grass fed mozzarella cheese all over it. Tremendous.

For dessert, I snarfed down two cookies I picked up today from Omega Aristan Baking at The North Market. I might or might not have had a bowl of cookies and cream ice cream, too.

Just before heading off for the night, I shook up a quick protein drink.

Optimum Anabolics - Day 68/Lawn Fitness

Why shouldn't the health of our lawns be part of our Overall Fitness?

After I gave our lawn a haircut this evening, I sprayed on a "lawn tonic" that I began using in the spring to keep our grass healthy through the tough, unpredictable summer months. What time better than the present to share it with you.

Christina and I are working on eliminating as many toxins from our lives as we possibly can. We use many glass storage containers for our foods, eat organic produce and meats whenever possible, have a whole-house water filtration system, sleep on organic cotton sheets, and clean with natural cleaners.

Since we started making moves toward more natural products, I had been searching for a safer treatment for my lawn that would keep it decent (I don't pretend to be weed-free and perfect) and be safe for the pooch to roam around on. She is stubborn and refuses to wear shoes. (~:

Thanks to Christina's uncle in Cleveland, this recipe appeared in my inbox. I put it to work the first part of June and never stepped foot in the fertilizer aisle at Home Depot again.

Check it out...

• 1 can of beer -- any kind, but not "lite"
• 1 can of pop -- any kind, but not diet
• 1/2 cup of ammonia
• 1/2 cup of mouthwash
• 1/2 cup of liquid dish detergent --do not use "anti-bacterial"

Mix all ingredients together and use in a 10 gallon sprayer hooked to a hose.

Apply every 3 weeks after mowing, preferably in the evening.

It takes about two batches to cover a 5,000 square foot lawn.

Granted, this is still not "organic" but it's a far cry from the toxic dump found in a bag of Scott's lawn products.

Give it a shot. Your grass will thank you for it and your pooch just might have better breath. :)


WORKOUT - CHEST/ABS

2 supersets of the Week 10, Day 5 workout were chest related, followed by a superset of abs work

Superset 1: DB Flyes (on stability ball), Dips - Chest version
Superset 2: DB Pullover, Bench Press (Flat)
Superset 3: Reverse Ball Crunches, Mountain Climbers (plus 12-1/2 LBS per ankle)

Total Time => 40:48

Comments:

Almost (almost) made it through all the sets of dips without needing any assistance. Sweet.

I went with 5 LB ankle weights with 7-1/2 LBS attached while doing mountain climbers. Abs are feeling those.

It was good to have longer rest periods this week.

I enjoyed changing up the exercises, also.

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN (PLUS 1)

My post-workout breakfast this morning was rather uneventful and a repeat of Day 66. I thawed out two of Polly's oaty cakes and put them into a warm oven before my workout. These got gobbled up with organic butter and Ohio maple syrup. For some protein, I heated up a grass fed beef sausage patty that was grilled up over the weekend.

Mid-morning, I snacked on Greek style yogurt along with 1/3 scoop whey protein isolate, and 4 tsp of ground flax seed mixed in.

For lunch I had wasabi salmon from Dr. Mark Hyman's book Ultra-Metabolism stuffed into a red bell pepper.

Work was far too hectic today which put me eating lunch late and skipping my afternoon snack. Cottage cheese and raw nuts live to see another day. (~:

Dinner tonight was a new (to us) chili recipe from a fine blog that Christina and I used to visit often, Eat, Live, Run. The recipe was simple and healthy but lacked the punch and flavor complexity Christina and I like in our chili. If we make this again, it will require a significant overhaul. On a positive note, the ingredients did lead to a good, thick texture. Something to build on.

Right before hitting the pillows, I put down 30 g of whey protein isolate powder in about 3/4 C of water along with my supplements.

Optimum Anabolics - Day 63/Niner

How in the world is this the end of Week 9 already? Sheesh!

The results are in!

MEASUREMENTS:

Weight: 181.5 LBS (UP 1.0 LBS for week, UP 2.0 LBS total)
BF: 9.5% (according to the calipers I have) (NO CHANGE for week, UP 1.4% total)
Neck: 16" (UP 1/4" for week, UP 1/2" total)
Chest: 39-3/4" (NO CHANGE for week, UP 1/4" total)
Shoulders: 46-1/2" (UP 1/4" for the week, DOWN 1" total)
Biceps: 13-1/2" (NO CHANGE for week, NO CHANGE total)
Waist: 33-1/4" (NO CHANGE for week, UP 1/2" total)
Thighs: 20" (NO CHANGE for week, UP 1/4" total)
Calves: 15" (NO CHANGE for week, NO CHANGE total)
Adonis Effect: 1.391 (UP 0.007 for the week, DOWN 0.022 total)

WORKOUT - CARDIO (HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING)

Continued to work on getting faster at the Flying Romans.

I did 28 minutes of the interval program on the bike.

Here are today's Flying Roman results (3 intervals):

• 38 seconds
  
• 33 seconds
  
• 31 seconds (sweet)
  

Comments:

Shoulders and upper arms still way sore today.

Not much to show for the chest workout a couple days ago.

Left heel was pretty sore all day today.

Cardio over the weekend will continue to be bike rides only to rest the foot.

Calves and feet got stretched for 2 minutes per side today.

DIET - PROTEIN DEPRIVATION (LAST DAY!)

For breakfast I repeated yesterday's recipe for (mostly) raw blueberry cereal. Despite being calorie dense, this cereal does not weigh heavily on the tummy...quite light honestly.

Mid-morning, I put away a delicious local apple from the farmer's market and my daily dose of raw cashews, brazils, walnuts, and almonds.

Since this is the last day of being a partial vegetarian, I decided to venture out for lunch and hit up a local Indian food restaurant. This was a first for me. It was off to the North Market in downtown C'bus where I found Flavors of India. Having never been, I had no idea what to choose. Since the line was fairly long, I had the opportunity to quiz my fellow diners on just what the heck some of the entrees were and what was good.

My order ended being channa masala over basmati rice and a samosa filled with peas and chunks of white potato. The channa masala was outstanding and worth trying in the kitchen at home. The samosa was a bit disappointing largely due to the fact that it was heated in the microwave. The crust would've been nice and flakey, however, had it been fresh. I ate the whole thing, though, just to make sure it was ok. (~:

I skipped out on an afternoon snack today. That masala was p-lenty to carry me over to dinner.

We heated up (not in the microwave, thank you) two more servings of the egg plant parm that Christina made on Day 61 for dinner and put that over some zucchini noodles. There was a brief moment of panic when we realized we were out of "parm", but another batch was quickly whipped up before we ate. All is right in the world.

Optimum Anabolics - Day 62/I'm going with...

...Plantar Fascitis.

I did some research on the net and it appears this is the problem with my left heal.

Here is what Google Health had to say:

The most common complaint is pain in the bottom of the heel. It is usually worst in the morning and may improve throughout the day. By the end of the day the pain may be replaced by a dull aching that improves with rest.

Most people complain of increased heel pain after walking for a long period of time.

Um, yep. That sums it up.

Assuming this is my plight, there is some good and some bad.

It's good in the sense that it's not a huge deal, is rather simple to treat, and is a fairly common problem.

Bad is relative, I realize, but the symptoms can last for several months. Thankfully, I've been treating the condition as prescribed for a few weeks now so hopefully being pain free is not that far off.

WORKOUT - CARDIO (HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING)

This morning's intervals were done on the stationary bike for 27 minutes.

Continued to work on getting faster at the Flying Romans. Whaddya know? I got faster!

Here are today's Flying Roman results (3 intervals):

• 38 seconds
  
• 32 seconds
  
• 33 seconds (sweet)
  

Comments:

Shoulders and upper arms still sore today.

Chest was somewhat sore today. Not what I would've expected, however.

Left heel is still sore and I'm still favoring it. It gets better after I take a few steps.

Cardio over the weekend will continue to be bike rides only to rest the foot.

Calves and feet got stretched for 2 minutes per side today.

DIET - PROTEIN DEPRIVATION

For breakfast I repeated last week's recipe for (mostly) raw blueberry cereal. This cereal is tremendously satisfying. This is a very important quality for me. Hunger and I do not get along. (~:

Mid-morning snack was 2 oatmeal cinnamon cookies from The Cookie Cop and 3 Brazil nuts.

Lunch time meant another round of raw tortilla soup with a couple of handfuls of blue corn tortilla chips from Trader Joes. I love this lunch.

Hummus and red bell pepper = afternoon snack.

Dinner was leftover 3-bean chili. This dish is too simple to be so good. The longer is sits, the better it gets!

Cardio on the stationary bike again tomorrow...

Optimum Anabolics - Day 51/Sunday Cheffing

It seems that lately Sunday's have been all about food prep. Today was no exception. Thankfully, eating is involved as well. :)

After breakfast, I headed out and picked up some fill-in items at the grocery store that could not be purchased at the farmer's market.

Once I got home and put the goodies away, it was time to hit the home gym. I followed that up with lunch, a shower, and some computer work.

As dinner time rolled around, it was non-stop kitchen fun. We roasted our spaghetti squash, fried up 2 eggplants, baked one eggplant parm, ate dinner, cleaned up, and then I made a batch of hummus for my daily snacks during the upcoming week.

Phew!

Anyone else feel like they spend more time in the kitchen than anywhere else in their house??

The meals we nourish ourselves with is more than worth it, though, so I should not complain. We eat pretty well around here...healthy (most of the time) and delicious (nearly all the time).

WORKOUT - ARMS/ABS

The Week 8, Day 2 workout included 2 supersets of arms followed by a superset of ab work.

Superset 1: Incline DB Curls, Overhead Rope Extensions
Superset 2: Close Grip Chin Up (assisted), Dips (tricep version)
Superset 3: Bent Leg Crunch (with towel roll under back), Ab Slide (with 5 LB on my back)

Total Time => 39:46

Comments:

Shoulders sore but not killing me today.

My arms were exercised well today...particularly on the incline curls.

My abs are getting stronger at doing crunches with the towel and correct form.

Core muscles are getting strong as well. Tomorrow will be a good test with squats and dead lifts on the schedule.

DIET - PROTEIN DEPRIVATION

This morning was nice and cool which put me in the mood for a nice bowl of oatmeal.

Pre-cooking...















This was an excellent oatmeal that cooked up real nice with about a cup of boiling water. I loaded my bowl up with a chopped apple, a ton of cinnamon (seriously need to get a photo of that...hehe), and 2 TBS of almond butter.

My metabolism must've been in high gear this morning, because I burnt through that oatmeal breakfast fairly quickly. A snack of an apple and raw nuts was necessary before heading off to the grocery store. Hungry grocery shopping = bad news for the wallet. :)

Lunch (post workout) was a stroganoff-type concoction of leftover grass-fed meatloaf along side the following sauteed in coconut oil:

• red onion
• garlic
• mini-bella mushrooms
• salt

Gluten-free rice noodles were mixed into the saute. The whole plate turned out like this...















I'm not gonna lie and tell you these noodles are just like their gluten-laden counterparts, but they were darn good!

For dessert, Christina made up a most excellent gluten-free almond flour cinnamon coffee cake from THE Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook. Another winner!















How sweet is that?

As mentioned earlier, dinner was eggplant parm from that same cookbook (yeah, okay, the book is awesome) along with some roasted, organic spaghetti squash from the farmer's market yesterday. The best squash I've ever had!

Din-din...
















Spaghetti squash before the oven roasting....















Told you it was a day of cheffing 'round here!

Optimum Anabolics - Day 36/To Market, To Market

With this being a 3-day holiday weekend, our intentions were to get some rest. Most weekend mornings, the pooch comes up and nudges me some time between 4:30 and 5:30 A.M. to let me know it's time to eat. It seems pets know no holidays and do not discriminate between a weekend day or a week day. Anyone else have a pet that's as reliable if not more that their alarm clock? If your power went out overnight, would you still be on time for work because your furry friend needed to eat breakfast or go tinkle? (-:

Over the 14 years that we've had the pooch, I've grown to accept this and pick myself out of bed to drop some food in her dish. Many Saturdays and/or Sundays, I just wind up starting my day from that point. Today, though, it was back to bed! Yes!

After breakfast we made our weekly journey over to the farmer's market to grab some fresh, homegrown and/or homemade goodies. Here's what we wound up with today:
















Today's grand total? $16.25. We stopped at one of the chain grocery stores after the market and I happened to notice that the organic broccoli was ON SALE for $2.99 per head. Price paid at the market...$1.50.

My advice: go meet a farmer. Shake their dirty hand. Ask them questions. When you find a good one, buy as much as you can from them.

The rest of the day was spent watching college football (GO BUCKS!) and prepping meals. Christina took many of the tomatoes you see in the photo and made up her family pasta sauce recipe. That will be coming in to play for tomorrow's dinner. I personally can't wait! :)

WORKOUT - SHOULDERS

Superset 1: Lying Cable Pullover, Twisting DB Military
Superset 2: Dip Bar Shrugs, Side DB Lateral Raises
Superset 3: DB Shrugs, Barbell Military

Total Time => 38:57

Comments:

Week 6 continues a 3 week break of sorts from the beating the first three weeks puts on you. It's a welcome break, believe me!

Much better on the weight choices this week.

For my "extra credit" cardio today I did a 15 minute bike ride. Since riding is essentially zero impact, it was great for getting the heart rate up there without messing with my left heal. Thankfully, it is coming along nicely in the healing process.

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN

Breakfast was a little strange this morning. We were out of eggs, so I cut up some left over chicken and a tomato. I know, not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of breakfast. After that, I got out the blender and made up a coffee smoothie with one cup of chilled coffee, 2 heaping tablespoons of cocoa, lots of cinnamon, a few shakes of chili powder, a tsp or so of chocolate extract and coconut milk. As this was blending up, I sprinkled in some stevia to sweeten and xanthan gum to thicken and I was all set. But wait! I needed a little crunch so I tossed in my raw nut cocktail that didn't get eaten yesterday. Good start to the day!

For lunch, I chopped up some cukes, tomatoes, celery, and scallions and put that over some broccoli slaw mix. As a dressing, I made up a spicy cilantro-lime from our favorite cookbook. Absolutely fantastic! I also had a bell pepper stuffed with some tuna salad that was left over from earlier in the week. It was a very refreshing lunch on a warm September day!

I paused to take a pic with a mouthful of tuna and pepper :~)
















After the Ohio State football game was over, I changed into the workout gear and headed downstairs to the home gym. You better believe I stretched those calves and feet post-workout today!

A shower was a necessity and then we headed out to pick up some dinner so we could chill, take in a few episodes of Merlin that's been on the DVR since June, and watch the late college game.

Christina went with a burrito bowl, chips, and guacamole from Chipotle. I chose to get a gyro salad from one of our local Greek restaurants. Both were outstanding. There also may have been a beer and some other "tasty" drinks involved. :)

For dessert, Christina made some gluten free almond flour cookies from this book. Wow were they good! I also had a brownie from the farmer's market and some ice cream. I guess I was a little hungry....

Hopefully it'll be a relatively lazy day with more sleeping in tomorrow. Love it!

Optimum Anabolics - Day 35/Week 5 Is In The Books

Hard to believe another week has passed.

My results continue to be rather so-so. Considering the program says this 3 week period (Weeks 4, 5, and 6) are designed to be easier on the muscles, I guess this makes some sense.

One more week of light (relatively) lifting then it's back to pushing my muscles hard. Also, after 6 weeks of the same ol', same ol', my diet will change significantly. Stay tuned!

MEASUREMENTS:

Weight: 179.0 LBS (UP 1.0 LB for week, DOWN 0.5 LBS total)
BF: 8.1% (according to the calipers I have) (NO change)
Neck: 15-1/2" (NO change)
Chest: 39" (NO change for week, DOWN 1/2" total)
Shoulders: 47-1/4" (UP 1/2" for the week(!!), DOWN 1/4" total)
Biceps: 13-1/2" (UP 1/4" for week, NO change total)
Waist: 33-1/4" (UP 1/2" for week, UP 1/2" total)
Thighs: 19-1/2" (DOWN 1/4" for week, DOWN 1/4" total)
Calves: 14-3/4" (NO change for week, DOWN 1/4" total)
Adonis Effect: 1.421 (UP 0.018 for the week, UP 0.016 total)

WORKOUT - CARDIO (HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING)

My lungs and breathing were quite good today again so I jogged and rode the bike even faster today than yesterday.

I should mention that I've been walking at a good pace for 5 minutes or so prior to hopping on the bike for the first interval.

Here is today's intervals:

• Bike, Intensity 1 (warm up), 5:00
• Jumping Jacks, Intensity 2, 3:00 ± (160 jumps)
• Jog, Intensity 2, 5:00 ±
• Flying Romans, Intensity 3, 45 seconds (15 each leg)
  
• Jog, Intensity 2, 4:00 ±
  
• Bike, Intensity 2, 4:00 ±
  
• Jumping Jacks, Intensity 2, 3:00 ± (about 170 jumps)
• Flying Romans, Intensity 3, 45 seconds (15 each leg)
  
• Jog/Walk (cool down), Intensity 1, 5:45 (jogged 3:30, walked 1:45)
  

Total Time => 29:30

Comments:

Abs STILL feeling those reverse ball crunches!

Left heel was better today. Must keep stretching and rolling!

Calves and feet got stretched for 2 minutes per side today rather than the usual 1 minute per side.

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN

For breakfast I another quarter of this new recipe from yesterday. Very, very good!

Along with the crustless quiche I also had Christina's homemade salsa. I used half a yellow bell pepper as a scoop. No fried corn chips necessary!

Everything all together...

How to use a pepper for a salsa scoop...

Mid-morning snack was the usual yogurt, ground flax seed, and whey protein isolate powder.

My lunch was the remaining wasabi salmon from Day 32 as well as a blended zucchini salad on the side.

Negative on the mid-afternoon snack today. I ran some errands at lunch and wound up getting back to the office much later than planned. The boss also let us go a little early today since this was the Friday before a holiday weekend. Woo!

No snack meant it was time for dinner when I got home. Tonight it was Spanish-spiced shrimp from our favorite cookbook along with some steamed broccoli and lima beans. Here is my delicious plate of goods...

Pre-bed snack was a 1/2 scoop of whey protein isolate powder and a little water.

Optimum Anabolics - Day 21/Take A Load Off

This morning I got up at the usual time but did somethings that weren't the usual for me. For the past few weeks, this day on the Optimum Anabolics program would've meant that I'd be out doing a high intensity interval workout. Not today. Not with my calves and/or feet in shambles.

Instead, I headed downstairs with the borrowed hand-held massager and newly purchased heating pad and grabbed some ice packs out of the freezer. It was therapy time. Over the next 45 minutes, I applied ice, heat, and massage to my calves and feet. Not a bad way to wake up!

Overall, I was much more mobile today though every once in a while my right calf would "catch" and let me know it was still there. "Hey! I'm trying to heal down here!"

Tomorrow it's back to the weights with a shoulder workout. This should allow for continued lower body rest and healing. There will be more ice and heat applied and, of course, more massaging. ;-)

WORKOUT - CARDIO (HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING)

Uh....no! Today was a rest day.

Comments:

With all the focus on my calves and/or feet, I didn't really pay much attention to much else today.

That being said, we'll get right to my measurements for the week. Drum roll please....

MEASUREMENTS:

Weight: 178.0 LBS (Down 1.0 LBS for week, 1.5 LBS total)
BF: 8.1% (according to the calipers I have) (NO change)
Neck: 15-1/2" (NO change)
Chest: 38-3/4" (DOWN 1/4" for week, 3/4" total)
Shoulders: 47" (No change for week, DOWN 1/2" total)
Biceps: 13-1/2" (NO change for week, NO change total)
Waist: 33" (NO change for week, UP 1/4" total)
Thighs: 19-3/4" (NO change for week, NO change total)
Calves: 15" (NO change for week, NO change total)
Adonis Effect: 1.403 (DOWN 0.026 total)

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN

Breakfast was a beast of an omelet consisting of one egg, two egg whites, fresh salsa, green and red peppers, and raw milk cheddar cheese. I topped it with a few shakes of the Louisiana hot sauce, too, of course. Today I cooked up the homemade Italian sausage (recipe here) into patties and had one along side of the eggs. Very good!

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.

Lunch was a grass-fed beef burger wrapped in romain leaves along with some fresh salsa that was made Sunday from lots of fresh veggies. On the side, I had yet another blended zucchini salad. Not sure if I'm going to get tired of these! The recipe is here.

Mid-afternoon snack was 2 hard boiled egg whites and one yolk along with a handful of raw nut mix (cashews, almonds, walnuts, and Brazil nuts).

For dinner, Christina and I made up Asian Spice-Rubbed Shrimp with Sesame Dressing from this book. This was a repeat of Day 16's meal. We couldn't resist!

Pre-bed snack was a half scoop of whey protein isolate powder mixed up in a little water.

Tomorrow the weights await (haha). Week 4 begins!

Optimum Anabolics - Day 15/Learning To Be Free

This was a weekend day but Christina and I had scheduled some training on the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) for today from 10:00 to 6:00. That meant the Day 1 workout of Week 3 needed to be accomplished first thing so we could get out the door.

Week 3 adds a "pump" set of high reps at the end of heavy lifting for each exercise. To really keep things interesting, the rest periods between exercises are cut to 30 seconds. Ouch! Believe me, this seemed like basically zero rest! What a workout, though!

WORKOUT - SHOULDERS

Superset 1: DB Front Lateral Raises, Standing Arnold Presses
Superset 2: DB Rear Raises, Side DB Raises
Superset 3: Dip Bar Shrugs (awesome!), Twisting DB Presses

Total Time => 48:30

Comments:

Used just about the perfect amount of weight today for each exercise. Very pleased!

To top things off, I did 9 quick minutes of some light cardio...3 minutes of jogging, 3 minutes of jumping rope, and 3 minutes on the bike.

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN

For breakfast this morning (post workout), I made up an omelet of one egg, two egg whites, peppers, onions, Italian sausage, an ounce or so of raw milk cheddar cheese and some tomato sauce. Pizza omelet! To get the carb load up, I had a handful of grapes and a cup or so of oatgurt with almond butter. I was definitely satisfied and good to go for our meeting!

On our lunch break, we came home and I fired up the blender for a Green Monster! Suh-weet!

• 1/2 frozen banna
• 1 C frozen strawberries
• 1 C water
  
• 1T coconut milk (full fat!)
• 2 handfuls of spinach
• dash of stevia

This monster was so thick I burnt up the motor on the blender! Yep, had to pitch it in the trash. Yikes!

After our meeting was over it was dinner time I had another big salad with all the usual trimings of peppers, scallions, carrots, tomato, celery, parsley and cilantro. Tonight I added half an avocado, squeezed on some lime juice and was good to go! For dessert I had a coconut milk protein smoothie with vanilla, almonds, and a little stevia mixed it. Perfectly refreshing!

It was a full day so I hit the rack without snacking and passed out!

Optimum Anabolics - Day 14/Finally Friday

It was the second "off day" with no weights today. I was up at 4:30 and ready to hit the cardio again to stretch the legs and lungs.

WORKOUT - CARDIO (HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING)

Here was today's intervals:

• Bike, Intensity 1 (warm up), 5:00
• Jump Rope, Intensity 2, 3:00
• Jog, Intensity 2, 5:00
• Sprint (all out!), Intensity 3, 30 seconds
• Jog, Intensity 2, 4:00
• Bike, Intensity 2, 2:00 ±
  
• Jump Rope, Intensity 2, 3:00
• Sprint, Intensity 3, 30 seconds
• Jog/Walk (cool down), Intensity 1, 5:00

Total Time => 31:30 ±

Comments:

Shoulders and chest feeling a little tight today.

Legs and booty still a little sore.

Abs were finally calmed down.

Much more comfortable on the interval times today.

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN

Breakfast was a beast of an omelet consisting of one egg, two egg whites, fresh salsa, homemade Italian sausage (recipe here), green and red peppers, and raw milk cheddar cheese. I topped it with a few shakes of the Louisiana hot sauce, too, of course. Sound familiar? It should since this was yesterday's breakfast of choice, too. What can I say? I'm a creature of habit. Hence my staple morning snack of...

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.

Lunch was homemade tuna salad wrapped in a collard green leaf "bread". Along side the tuna was another blended zuke salad. Yes...same as yesterday. Remember what I said about being a creature of habit??

My afternoon snack consisted of 2 hardboiled egg whites and one yolk along with my usual raw nut combination of walnuts, cashews, and almonds.

For dinner, I had a big 'ol salad with spinach and lots of veggies including carrots, tomato, celery, peppers and scallions all topped off with the last of some leftover chicken. I used some of Drew's All Natural Romano Caesar as a dressing.

As a snack before bed, I had a 1/2 cup of lowfat cottage cheese.

Tomorrow it's back to the weights!

Optimum Anabolics - Day 13/Take Me (Back) Out To The Ballgame

Knowing that today was going to be much less hectic at the office, I headed downstairs with enthusiasm ready for some early morning cardio. What a perfect morning...moonlit skies, no wind, and a dry 58*! August weather is on the way, though, so I'm not planning on getting used to it for another month or so.

Speaking of August, it's a fine time to take in a ball game. This time, my sister called and offered 2 of her and her husband's 4 seats. We gladly accepted and enjoyed a great summer night at the ballpark. I came to the conclusion that there is just something about baseball that I love. It was a huge part of my childhood so maybe there's a ton of nostalgia there. Regardless, it's definitely my game! Thanks for the tickets, sis!

WORKOUT - CARDIO (HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING)

My lungs felt remarkably better today than last week. I think the light cardio right after my weight workouts helped this week.

Here was today's intervals:

• Bike, Intensity 1 (warm up), 5:00
• Jump Rope, Intensity 2, 3:45 ± (about 300 revolutions)
• Jog, Intensity 2, 5:45 ±
• Sprint (all out!), Intensity 3, 30 seconds
• Jog, Intensity 2, 4:30
• Bike, Intensity 2, 2:00 ±
  
• Jump Rope, Intensity 2, 3:30 ± (300 revolutions...faster this time!)
• Sprint, Intensity 3, 30 seconds
• Jog/Walk (cool down), Intensity 1, 5:00

Total Time => 32:37

Comments:

Shoulders and chest feeling a little tight today.

Legs and booty still a little sore.

Abs were finally calmed down.

Good timing on the intervals this week.

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN

Breakfast was a beast of an omelet consisting of one egg, two egg whites, fresh salsa, homemade Italian sausage (recipe here), green and red peppers, and raw milk cheddar cheese. I topped it with a few shakes of the Louisiana hot sauce, too, of course.

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.

Lunch was homemade tuna salad wrapped in a collard green leaf "bread". Along side the tuna was another blended zuke salad. I'm addicted!

Mid-afternoon snack was 1/2 cup of cottage cheese and about 4 tsp of ground flax seed.

For dinner, I stir-fried up some chicken, broccoli, onion, lima beans, and mixed veggies in a sauce of coconut oil, garlic, hot mustard, and Bragg's liquid aminos.

Tomorrow morning brings a repeat of today's cardio workout then it's back to the weights on Day 15. I'll be ready for the iron again by then but the Week 3 workouts get way intense. Stay tuned!

Optimum Anabolics - Day 12/Storm Before the Calm

The morning started off as usual at home then things got crazy right out of the gate at the office. Today was bid day which means papers flying, phones ringing, calculating, and re-calculating. Once the dust settled, we picked up about $6.5 million dollars worth of work! Good day!

WORKOUT - CHEST/ABS

2 supersets of the Day 5 workout were chest related, followed by a superset of abs work

Superset 1: Incline DB Flye, Incline Push Ups (used 2 chairs and ladder)
Superset 2: DB Pullovers, Dips - Chest version (I had to do some assisted reps here...phew!)
Superset 3: Mountain Climbers w/ ankle weights, Hanging knee raises

Total Time => 39:33

Comments:

Legs and booty were still feeling the pain! More therapeutic seat warmers required! :)

This week was definitely more challenging than Week 1 with the added set per exercise.

I felt like I did a good job of keeping strict form, even on the last set when my muscles were pretty well exhausted.

My weight choices were very good this week.

As I said last week, pre-setting the weights for each exercise was critical to not exceeding rest periods. Paying attention at the start definitely kept the workout flowing. This will be extremely important next week when the rest periods drop dramatically.

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN

Breakfast (post-workout) kicked off with about 1 cup of oatgurt. Into the oatgurt base went a peeled and chopped mango and a big spoonful of TJ's raw almond butter. Outstanding combination! The mango was very sweet and juicy, too. To finish things off, I blended up a toffee protein smoothie of almond milk, some chilled coffee, a frozen banana, espresso flavored whey protein isolate, and some peanuts. I think I might've shed a tear when I got to the bottom of the glass. Yeah, it was that good!

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 thought I might go out and get something but instead I went with the wasabi salmon left over from yesterday. The salmon got rolled up in some collard leaves with some extra green and red pepper strips for some added crunch and flavor.

Mid-afternoon snack was 2 hard boiled egg whites and one yolk along with a handful of raw nut mix (cashews, almonds, walnuts).

For dinner we finished off the shrimp from Sunday and made another batch of almond shrimp lettuce wraps. Such a light but satisfying dinner!

As a snack before bed it's going to be a 1/2 cup of lowfat cottage cheese...just enough to keep the muscles fed overnight and fuel an interval cardio workout in the morning!

See you then!

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 10/Lego My Mango

Since I'm all about piling on the suffering, not only was today Monday, it also was leg day. Day 3 of Week 2 of Jeff Anderson's Optimum Anabolics Program.

I actually got up about 15 minutes before the alarm was set to go off. I find it's better if I just go ahead and get out of bed rather than sleep with one eye open for a few more minutes. What would you do?

I tip-toed by our passed out pooch, Rocki, got some water and headed down to the basement home gym. I was an absolute sweaty mess today...and typically it takes a lot of work for me to perspire like that. I was gettin' it!

After I made my way upstairs on my knees, it was breakfast, a shower and off to work to take in a Monday.

The office day included a couple meetings so it really flew by.

On the way home, I stopped at our local organic grocery co-op for some goodies...molasses, cocoa powder, raw milk cheese, raw cashews, and some digestive enzymes. I LOVE that place!

When I got home, I made up a stir fry, then helped the wife out on her basement crusade. She is kicking some serious butt on getting things ready for our neighborhood garage sale and organizing the dungeon.

While I brewed up some detox tea, I prepped my meals and snacks for tomorrow. Wednesday, the construction company I work for will be submitting bids on a few state roadway projects. It's going to be a long day of sorting through quotes, taking phone calls, and putting together pricing. To add to the madness, I have a Health Care Committee meeting later in the day that has some pretty tough topics to discuss. It'll be a wild day for sure!

WORKOUT - LEGS, LEGS, FOLLOWED BY LEGS

All 3 supersets of the Day 3, Week 2 workout were leg related. Killer!

Superset 1: Forward DB Lunge , Backward DB Lunge
Superset 2: Standing Calf Negatives, Barbell Squats (AFTER lunges? Yep!)
Superset 3: Donkey Calf Raises, Dead Lifts (AFTER squats?? Yep!)

Total Time => 40:29

Comments:

Shoulders still sore today from Sunday. Good workout!

Arms were a little sore this week. Better but still need to work on that.

Abs were not as sore this go around. Those crunches kick butt, but I think my body is warming up to them.

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN

Breakfast (post-workout) kicked off with about 1 cup of oatgurt. Into the oatgurt base went a peeled and chopped mango. Outstanding combination! The mango was very sweet. To finish things off, I blended up a toffee protein smoothie of almond milk, some chilled coffee, a frozen banana, espresso flavored whey protein isolate, and some peanuts. Son of a (fill-in-the-blank)! Best smoothie I've ever made!

A fine looking mango and some oatgurt in waiting...
















Here is the blessed toffee smoothie...
















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.

Lunch was a grass-fed beef burger wrapped in collard green leaves along with a blended zucchini salad. What's that you say? A blended salad? The recipe is here

Mid-afternoon snack was 2 hard boiled egg whites and one yolk along with a handful of raw nut mix (cashews, almonds, walnuts).

For dinner I went back to my stir-fry stand by....such a good meal. I steamed up broccoli, green beans from my sister's garden, and some mixed veggies. When those were ready they got mixed into a sauce of coconut oil, tamari, garlic, and hot mustard. For protein, some leftover chicken was thrown into the mix as well.

Pre-bed snack was...hang on to your seat...a half-cup of cottage cheese. Exciting, huh? (~:

See you tomorrow!

Optimum Anabolics - Day 9/You Call That A Dog?

This morning I drug my booty out of bed around 6:30 A.M. and, after letting the pooch out, mixed up my oaty cake batter for my post-workout meal. I wanted to head to the couch with a spoon and gobble it down! Awesome! :~)

After that it was workout time at Scott's home gym. Just like yesterday, I followed up the Optimum Anabolics arm routine with some short bursts of light cardio (see the WORKOUT section below). As I headed out down the driveway, I noticed the neighbor was talking to one of the other residents that lives on our court. This person has THE most annoying dog on the planet Earth!

The dog is a roaming, darting fur ball that moves quick as a rabbit and chases after and barks at *everything* (cars included!) that comes into it's sight. This pup thinks it's king of the court and it's the size of an overgrown squirrel. Needless to say, it has a soprano-pitched bark (think yap, yap, yap) that just grinds on you like armour being dragged across a chalkboard.

The dog proceeds to yap it's head off as I run off up the street AND come back down the street. Lucky for me, they're still talking as I take off on my bike interval. YAP, YAP, YAP again! Up the street....back down the street. At this point, it's worth noting that this happened YESTERDAY morning, too!

I really need to figure out how to show this dog some love and stop resisting it. What you resists, persists, and I'd really love to not be barked at first thing in the morning...whether it's on my bike or in my car on the wary to the office. I'm open for suggestions? What's a guy to do??

WORKOUT - ARMS/ABS

The Day 9 workout was a repeat of Day 2 and included 2 supersets of arms followed by a superset of ab work. One set was added to each superset exercise.

Superset 1: DB Concentration Curl, Twisting DB Kickbacks
Superset 2: Close Grip Chin Up (assisted), Dips (tricep version)
Superset 3: Bent Leg Crunch (with towel roll under back), Ball Roll Outs

Total Time => 50:08

Comments:

Shoulders sore but not killing me today.

My arms were hit pretty good today. Next week I'll be upping the weight, tho. Could've done better.

Doing crunches with the towel and correct form totally burnt my abs again! That slow negative is a killer, dude!!

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN

My post-workout meal today was *crazy good* people! Remember that fresh sausage I mixed up last night? Yeah, that got browned up and tossed into some scrambled eggs with a touch of buttermilk and half a boat-load of fresh salsa. To cool the eggs down (haha), I sprinkled some Louisiana (pronounced "Loo-zee-anna") Hot Sauce over the top. Before knocking back a couple of the oaty cakes, I munched on an apple and some grapes that were unbelievable sweet tasting. I'll be the first to say that organic produce definitely is better tasting than conventional. Anyone care to challenge me on that??

Here are the oaty cake ingredients...

















Here's a pic of breakfast all put together...



















After we cleaned up, it was off to check on one of our rental condos and "borrow" the pool at the complex. We finally had a true summer day here in Central Ohio so it felt like a day in Florida out there. It seemed like vacation for a couple of hours, at least! (~:

When we got back, lunch was in order. I chopped up another salad like yesterday's and munched away.

Later on, Christina and I put together some almond shrimp lettuce wraps for dinner. What a great summer recipe! One of these days I'll get a picture of it. The recipe is from the book Ultra-Metabolism by Dr. Mark Hyman. If you even think you MIGHT have a food sensitivity or allergy, you owe it to yourself to check him out. His books and programs are incredible!

Optimum Anabolics - Day 8/Got Greens?

Day 8 meant it was time to go back to the weights. Sweet! Even though it was the weekend, I chose to keep to my morning workout schedule...albeit a tad later than the usual 4:45 A.M. (~: We planned on running errands today so I didn't want to have to worry about when my workout was going to be fit in later in the day.

After working out and eating breakfast, the wife and I finished up our meal plans for the week. Before heading off to the store, I whipped up some oat groats that had been soaking overnight into some oatgurt. This is my first try at it. Hopefully it'll make a nice filling post-workout during the coming week.

The oatgurt was pretty thick so I had to blend it in two shifts to let the motor cool down. Yikes! In the meantime, I made some pico de gallo salsa that will be infusing my eggs from time to time this week as well. Yee-UM!

After a little (and I do mean a little) clean up, it was off to the races. Bank, grocery store #1, then grocery store #2. After putting things away, it was time for lunch salad. Christina had a reserved library book come in so she went to pick that up and stopped to get us some home-grown eggs on the way back. Back at the ranch, I cleaned up the kitchen which looked like WW II London after a German Luftwaffe air raid. Kaboom!

Just before putting the final touches on the cleanup, I mixed up what will be breakfast sausage for the week. That went into the downstairs fridge to let the spices permeate the grass-fed beef through the overnight. Breakfast tomorrow's going to be awesome, so stay tuned!! :~)

Before dinner, I took some time to blow through some emails, blogs, and do some blogging of my own. Dinner was quite the stir-fry you see below!

WORKOUT - SHOULDERS

Superset 1: DB Front Lateral Raises, Standing Arnold Presses
Superset 2: DB Rear Raises, Side DB Raises
Superset 3: Dip Bar Shrugs (awesome!), Twisting DB Presses

Total Time => 48:30

Comments:

The workouts this week increased by 1 set which is why the time increased. Rest time between supersets was shortened, however.

Used just about the perfect amount of weight today for each exercise. Very pleased!

To top things off, I did 9 quick minutes of some light cardio...3 minutes of jogging, 3 minutes of jumping rope, and 3 minutes on the bike. Why 9 minutes? It's important to keep your work time under an hour. Growth hormone levels (for muscle building AND fat burning) start to fall off a cliff after about 60 minutes. Don't want to turn the GH faucet off!

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN

Post-workout I heated up a grass-fed beef burger and topped it with the last of the goat cheese. Yeah, I know, a burger for breakfast? So good, though! On the side was the last piece of sour oat bread from the inaugural batch with a scoop of almond butter for topping.

To replenish the muscle glycogen, I carbed up with a kiwi and an orange followed by some oat cakes topped with a banana, maple syrup, and, of course, some butter. This breakfast had some staying power! It held me for a solid 5 hours! Not many meals I make accomplish that!

After the errand running, lunch was calling. I put together a BIG salad of multiple types of lettuces, green and red peppers, green onions, and an avocado dressing I whipped up. The dressing had a whole avocado, 1 ts EVOO, 1 ts flax oil, 1 T of almond butter, turmeric, chili powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, lime juice, and a splash of apple cider vinegar. Deliciousness!

And here it is...

















Once dinner time rolled around, it was stir-fry time. On this plate are 2 different types of green beans, broccoli, and mixed veggies all in Scott's special sauce. :) The sauce would be soy sauce, mustard sauce, dijon mustard, garlic, and coconut oil along with a splash of red wine and apple cider vinegar. Once it reduces, it's almost BBQ-y (is that a word??).


















Between the salad and the stir fry, I'd say I got my green veggie servings in for the day, huh? (:

See you tomorrow for arms!

Optimum Anabolics - Day 7/How Do I Measure Up?

When following a specific program, it's important to track your progress as you go along. No sense it spending week after week busting your butt to find out your body is much the same as before you got fired up to hit the gym and eat well.

The Optimum Anabolics Program keeps a 5 day weight routine followed by 2 off days (cardio optional). Taking measurements before the next 5 day weight cycle seemed like as good a time as any to check in.

Reviewing your numbers (plus your workout and diet compliance) for the week let you know if you need to make changes or just keep plugging along for the next 7 days.

Here are my stats as of Day 7:
Weight: 179.5 LBS
BF: 8.1% (according to the calipers I have)
Neck: 15-1/2"
Chest: 39-1/2"
Shoulders: 47-1/2"
Biceps: 13-1/2"
Waist: 33"
Thighs: 19-3/4"
Calves: 15"
Adonis Effect: 1.439

This is my first set of numbers since starting Optimum Anabolics because I'm quite certain my body was a swollen mess after a week long vacation. I'm starting to see some definition return and hope that trend continues as I work through Week 2.

Week 2 brings some extra sets in the weight room with decreased rest periods. Nutritionally, I'm going to keep things about the same in terms of calories but the quality of my grub should go up this week. Vacation foods are pretty well bye-bye and there are no ball games to attend this week so I should have no problems keeping the diet tight. I'd like to see those veins around my waistline return ;-)

WORKOUT - CARDIO (HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING)

It was another day away from the weights today. Muscles resting and building as we speak. (~:

Here was today's intervals:

• Bike, Intensity 1 (warm up), 5:00
• Jump Rope, Intensity 2, 3:15 ± (about 300 revolutions...a little faster today)
• Jog, Intensity 2, 4:45 ±
• Sprint (all out!), Intensity 3, 30 seconds
• Jog, Intensity 2, 3:00
• Bike, Intensity 2, 4:00 ±
  
• Jump Rope, Intensity 2, 3:15 ± (300 revolutions)
• Sprint, Intensity 3, 30 seconds
• Jog/Walk (cool down), Intensity 1, 7:13-ish (I lightly jogged for 5:00)
  

Total Time => 31:28

Comments:

Shoulders and chest still a little tight today.

Feet and calves are sore from the absence of cardio for a couple of weeks. Some stretching tomorrow should help that.

My interval times today were much more per the pre-determined schedule. I extended things out a bit at the end just to walk a bit.

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN

Today was a good nutritional day!

For breakfast, I started off with some veggies sauteed up with a whole egg, 2 eggs whites, and an ounce of goat cheese. On the side is a piece of sour oat bread and a little butter. Yeah, I totally wound up covering that piece with the good stuff! (`;















I followed up the eggs and veggies with an orange and kiwi. That preceded this combo of ingredients:















I called this bad boy a toffee smoothie. Friggin' fantastic bolt of energy out of this one!

If you're wondering, yes, that is espresso flavored whey and it is AWESOME(!!) except for the fact that it's loaded with chemicals and artificial sweeteners. Once it's gone, it's gone. Poisoning the body = bad idea.

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.

Lunch was grass-fed beef burgers wrapped in 2 collard green leaf "buns" with goat cheese. On the side I had a nice plateful of blanched green beans from our local farmers market. I sprinkled them with a bit of salt and man were they tasty. You can't beat this time of year in Ohio for all the fresh produce to be had!

Mid-afternoon snack was 2 hard boiled egg whites and one yolk along with a handful of raw nut mix (cashews, almonds, walnuts).

For dinner it was Green Monster time again!

• 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

I left the whey isolate out tonight and ate about 4 oz of chicken instead. I was pretty hungry since I got home later than usual this evening. The chicken gave the belly a little extra to do. (:

No pre-bed snack tonight. Took my usual supplements of BCAA's and L-arginine alpha-ketoglutarate then it was off to bed.

The weights return to the program tomorrow! After a couple days off, I'm looking forward to it!