Optimum Anabolics - Day 82/Kre-Alkalyn Pro

You may recall from an earlier post that one of my supplements of choice is creatine monohydrate. It is the most studied, tested, and most importantly, proven supplements on the market today. Of late, I've been reading that creatine should really be the only supplement you take that is for muscle building. If you do any looking around on the internet, you'll notice there are all sorts of combinations and versions of creatine. So which do you choose?

Everything I've read seems to indicate that creatine monohydrate, the very first form of creatine introduced to the market, is the best. I must say that I have gotten very good results with it and would therefore recommend it to anyone looking for muscle fullness. It also is becoming a supplement for seniors looking to maintain their muscle, as well.

The latest type of creatine to show up in the marketplace is Kre-Alkalyn by All American EFX. I signed up for a sample through SuperHumanRadio, received it in the mail (for the price of "on the house"!), and took two pills per the instructions prior to my workout for three days.

Whoa!

This stuff was powerful in the energy department. I worked out *very* hard the past 3 days. In addition, my muscles felt like they were pumped up for several hours after my workout.

Verdict: Kre-Alkalyn Pro does what is says it will do...give you amazing pumps.

The downside was that I had the jitters and was shaky for all morning and for a while into the afternoons. Not fun. I'm wondering if it's because I was taking it in a fasted state first thing in the morning.

I personally will be sticking to the original...creatine monohydrate.


WORKOUT - CHEST/ABS

2 supersets of the Week 12, 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 15 LBS per ankle)

Total Time => 38:32

Comments:

Workout was a little sluggish and "choppy" today. Never got in the zone.

I went with 5 LB ankle weights with 10 LBS attached while doing mountain climbers. Holy moly.

It was an average week...jumbled schedules, 2 nights of sub-par sleep, and not the greatest nutrition.

I'm ready to mix things back up next week!


DIET - HIGH PROTEIN (PLUS 1)

Since dinner was the only true highlight of the day, it's the only meal I'll post. It was good enough to deserve the spotlight, anyway. ;-)

Asian Spicy Shrimp over roasted spaghetti squash along side steamed broccoli...
















Of course, I had my 30g of plain whey protein isolate powder before heading off to bed, too.

Optimum Anabolics - Day 75/Squashed

Shopping at and making meals from the fresh fare at the local farmer's markets also leads to, for the most part, seasonal buying. I definitely had my fill of lettuces in the spring, cucumbers and zucchini in the summer, and tomatoes and peppers during the late summer/early fall. Now that we are deep into fall, the hard squash and winter veggies are all the rage. Over the past couple of weeks, we've munched on or purchased:

• yellow
• spaghetti
• acorn
• butternut
• buttercup (kabocha)
  
• pumpkin
• sweet potato

Here's what we did with each so far:

Yellow - sliced up, sauteed with butter/oil and lemon pepper seasoning. Easy side dish!

Spaghetti - cut in half, roasted in 400* oven for 45 minutes. Nutritious pasta!

Acorn - still sitting on our counter awaiting consumption.

Butternut - see "Acorn". Christina bought a fry cutter the other day, tho, so this one could be gone soon! (~:

Kabocha (buttercup) - this was new to both of us. We sliced it thin (1/4" to 1/2") and roasted the pieces on parchment paper in a 400* oven for about 40 minutes (20 mins per side). Before roasting, we coated the pieces in brown sugar, chili powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, salt, and Bragg's Liquid Aminos. Sweet, spicy, and salty. This was a side dish and dessert all in one!

Pumpkin - cut in half, roasted in 400* oven for 45 minutes. Mixed up with cinnamon and nutmeg in the food processor and used as a topping on oatmeal. So good!

Sweet Potato - we'll be making pie to take to my parent's house later in the week!

As you can see, these fall and winter foods are very versatile. Head out and buy what you can (or pick your own!). The markets won't be around too much longer but squash come in their own container (their shell (: ) and can be stored for most of the winter.



WORKOUT - CHEST/ABS

2 supersets of the Week 11, 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 => 40:29

Comments:

I made it through all the sets of dips without needing any assistance. Sweet. Creatine perhaps?

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

It was good to have longer rest periods again this week.

I enjoyed changing up the exercises, also.


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 and Easy Overnight Oatmeal, of course. Inspired by Polly, I mixed in some roasted pie pumpkin and maple syrup.

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

Mid-afternoon I had a snack of 1/2C of cottage cheese and raw cashews, almonds, brazil nuts, and walnuts.

We repeated the pan-browned tilapia (we used mahi-mahi) recipe from our favorite cookbook, The Ultra Metabolism Cookbook for dinner tonight. As a side dish, we roasted up the buttercup (kabocha) squash (see above).
















Late snack: 20g of whey protein isolate powder in 1C of milk

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 61/Product Review

Hello Hump Day!

A product sample of Vitargo S2 by Genr8 was delivered to the homestead a week or so ago courtesy of my (relatively) new favorite internet radio station, SuperHumanRadio. Since this was my heaviest week of training on Optimum Anabolics thus far, it seemed like a good time to try this stuff out.

Vitargo is a molecular carbohydrate in powder form that has zero sugar and comes in 2 flavors (orange, tropical fruit) and unflavored. The sample I tried was unflavored which was nice since it was going in a coffee smoothie. I used half of the packet yesterday and the other half today. This provided 35g of carbs per day.

Vitargo is derived from barley (NOT gluten free) and is designed to replenish your glycogen stores extremely quickly when consumed after exercise. Due to it's molecular composition, it digests and leaves the stomach twice as fast as normal carbohydrates. This leaves you feeling less stuffed or bloated, as well.

Enough background. Here are my thoughts...

PROS:

• No bloating is no joke. I was satisfied but not stuffed for the amount of carbs involved.
• One packet gives you 70g of carbs with no sugar. That's huge. No crashing involved.
• The unflavored option makes this very flexible for adding to any liquid.
• Unflavored also means less chemicals (aka, crap!) are involved.
• Most importantly, it's my opinion that Vitargo did what it said it would. I literally felt like I could work out again and my muscles were pumped up.

CONS:

• Is it possible to work too well? I had so much energy I was ready to jump out of my skin. I could not sit still and I only used half the packet to make my smoothie.
• The powder did not thicken my smoothie as much as I had hoped. Xanthan gum was still required.
• An organic option would be nice.
• Expensive. 10 servings are $37.00 on line. Yikes.

BOTTOM LINE:

• I would purchase this ONLY if I was looking to build muscle for a show or contest or if I was some sort of extreme distance/endurance athlete like a marathoner or a tri-athlete.
• It was too high-powered for casual use by guys like me. No Cadillac required here.

WORKOUT - CHEST/ABS

2 supersets of the Week 9 Day 5 workout were chest related, followed by a superset of abs work

Superset 1: Incline DB Flye, Dips - Chest version (I had to do some assisted reps here...phew!)
Superset 2: DB Front Lateral Raises (palms up), Regular Push Ups
Superset 3: Mountain Climbers w/ ankle weights, Stability Ball Roll Outs w/ weight

Total Time => 42:27

Comments:

I finished off the week very strong with plenty of focus and good strength.

Legs were crazy sore today. I was walking funny. (~:

I went with 5 LB weights on my ankles today while doing mountain climbers and then had to drop down due to short rest periods.

The end of the Progressive Loading cycle is TOUGH! Lighter sets and longer rest periods will be more than welcome next week.

I was generally sore from head to toe after these 5 days. Incredibly intense workouts.

DIET - PROTEIN DEPRIVATION

Breakfast, post-workout, was a repeat of yesterday. Asian Fusion oatgurt. One big bowl of oatgurt, 1 TBS tahini, 2 tsp raw honey, and 2 tsp of miso paste. Originally I had planned on going with apple and cinnamon but had to go back and do yesterday's recipe again. So good.

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

Morning snack today was two home-grown apples from the farmer's market and raw brazil, walnuts, cashews, and almonds.

For lunch, I polished off the last of the first (repeat that a few times fast...hehe) batch of 3 bean chili along with a few slices of left over almond flour crust pizza. Warmed my tummy on a chilly (no pun intended) day.

As an afternoon snack, hummus was spread on (the other) half a tomato and a yellow bell pepper from the farmer's market.

Dinner consisted of eggplant parmesan that Christina slaved over with raw zucchini "noodles". I'll be sad to see the eggplant disappear until next summer. They have been phenomenal. It never hurts to have the chef prepare them well, either. (~;

My muscles were glad to hear that tomorrow is cardio only. (~:

Optimum Anabolics - Day 54/BOO-cha

I assure you this post has nothing to do with Stewart Scott from ESPN who is known for hollering out "BOO-YEAH!" during highlight clips. :)

There have been several posts in the blogosphere recently that have mentioned one of my favorite beverages. Kombucha! Correct pronunciation (as far as I know) = com-BOO-chah. Around the Overall Fitness household, it's just known as "bucha".

Since I make/brew my own and drink 4-6 oz of the stuff after nearly every meal, I thought I might join the trend and do a little post of my own.

First, with a little help from www.kombucha.org, here is what it is...

The Kombucha Culture, sometimes mistakenly referred to as a mushroom, is a symbiotic, probiotic colony of yeast and bacteria (the friendly type). Kombucha Tea is made by combining the culture, with a mixture of black tea, and sugar. The ingredients are allowed to "ferment", usually from 7-10 days. The resulting beverage contains dozens of elements, many of which are known to promote healing for a variety of conditions.

Now, with assistance from www.getkombucha.com, here's why I drink it...

Top 10 Noticeable Benefits of Drinking Kombucha Tea Daily

+ Prevents Acid Reflux

+ Assists With Weight Loss

+ Aids in Digestion of Heavy Meals

+ Strengthens Hair, Restores Hair

+ More Energy in the Morning

+ Helps With Sleep

+ Relives Constipation

+ Post Work Out Recovery Drink (Cardiovascular and Resistance Training)

+ Reduces Severity of Hangovers

+ Better Skin Complexion, Tighter Skin Tone

Not too shabby, eh?

Now to my brewing process. My ingredients are as follows:

• 3 quarts (96 oz) of fresh, filtered water
• 1 C sugar (I use cheap white sugar)
• 6 tea bags (any tea will do EXCEPT herbal teas)
• 1 Kombucha culture
• 1 C or so of previously brewed kombucha

Starting out, I boil a quart (32 oz) of water and then dissolve one cup (or a little more) of sugar in the boiling water.

Next, I brew the tea with 6 bags for 10 minutes (or longer).

Starting out...















After the tea has brewed it's time to add it to the jar where it will be fermenting for 7-10 days (or more if it's cooler in the house).

I pour one quart of water into the freshly brewed tea to cool it off. We now have 2 quarts of liquid.

The 3rd quart gets poured directly into the fermenting jar.

















The 2 quarts of cooled tea then get added to the fermenting jar. I put a paper towel over the jar and secure it with a rubber band.

All set to hang out for a few days...


















Flash forward to tonight and we're all set to bottle it up!
















Bottled and ready for drinking...




























WORKOUT - CHEST/ABS

2 supersets of the Week 8 Day 5 workout were chest related, followed by a superset of abs work

Superset 1: Incline DB Flye, Dips - Chest version (I had to do some assisted reps here...phew!)
Superset 2: DB Front Lateral Raises (palms up), Incline Push Ups (I got creative and used 2 chairs and ladder!)
Superset 3: Mountain Climbers w/ ankle weights, Reverse Ball Crunches

Total Time => 46:13

Comments:

I have to admit, I just did not have it in the home gym today. My strength was lacking; particularly on the dumbbell flyes. Good thing tomorrow is cardio work only.

Legs were not sore but stiff for sure. They got worked well.

I went with 8 LB weights on my ankles today while doing mountain climbers. Abs...done.

It was a good week in the home gym even though today was somewhat disappointing.

Strict form continues to be a point of focus.

DIET - PROTEIN DEPRIVATION

My post-workout meal this morning was delicious. I cooked up 2 eggs sunny-side up with half a red pepper and a few slices of red onion in a teaspoon or so of coconut oil. I put them on a piece of Ezekiel bread along side 2 oz of homemade grass fed beef meatloaf. The eggies were followed up by 2 of Polly's oaty cakes with a TBS of organic butter and 2 TBS of pure Ohio maple syrup.

Mid-morning snack was 3 carob energy cubes along with a handful of raw nut mix (cashews, almonds, walnuts, Brazil nuts).

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. This salad is really, really good.

At snack time, I had a green bell pepper with lemony hummus.

Dinner was eggplant parm from Day 51 along with some roasted, organic spaghetti squash from the farmer's market. Delicious is an understatement. (~:

Optimum Anabolics - Day 47/Motiv8

Not to worry, this post is not about personalized license plates. (`:

I typically watch very little TV but for the past couple of years, Christina and I have been faithfully watching The Biggest Loser. Last night was the first episode of Season 8 and it was a bit of an eye-opener.

My quick highlights:

• Heaviest contestant ever at 476 LBS(!!)
• Four guys over 400 LBS
• Two contestants ended up in the hospital after a mile run/walk
• One dude lost 28 LBS during the 1st week
• A 29 year old contestant was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes...didn't even know he had it!

The final highlight I'll mention was, however, not at all about the physical state of this season's contestants. It was something that several of them said about their motivation to be on the show that made an impression on me.

They realized they must first help themselves to truly be able to help others. It's an inside-out job.

There is a firefighter who realized he can't save people due to his weight.

There is a youth pastor who wants to live to be a positive influence on as many kids as possible, including his own.

There is a track coach teaching athletes to be stronger and faster yet he was hospitalized after walking only a mile.

How often do we put the happiness and well-being of others ahead of our own only to suffer ourselves?

To be motivational, first motivate the person that matters most...you. Be an example for people.

I'll borrow a Gandhi quote: "Be the change you wish to see in the world"

WORKOUT - CHEST/ABS

2 supersets of the Week 7 Day 5 workout were chest related, followed by a superset of abs work

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

Total Time => 35:29

Comments:

This was a great workout but I didn't feel as if I hit my chest all that hard. We'll see if it gets sore in the next day or so.

Legs were sore but not as bad as expected. Love those lunges!

The mountain climbers did a serious number on my abs today.

It was a good week in the home gym. Taking sets to failure worked my body over!

Strict form continues to be a point of focus. I'm feeling more in control of my body now as I lift.

DIET - PROTEIN DEPRIVATION

My post-workout meal this morning was a repeat of Day 45. I cooked up 2 eggs sunny-side up with half a poblano pepper in a teaspoon or so of coconut oil. I put them on a piece of Ezekiel bread along side 2 oz of homemade grass fed beef sausage. The eggies were followed up by 2 of Polly's whole-wheat pancakes with a TBS of organic butter and 2 TBS of pure Ohio maple syrup.

Mid-morning snack was an energy bar from The Cookie Cop along with a handful of raw nut mix (cashews, almonds, walnuts, Brazil nuts).

Lunch was gluten free, dairy free eggplant parmesan. Spiral cut zucchini and yellow squash were used as the "noodles". Fantastic!

As a mid-afternoon snack, I polished off the remaining half of the poblano and a tomato with a few TBS of lemony hummus.















Pretty good snack, yes? The paper towel plate is a critical component. (~:

Dinner was a little late tonight since I had a massage/reiki appointment after work. We had leftover veggie burgers and raw, dairy-free cole slaw from Day 44. I snuck in two handfuls of potato chips, too, for a touch of crunch.

Tomorrow it's HIIT cardio. I'm ready!

Optimum Anabolics - Day 40/Too Chicken

A recent article published by GM Watch described how chickens refused to eat the genetically modified (GM) feed unknowingly being given to them. The keeper of the chickens had the maize (corn) analyzed and reported the following:

"It contained BT1 which makes the maize insect resistant, as well as Roundup which makes it weed resistant."

Sorry? Did you just say the corn CONTAINED an isecticide and a herbicide?

What does this say to me? It says that not only do I need to pay attention to how the crops I eat are grown, I also should be asking what the meat and fish I consume are eating.

If you need more reasons to ask where your food comes from and how it's raised, please read the remainder of the article and click through some of the links. Your eyes will be raised.

Need help? Go to www.localharvest.org and find a farmer near you. Believe me, the good ones love to tell all the good things that they are doing (as well as what they're not doing) to provide you with a life-giving product.

WORKOUT - CHEST/ABS

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

Superset 1: DB Pullover, Incline DB Press
Superset 2: Flat DB Flye, Incline DB Press
Superset 3: Weighted Ball Roll-Outs, Reverse Crunches On Stability Ball (FF to about 3:20 to see this killer ab exercise in action)

Total Time => 42:15

Comments:

After 2 days of feeling really strong while lifting, I was a little off today. Nothing serious but I did pull up short on a couple of my Incline DB Press sets.

I continued to put a lot of focus into keeping strict form this week.

Overall it was a very good week. Again, my strength seemed to really be up a notch.

The 3-week period of "light" lifting is over. Two days of HIIT cardio await and then it's back to pushing hard with the weights.

Big diet changes coming, too!

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN

Breakfast (post-workout) started off with one of the spiciest omelettes I've made in a while. Woke me up for sure! Sauteed in a teaspoon or so of coconut oil was a quarter of a red onion, a banana pepper, and a jalapeno pepper. To that, I added about 2 oz of turkey sausage, one whole egg and two egg whites. Arriba! The whole mix got topped off with Christina's homemade tomato sauce and 1 oz of grass-fed, organic mozerella cheese.

Breakfast carbs this morning were the other half of The Cookie Cop's energy bar and 3 homemade coconut-chocolate maple nut oaties. Wow! These are SO very good. Many, many thanks to Heather at www.heathereatsalmondbutter.com for sending us the best batch ever AND making them gluten free!

Here I am ready to pounce on one of those oaties...
















Mid-morning snack was my usual 1/2 cup of yogurt with 1/3 scoop of whey protein isolate powder and 4 tsp of ground flax seeds.

For lunch, I heated up (I have a toaster oven in my office so I can avoid the microwave food death machine) some farmer's market broccoli and green beans I had steamed up the night before and about 4 oz of gyro meat leftover from Saturday night's football dinner. This made for a quick and easy lunch but man, I needed an ice bath afterwards! I better wait til cooler weather arrives before firing up the toaster oven again. :-)

For a mid-afternoon snack, I popped my usual nut mix of cashews, almonds, walnuts, and Brazil nuts while gobbling down a 1/2 cup of cottage cheese.

Dinner tonight was leftover meatloaf sprinkled with a few shakes of Louisiana Hot Sauce with a side of green beans (clearly I'm on a bean kick!) sauteed up with garlic, red onion, and mini portabello mushrooms. Meatloaf is one of those dishes that tastes even better as leftovers. Ever notice that about some meals?

My plate...















No snack tonight since I'm heading off to bed a little early.

Optimum Anabolics - Day 26/It CAN Kill You! (A follow up)

Yesterday I expressed my opinion on how I felt in general about eating chemical laden, highly processed meals, snacks, desserts, etc. As it turns out, I underestimated the effects even just one meal can have on your system.

Check this out ==> The Effects of One High Calorie Meal

Can you believe that?!?

One thing that was mentioned near the end is that the effects of that meal can disappear in about 6 hours. I think this is VERY important. If you eat meals similar to the one shown in the video more than once per day, you most likely feel those effects on a continual basis. Not good! Chronic disease, illness, and obesity here we come.

On a positive note, this gives you a little breathing room (no pun intended). If you go overboard at a meal (holidays, parties, vacation, etc.) it's not the end of the world. Pick yourself up and eat well following your indiscretions and your body will forgive you and recover. Remember, it's what we expose ourselves to through our actions AND thoughts 90-95% of the time that determines our physical and mental state.

WORKOUT - CHEST/ABS

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

Superset 1: DB Pullover, Incline DB Press
Superset 2: Flat DB Flye, Incline DB Press
Superset 3: Weighted Ball Roll-Outs, Knee-Ins On Bench (with weight)

Total Time => 41:26

Comments:

Back and shoulders were a little sore today but not like after a very heavy workout.

This week of Hyper-Adaptive Cylce was quite a change from last week's routine of heavy lifting and very short rest periods. It was a nice break.

I put a lot of focus into keeping strict form this week.

My weight choices were a little off from time to time this week due the introduction of new exercises.

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN

Breakfast started off with a one egg, two egg white omelette with peppers and onions for mix-ins. I topped that off with about 1/4 cup of tomato sauce from Saturday's dinner. On the side, I had a homemade Italian sausage patty with a few spoonfuls of sauce (because it was so good!). Carbs were a piece of raw corn bread, a big handful of red grapes, a wilting peach, and an oaty cake (with butter, of course).

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

Lunch was a tuna salad stuffed pepper. Who needs bread?! This was a genius idea! On the side, I had a blended zucchini salad. It's "hump day" and this was the first one I had all week! The recipe is here.

Pretty? Eh. Delicious? You bet!















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).

On my way home, I stopped at the farmer's market and picked up some (is 3 LBS still considered "some"?) green beans. These went immediately into the oven with some EVOO and salt and roasted for about 25 minutes at 450*. The beans served as a side to some leftover grilled ginger chicken from Day 24. I also had a cucumber-tomato salad with a dressing of almond butter, coconut milk, chili powder, and lime juice. This was loosely based on a recipe from The Ultra Simple Diet book by Dr. Mark Hyman.

As a snack before bed it was a 1/2 scoop of protein powder mixed with a little water.

Optimum Anabolics - Day 19/Loaded (Progressively)

I'm not sure if it was my massage or the intense workouts this week, but I slept like a rock last night. This resulted in a really productive Day 5 workout. Thankfully, again, my legs were not really needed today as they are still sore from Day 17.

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! :) Also, that vibrating massage unit got a workout, too!

This week of Progressive Loading was the most challenging thus far with an added "pump" set per exercise and very short rest periods.

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

My weight choices were a little off from time to time this week due to the short recovery times. The bodyweight exercise were particularly difficult to navigate when it came time for the extra set. As an example, I ended up doing push ups today from a kneeling position because my arms and chest were exhausted!

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. 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, cocoa powder and some peanuts. Once again, I out did myself! The added cocoa powder took an already fantastic smoothie to the next level of incredible!

Mid-morning snack was a 1/2 cup of yogurt, 1 T of ground white chia 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 whipped up quite the feast! The main dish consisted of sauteed shrimp that had been marinading in EVOO, crushed red pepper, garlic, parsley and some other herbs with a splash of lemon juice. On the side, she had sauteed some red onion in EVOO, salt, garlic, and pepper. Into this mix went some green beans fresh from yesterdays farmers market. Fantastic and an absolute make again meal!

As a snack before bed it's going to be a 1/2 scoop of protein powder mixed with a little water. Just a little fuel for the interval cardio workout in the morning!

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 5/Getting Things Off My Chest

What things you ask? Dumbbells mostly! (~:

I can't believe the first round of 5 workouts is in the books already!

It was a pretty typical Wednesday for me. Out of bed to workout, fix up a tasty breakfast, shower and then off to work.

After work, I ran a couple of errands, blended up a Green Monster (see below), mowed the lawn, then applied a super cool organic "lawn tonic" to the freshly cut grass.

As I sip my detox tea, a conversation I had with a co-worker earlier today popped into my head. His 2 daughters, one in her mid-20's and the other around 30, have really kicked it into fitness high-gear. The youngest just signed up for a fitness model competition in Greensboro, NC and the oldest ran not one, but two 5K's this past weekend. He also mentioned their fitness routines and nutrition goals which were pretty impressive.

After updating me on his daughters, he gets this sad look on his face and says "they're really trying to make their old man look old". This co-worker of mine has a great home gym and treadmill and puts in a lot of quality time in there. Add in the fact that he works in the yard or around the house nearly non-stop on the weekend and this guy should be ripped up...despite the fact that he's staring 60 in the face.

What's his problem? Diet, diet, diet! His girls are showing him first hand that there are 3 parts to the health and fitness equation. The first is mental. You need to be mentally committed to putting yourself first and set some goals for yourself. Second, you need to move your body in a such a way to move toward your goal(s). Third, you have to fuel your body properly to, again, move toward your goal(s). Sounds simple, right? Simple, yes. Easy, not always.

That's my rant for the 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 (I got creative and 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:

Felt enormous all day! My shirt was rubbing in the right places. (~:

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

Still feeling those abs!

All-in-all it was a good first week. I had to learn a few new exercises and figure out the best weight to use on a few others.

I felt like I did a good job of using strict form. Occasionally this meant lowering the amount I was lifting to make that happen.

Lastly, pre-setting the weights for each exercise is critical to not exceeding rest periods. This will become even more important in the upcoming weeks.

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN

I'm still eating some vacation foods by my diet was pretty solid today...stuck right to the plan I had laid out.

Breakfast should be pretty familiar by now...a post-workout feast of kiszka (a Polish sausage), tomatoes, a nectarine and a kiwi. No pancakes today, though. It was sour oat bread and butter along with the sausage. Friggin' addictive!

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, home made pico de gallo salsa, and an ounce of goat cheese wrapped in a collard green leaf "tortilla". I also ate up some cut up green and red peppers and carrots. Wow, that's a good lunch, huh?!?

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

For dinner it was Green Monster time once again! Are you seeing a trend here?

• 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
  

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!

I'm looking forward to a little cardio, believe it or not! It's been almost 2 weeks! Lace 'em up!