Optimum Anabolics - Day 80/Poofy Product Review

As some of you know, my skin, at times, can be as dry as a mouthful of saltine crackers and look like the bottom of a drought-stricken lake in August. This condition has me on a continuous search for the best lotion available...particularly come winter time.

To make things even more interesting, my lotion must now be all but toxin free and preferably organic. The thought process behind this is that your skin is your largest organ and absorbs nearly everything around it or put on it into your body. If I'm putting less and less chemical crap into my mouth, I felt I best be doing the same with my skin. In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that if the lotion is not edible (not in the gourmet meal sense), it's not going on my skin. No more methyl paraben for me, please.

Following a link from Annie D. over at enLightened Life, I stumbled on Poofy Organics and purchased their unscented hand and body lotion. Check out the ingredient list:

Distilled water, organic sweet almond oil, organic shea butter, organic vegetable glycerin, emulsifying wax, organic rosemary extract. Scented lotions contain organic & natural essential oils, benzoin gum.

Short and sweet. Just the way I like it.

I can blow through an 8 oz bottle pretty quickly, so I was hesitant to fork over $13 plus shipping but I wanted to at least give it a shot.

I was not disappointed.

The lotion was extremely thick which meant that just a little covered a whole lotta body. It was also very effective in keeping my leather crack-free. The best part for this guy...no stinky perfume! The fact that the product comes with an expiration date is an added bonus. You know it's fresh!

I have some other products in line to be tested but would not hesitate to order from Poofy Organics again in the future.

WORKOUT - LEGS

All 3 supersets of the Week 12, Day 3 workout were leg related.

Superset 1: Leg Extensions, Reverse DB Lunges
Superset 2: Standing Calf Raises, Dead Lifts
Superset 3: Donkey Calf Negatives, Bulgarian Split Squats

Total Time => 39:22

Comments:

Lunges kicked my butt today.

Even better this week at the Bulgarian split squats. Just about have the weight dialed in.

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN (PLUS 1)

Post workout breakfast was 2 eggs over easy in coconut oil which I chopped up over a "white death" roll topped with Louisiana hot sauce. For carbs (and some extra protein), I got the blender going with a "banana berry" smoothie:

• 1C almond milk
• 1 frozen banana
• 1C frozen strawberries
• 1TBS Udo's Oil Blend
• 1 scoop plain whey protein isolate powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 handfuls of ice

Snack this morning was 1/2C of plain yogurt with 4 tsp ground flax seed and 1/3 scoop of whey protein isolate powder.

At lunch time, I had a big salad of spinach, arugula, carrots, tomato, green onion, celery, parsley, red pepper, and zucchini followed by the last piece of tahini meatloaf. To dress the salad I mixed up 1 TBS almond butter, 2 TBS lime juice, 2 TBS almond milk, and 1/2 tsp chili powder.

This afternoon, I had a 1/2C of cottage cheese and raw walnuts, Brazil nuts, almonds, and cashews for a snack.

We've been grooving on the pan-browned fish (mahi-mahi is our current favorite) recipe from The Ultra Metabolism Cookbook so we thought "what the heck? Let's have it again!". On the side we pan-roasted sliced yellow squash in a couple tablespoons of "butter" with lemon pepper. Dessert was a few pieces of left over roasted kabocha squash. Perfect!

Just before bed, I slammed 30g of whey protein isolate powder mixed in a cup or so of water.

Optimum Anabolics - Day 66/Do The Splits

In an effort to mix things up (muscle confusion rocks), I added a new exercise to the regimen this morning. Bulgarian split squats.

Check out this 50 second instructional video on how to do these.

The reasons I chose to slip these into the workout are:

• Isolation. Any time you can work one limb at a time rather than two (think dumb bells instead of bar presses or bar curls) you are far better off. One part cannot lag the other using this method.
• Convenient. Not much set up involved here. Ok, none. No excuses for not being able to perform this one.
• Full Body Activation. While working one leg at a time, the remainder of your body must kick it in to keep you upright. Proper form ensures your core and shoulders will feel this one, too.

Give it a shot and let me know what you think.

This morning was my first attempt and it required some "on the fly" adjustments. It also took a few reps to figure out my optimal weight and feet position to keep my shin bone perpendicular to the floor.

WORKOUT - LEGS

All 3 supersets of the Week 10, Day 3 workout were leg related.

Superset 1: Leg Extensions, Reverse DB Lunges
Superset 2: Standing Calf Raises, Dead Lifts
Superset 3: Donkey Calf Negatives, Bulgarian Split Squats

Total Time => 43:32

Comments:

Getting much better at the lunges...strong core and solid balance.

Dead lifts have become my favorite exercise. If I had to pick only one exercise to do for the remainder of my days, it would be dead lifts.

There was a learning curve involved with the Bulgarian split squats. Next week should go smoother.

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN (PLUS 1)

This morning's post workout breakfast was rather quick and easy. 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.

There was a manager's special going on at the grocery this past weekend on Greek style yogurt. That, along with 1/3 scoop whey protein isolate, and 4 tsp of ground flax seed was my mid-morning snack today. Dang yummy!

For lunch I had wasabi salmon from Dr. Mark Hyman's book Ultra-Metabolism stuffed into a red bell pepper. Pepper season is about over here in Ohio so I'm trying to sneak them in wherever I can.

Mid-afternoon, I snacked on a 1/2 cup of cottage cheese and raw almonds, cashews, Brazils, and walnuts.

Dinner was our usual grass fed beef meatloaf prepared by Chef Christina with steamed broccoli and green beans from the farmer's market. We added a bit of a twist tonight, though, and topped the meatloaf with a tahini sauce inspired by my blog buddy Heather. Thanks HEAB! It was a great addition.

Before bed, I slurped down 30 grams of whey protein isolate powder shook up with a 1/2 cup or so of water. The taste? Quite a bit like milk, actually.

Optimum Anabolics - Day 59/Pop A Squat

My computer is loaded with audio files containing interviews with various experts and gurus on subjects ranging from financial advice to spirituality to nutrition to fitness. Some people listen to music from iTunes during the day or stream their favorite radio stations right to there computers. I like my music, too, but mostly I listen to information.

Back on Day 56, I was listening to an interview with a strength coach and track athlete (discus and hammer throwing, not running) named Dan John. The advice he was giving out was very practical for all levels and types of training so I decided to check out his website. A few clicks later, I found a video of Dan coaching a group of personal trainers at a strength conference. Since today was my leg day, I figured it was appropriate to post it. Not only does he verbally break big lifts like squats and dead lifts down to easy to understand steps, he has the entire class perform each component in order to experience the proper technique for themselves. Needless to say, he is a remarkable coach.

If you do lifts such as squats, whether with body weight or underneath the olympic bar, you need to check out this video. If you're like me, most likely you have some room for improvement that will reduce your risk of injury and provide for bigger strength and/or endurance gains. Try not to get freaked out that the video is nearly an hour long. While I do recommend watching the whole session, even just watching the first 5 minutes or so will change your form for the better.

Take it away Coach Dan...

Teaching the Olympic Lifts


WORKOUT - LEGS

All 3 supersets of the Week 9, Day 3 workout were leg related.
Superset 1: Forward DB Lunge , Lying Leg Curls
Superset 2: Donkey Calf Raises, Barbell Squats
Superset 3: Seated Calf Raises, Dead Lifts

Total Time => 45:47

Comments:

Shoulders and arms sore today from weekend workouts.

I was absolutely spent and completely soaked after this workout.

Doing sets of 15 on anything leg related is taxing to say the least.

DIET - PROTEIN DEPRIVATION

My post-workout breakfast this morning would have to be my all-time favorite. Eggs and pancakes. Does it get any better than that?

I scrambled my 2 whole eggs with red onion, red and yellow pepper, and topped them with 1 oz of raw milk cheddar and 1 oz of grass fed mozzarella. A few shakes of Louisiana Hot Sauce were necessary, too.

This morning's version of pancakes were Polly's oaty cakes. The use of rolled oats in this recipe gives these cakes a density that I love.

Mid-morning, I snacked on the last 3 carob energy cubes and raw cashews, brazil nuts, almonds, and walnuts.

At lunch, I went with the cashew cabbage salad from our favorite cookbook, The Ultra-Metabolism Cookbook by Dr. Mark Hyman. I had half of the dressing left from last week so this was a very quick and easy meal today.

Hummus spread on a half of a red bell pepper was my afternoon snack.

For dinner, Christina made up another stellar pot full of 3 bean chili from, you know, that one cookbook we like.

The Cookie Cop made up a special batch of gluten free oatmeal cinnamon cookies for Christina so I had to try one for dessert to make sure they were ok. Wow were they good! If we would've had some ice cream in the house, the batch would've been in danger of extinction.

Optimum Anabolics - Day 52/Time, Words, Opportunity

This past weekend we attended a wedding at a local Lutheran church. I'm not much of a religious guy so all the ceremonial happenings are usually just a blur to me. The part of the service (wedding or any other Sunday) that I have grown to find interest in, however, is the sermon.

The wedding officiant brought up the three words "time", "words", and "opportunity". In particular he pointed out that they have one thing in common...once they've passed, you cannot get them back.

So true.

He related the concept to marriage, of course, but my mind wandered to just life in general.

How often do we just let time pass by and say "I'll start that tomorrow"? Why not just start?

We've all had those occasions when we wish we would have chosen our words more carefully or even not said anything at all. Yes?

Whether we know it or not, we are all making choices each minute of each day. That means, to me, that opportunity is presenting itself constantly. Why not take it?

Great stuff. Just don't ask me what the bride's dress looked like. :~D

WORKOUT - LEGS

All 3 supersets of the Week 8, Day 3 workout were leg related.

Superset 1: Reverse DB Lunge , Lying Leg Curls
Superset 2: Donkey Calf Raises, Barbell Squats
Superset 3: Seated Calf Raises, Dead Lifts (AFTER squats?? Yep!)

Total Time => 49:49

Comments:

Shoulders still sore today from Sunday. Good workout!

Really hit the dead lifts hard today. Increased amount of weight lifted and focused on form.

Totally soaked after this workout. Getting up the stairs required some coaxing. :)

DIET - PROTEIN DEPRIVATION

For my post-workout meal this morning I cooked up 1 egg sunny-side up with half a red pepper in a teaspoon or so of coconut oil. I also had the scrambled egg leftover from making the eggplant parm last night and put it all 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 Earth Balance Natural Spread and 2 TBS of pure Ohio maple syrup.
















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

At lunch time, I pulled the last homemade veggie burger out of the fridge and re-heated it in the toaster oven I have in my office. While the burger was getting warm, I munched on a handful of shredded carrots and half a cucumber. For added crunch, a handful of blue corn chips did the trick.

Mid-afternoon, I snacked on lemony hummus, a green pepper, and a small tomato.

Dinner was an exciting new recipe for us...non-dairy, gluten-free, raw alfredo sauce with veggie "pasta"! After seeing this on Heather Eats Almond Butter last week, we knew we had to try it. The recipe comes from Gena at Choosing Raw.

Pre-sauce veggie plate with "parm" in the background...















Christina's plate all ready to be mixed up...















I will not claim that this tastes exactly like alfredo sauce from, say, The Olive Garden but who cares? It was fantastic! Good thing...we're having it again later in the week. :)

Optimum Anabolics - Day 45/Confirmation

Day 45 puts me right smack in the middle of Week 7 of the Optimum Anabolics program. After reviewing my measurements from Day 42, I was feeling a bit discouraged. It certainly seemed like "stuff" was happening with my body and I was noticing changes in the mirror. On paper, however, there had been little to no changes to write home about.

Then I got what I needed. Third party confirmation.

While eating dinner tonight, Christina asked if I felt like a baseball player because my forearms looked much bigger. She also stated that I no longer had the physique of a runner.

Enough said.

The program is working. Changes are happening.

Onward!

WORKOUT - LEGS

All 3 supersets of the Week 7, Day 3 workout were leg related.

Superset 1: Forward DB Lunge , Lying Leg Curls
Superset 2: Donkey Calf Raises, Barbell Squats
Superset 3: Seated Calf Raises, Dead Lifts (AFTER squats?? Yep!)

Total Time => 40:09

Comments:

Shoulders still sore today from Sunday. Good workout!

My biceps were ready to jump out of my skin today. Fairly sore in this area, too.

Mowed lawn before dinner for some "extra credit" light cardio.

DIET - PROTEIN DEPRIVATION

My post-workout meal this morning tasted unbelievably good after an excellent workout in the home gym. I cooked up 2 eggs sunny-side up with half a jalapeno 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 1 (yes, just one!) 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 that we made last night. Spiral cut yellow squash was used as the "noodles". Fantastic!

Christina snapped a photo of me putting together the eggplant parm to bake. Check out that pile of egg plant! The pooch is ready to pounce on anything that tries to escape!






















Mid-afternoon snack was a cutup raw red pepper and tomato with lemony hummus.

While I cut grass, Christina put together a fine fiesta of lentil tacos. This meal was inspired by Annie D over at enLightened Life. We used romaine lettuce leaves as the taco shells and dressed them with homemade guacamole and salsa. For dipping, I had a couple of handfuls of Garden of Eatin' blue corn chips.

I'm trying to get back into the routine of taking my fish oil supplement, so later in the evening I took a teaspoon of Carlson's fish oil. Good stuff (seriously!).

Optimum Anabolics - Day 24/Bearing Weight

It was back to work today but not before getting in the Day 3, Week 4 workout. This was a leg workout so the question was, would my calf muscles be able to do any work?

Amazingly, the answer was "yes"! Timing is everything and the fact that this week's workouts are lighter than previous ones helped tremendously. Based on today's performance, I am hoping to be able to test out doing some cardio (at a slower pace than usual) on Thursday to keep the lungs in shape.

WORKOUT - LEGS

All 3 supersets of the Day 3, Week 4 workout were leg related. This wasn't too bad today since the number of sets and reps are scaled back during this week. I still managed to work up a good sweat, though!

Superset 1: Leg Extensions, Leg Curls
Superset 2: Donkey Calf Raises, Dead Lifts
Superset 3: Seated Calf Negatives, Barbell Squats

Total Time => 46:15

Comments:

Did not plan ahead very well today. Took too much time between sets adjusting weights, moving equipment, etc. Workout would've been shorter otherwise.

Side planks did their job yesterday! I noticed the core muscles at elbow height are somewhat sore today.

Abs were feeling that "pump" set today for sure. They didn't appreciate having to provide support for my back while doing squats. My core is really solid right now.

Should not need the seat warmers tomorrow! :~)

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 and about 1 oz of raw milk cheddar cheese. 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 white grapes, and an oaty cake (with butter, of course).

Mid-morning snack was my usual 1/2 cup of yogurt with 1/3 scoop of whey protein isolate powder and 4 tsp of white chia seeds (change of pace from my typical ground flax seed. Mr. Excitement, I tell ya!).

Lunch was wasabi salmon from this book and a salad of raw broccoli slaw, with tomato, peppers, celery, and scallions. As a dressing for the salad, I made the ginger, sesame oil dressing from our favorite book. Here's the wasabi salmon before assembly:















Salad ingredients:















And the dressing:















And finally all together...
















Ah lunch at the desk cafeteria...how interesting, right?

Mid-afternoon snack was 2 hard boiled egg whites and one yolk with the typical raw nut combination of almonds, cashews, walnuts, and Brazil nuts. In case I haven't mentioned why the Brazil nut consumption has increased, allow me to tell you. I found out recently through this fabulous resource that Brazil nuts contain a fair amount of selenium. Why is that important? If you have the old fashioned cavity fillings in your mouth, you likely have a mouth full of mercury. I fit the bill on this one. Thankfully I don't have a whole bunch but one is more than I'd like to have. Eventually I'll have these removed and replaced with something more benign. Until then, rather than potentially have the mercury wreak havoc on my system, I'm going to try and ingest a proper amount of selenium which helps, in a sense, neutralize the effects of mercury. It's not the ideal fix, but it's the best practice for now.

Dinner was Apple-Soy Salmon and Pan-Roasted Green Beans (and mixed veggies) from our favorite cookbook. The recipes in this book are so incredibly good! They're also fairly simple and not too terribly time consuming either. Check this book out immediately if you're looking for healthy dishes that you and/or your family will love! The copy we're using right now is from our library so there's no excuse!

This photo doesn't do the flavor justice... :~)















Pre-bed snack was a 1/2 scoop of whey protein isolate powder mixed with a few ounces of water.

Time for a nap!

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 3/Walking Is Going To Be An Issue

This Monday meant it was back to work after a week-long vacation. The 4:30 a.m. alarm came too quickly this morning mostly because I did not sleep well. Not good since a formidable leg workout was in store 1st thing. Yeah, my weekday workouts typically begin with a warm up around 4:45 a.m.

Here we go!

WORKOUT - LEGS, LEGS, FOLLOWED BY LEGS

All 3 supersets of the Day 3 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 not sore at all really. Need to work on that.

Abs were sore, sore, sore. Those crunches kick butt, I tell ya!

DIET - HIGH PROTEIN

Diet vacation took a vacation today. :~) I felt tremendously better, too.

Breakfast should remind you of lunch the past two days...a post-workout feast of kiszka (a Polish sausage), tomatoes, sour oat bread, some fruit. No pancakes today, though. :~(

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 chicken salad wrapped in romaine lettuce leaves along with some cut up green and red peppers, cukes, 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. I messed with the recipe tonight a little, tho...

• 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
  

Notice I cut down on some of the carbs but the Monster still came out nice and thick. Just like I like it on a warm summer day!

As a snack before bed I had 1/2 a scoop of plain whey protein isolate powder in some water...just enough to keep the muscles fed overnight. Will that help with any soreness? I hope so but we'll see!