Day 18: Red-CrossX

Well, yesterday I was a bit fried. I don't know why. Towards the end of work, I was hungry, tired, shaky, sleepy, and zoned out. I scarfed down an apple went outside for a brief moment, and I got a bit better. I decided to stay away from the gym after work, no jogging for me.

Today, I will also skip the gym, but for an entirely different reason. I'm scheduled to donate platelets. (For anyone unaware of the process, it's like giving blood except it takes like 2 hours and they stick both arms. They centrifuge the blood and return the red blood cells back via a process called Apheresis. See image below)

*******This isn't me - it was just a generic picture I found online of a guy giving platelets********

They suggest 24hours rest before any heavy lifting - and I have legs & back the morning after. It'll be just over 10hours... We'll see how it goes. I'd hate to think that I'd have to stop giving blood because I'm on a diet/exercise program. That's not cool.

Day 17: Tip of the day "Don't smash your face"

Yesterday I resisted yet another cake! Boy, it's hard to turn down fun-fetti vanilla cake. When 90 days are over I'm going to spend a weekend in a bakery shoving my face full of deliciousness.

The workout this morning was excellent. I took out all the stops and used my red bands (the 30lb ones) almost exclusively. The only two exercises I did not use the red bands were the in-and-out straight shoulder raises and the flip-grip-twist kickbacks. For those I used black bands (25lbs). Overall I feel really good, and I definitely worked harder today than I have in other weeks.

Also, a little "F-you" to Tony Horton... During the Side-tri-rise (the last exercise), Dreya Webber does 24 on her right side. Tony gets a little pissed that she did more than him, so he does 25 right as the timer buzzes. And says "If any of you do 26, I'm coming to your house." Well Tony, the key's under the doormat, whenever you wanna visit. BOO YA! 26 sucker, both sides!

Day 16: Plyometrics + Tuna Bags

Plyometrics seems to get easier and easier everytime I do it. Don't get the wrong idea though, when I say it gets easier, it's all relative to the starting difficulty (which is very challenging). I still struggle with the rock-star hops and the high intensity knee jumps, but with due time, I should have those down.

I figured since there isn't much to talk about today, I'll discuss another food item I've swapped into my daily diet. Starkist fresh white albacore pouches. Now, I'm not 100% what albacore is... but it tastes a lot better than the chunk-light tuna that I used to get. For anyone who doesn't know what I am talking about the package looks like this:



I really like this product, I eat them once a day for lunch. My only problem with these bags of joy are their flavor'd counterparts. If you're shopping in the store and you pick up a pouch of fresh-white albacore (or chunk light tuna) you'll notice the nutritional facts outlined on the right. 60 calories, 12% protein, etc. If you pick up a bag of zesty-lemon tuna or any of the other starkist brand seasoned tuna's you'll see the exact same nutritonal label. But read closer! On the seasoned bag, the serving size is 2.5! Where as the serving size for the plain kind is just 1. So although the information is identical, the quantities are completely different. Don't be duped like I almost was! I still haven't tried the flavored ones, but I'm sure they are delicious, just watch yourself! They are NOT the same!

Oh and by the way, a Tuna pouch runs anywhere from $1.00/bag to about $1.69/bag, depending on which store you get it at. So far the cheapest place I've seen them is at walmart (fancy that). This week I am trying the slightly more expensive cousin of the tuna pouch, the salmon pouch... I'll let you know how it goes.

Day 15: Chest & Back

Today was another great chest & back day. I upped a lot of my exercises and really pushed myself. I did find that this weekend was not so hot for the diet. I had a couple of alcoholic drinks, a couple coffees, and some cheese added to a lot of meals. I didn't blow it, but I certainly did not play by the book.

I did spend a lot of time walking around in furniture galleries buying a new bedroom set. But needless to say, I think I am pumped up and ready to dominate Plyometrics tomorrow morning! Bring it! I didn't weigh myself this morning, but I think I weigh 160lbs, I'll double check right after I wake up tomorrow.

Day 14: RestX + Picture Update

So, I'm going to apologize for the pictures this week. I'm down in weight by about another 2-3lbs. I weighed in this morning at 159lbs (only 1lb away from my goal). But that's not why I am sorry. Just before I came inside to take these photos, my neighbor saw me outside weeding my garden and he insisted I come over and share a drink on his birthday. Well... a couple gin and tonics later, I came back and took these shots of myself and needless to say I seem a bit silly. It might be the alcohol talking, but I don't see any big changes this week.

Day 13: KenpoX (to be completed this afternoon)

Again, I got to wake up nice and late, as today I will be doing KenpoX in the afternoon. It still feels a bit strange not doing a workout in the morning, but I guess my body could use a little extra rest and some time to recuperate. My legs are still kind of sore from Legs&Back, and KenpoX does have quite a few kicks. Perhaps waiting 12 or so hours to fire-up the legs again is a good idea.

Tomorrow will be StretchX and hopefully a picture update. I have started noticing some changes to my front. And I can absolutely tell that I have lost weight. I think unofficially I weighed in this morning at 159lbs. That's only 1lb away from my goal of 158lbs. To imagine 10lbs in 2 weeks, that's pretty impressive. Especially from a guy that didn't have a whole lot to lose in the first place.

I've noticed that the number of followers on my site has grown dramatically since my first week of hosting. I hope everyone keeps reading, and keeps enjoying their time here! I have to admit, it's putting some positive pressure on me to keep going, and I thank you.

Day 12: Legs & Back, urge to kill... rising

So today was another glorious legs + back day. I upped my 105 pull ups to a whopping 115! Not too shabby. I'm definitely feeling today's workout. My legs are very sore and my last switch grip pull ups were horrendous. I did less than last week on that particular exercise, but the others made up for it.

I have to admit the Groucho walk is probably the least intense exercise of the day. It's placed right near the end, right where you need it. And it's quite funny to watch everybody in the DVDs look like a complete fool - granted I also look like a fool, but they can't see me, so HA!

Urge to kill... rising. I think if I saw a dessert-cart wheel by my office right now, I think I would tackle the courier and devour the entire thing, cart and all. I was warned this might happen, and I can not be held accountable for my actions. I just need to practice the phrase "Seriously, your honor, I'm clinically insane. I'm doing P90X!"