Over a month without any posts!

Hello! Oh how long it's been since my last entry. Well - just to keep you updated I have been heavily working on gaining weight. Part of my absence can be attributed to bodybuilding.com forums which have consumed much of my free time. Learning a lot about getting bigger!

My weight hasn't gone up dramatically since my last weigh in. I am about 156ish lbs and some people at the gym have mentioned that I am getting bigger arms/chest. Perhaps I shall take some photos to give myself some progression since my last photo was taken some time in October! GOODNESS, that seems like so long ago!

I have been focusing on weighted pullups/chinups. I have joined the 1million pullup challenge by 2012. I'll post a link to this thread sometime in the near future. We're currently at 19,000 in total... I think I contributed maybe 300-400ish already. We have a long way to go, but I like the challenge and hopefully will convince some people to join in the fun.

The kind of weight I am using for pullups has gone way up since my last post. I am able to do 65lb dangled between my legs for 3-5 pullups, or for a more consistent set I can do 45lbs 10times. This is my typical go-to, but often leaves me sore for multiple days.

I am eating a bit more as the P90X diet is quite restricting, and I think was one of my major set-backs in muscle growth. I'm now eating approximately 50% protein and 50% carbohydrates (230g/230g respectively) about 2000calories, maybe a bit more once you include fats.

Hopefully this will be the return of me to blogging - I can't promise anything yet, but as for what's to come, I plan on doing a 3rd classic round of P90X around spring-time to prepare for summer. I really enjoyed the way P90X gets one's self really lean, so I think that will be a nice fine-tuning come summer time.

I'd like to think everyone is sticking to their goals and putting forth a good effort when it comes to fitness goals, as it's still January... I presume most people are still working off holiday woes or filled with visions of sculpted figures for new years!

Crazy Christmas Time:

6 sugar cookies (in 1 day) = 130 calories per cookie x 6 = 780 total... not to mention the other things I ate today.

Going to be an extra long day at the gym! Ugh - bad me, bad!

And the sad part is, I enjoyed those cookies sooo much! They were all left over from Friday's work christmas party. To think I did so well on Friday but blew it on Monday when the left overs were left out in the common area. For shame!

Been doing weighted pullups (about 125/day... with 20 additional lbs) Today I will attempt 30lbs.

Fathead

One of the blogs I like to read in the morning, when I'm having a slow day --> FITBOMB. I haven't read it in a long time, so yesterday afternoon I read about 30posts straight. Aside from my brain feeling a bit mushy, I was intrigued by a comment he made regarding Hulu and Fathead and how everyone should go watch it.

Well, after all that reading, why not spend another hour and a half in front of the computer? So I did.

I enjoyed the movie - it was a nice spin off of the Spurlock Super Size Me flick. Only this time the narrator lost weight eating fast food. Proving the point that Spurlock was going way out of his way to eat unhealthy at these places and that a level headed individual with a modest understanding of health/fitness can eat a fast-food diet with little health concern.

I liked some of the interview with doctors and scientists - and actually I think his personal doctor (the one who gave him the before/after screening) was hilarious! "Has anyone ever told you that you have a heart-murmur!?" "Uh... no" "Good, because you don't have one!"

It's a good film, mildly educational and certainly entertaining. If you've got an hour+ to waste this weekend (And I know you do). Skip over to Hulu.com and watch it. I just typed Fathead into the search bar and it came right up. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

*I weighed in this morning at 152 - down from my thanksgiving high of 156ish... I've been doing MASS PULLUPS (100+) with weight (17.5 + 20lbs) situp routines, pushup routines, and some max weight style lifting to build bulk and strength.*

Diet Kryptonite...day 28^3

Everyone knows superman has a weakness... but did you know that every diet has a weakness too? Perhaps some of you have been battling that one food (or perhaps food group) that really is more than just food, but some kind of evil arch nemesis. I know I have a few lurking in the shadows. Namely Pizza, Coffee, and Rum&Cokes.

So what should you do with these perpetrators that destroy your good deeds and leave you feeling miserable/guilty afterwords? It'd be a little too easy for me to just say "Avoid them" and it'd be too complicated if I try to explain the feel good chemicals in your brain that you associate with these foods.

The best thing to do is identify them. Knowing your weaknesses will absolutely help you minimize any collateral damage these badins will do to you. For me, it's best to stay away from Friday Lunches that are to Domino's Pizza or John's Pizza and Wings. If that means a couple fridays per month I'm bagging my lunch - okay. Does it mean I might have to sit at my office and eat, sometimes yes. As for coffee... my best defense against this evil foe is to get a good night's sleep and be well rested the next day as to not require that morning cup'o'joe. And as for alcohol...try to remember that the best feel good drug is having a good time - and having a good time does not mean having 3 drinks first.

Perhaps you have your own arch rival in your diet plan - your best bet is to identify it immediately and figure out your best approach to dealing with it, because sooner or later - if you don't stay on your toes - the bad guy might win!

Day 24^3

My new outlook on fitness. Probably something I've been meaning to post for a while now... ever since I have been on yahoo answers helping other people lose weight and formulate exercise programs, I've come to the conclusion that "Losing 10lbs" is not the only thing you need when it comes to fitness goal-setting.

Let's consider losing 10lbs as a destination. And everyone knows you need to travel to a destination, so let's agree that fitness/diets are the journey. My new outlook on fitness is that loving the destination/goal is not enough. If you're not prepared to embrace the journey, you're never going to reach your destination (or if you do, you'll likely find yourself somewhere else down the road once you've given up).

Fitness and being healthy are a lifestyle. And we all know that life in itself is its own little journey. So, to me, this philosophy makes perfect sense. Hopefully it does to you too.

So my message to everyone out there who is struggling to lose weight, or struggling to stick to a diet, or just trying to maintain a healthy figure - set a more interesting goal: "I will formulate a diet/exercise plan that will help me get to my destination AND will be something that I can embrace and do every day (or X times per week) with room for improvements and adaptations that I may perform for many years to come" NOW THAT'S A GOAL!

Day 23^3

Perhaps I've gone over this before... but food labels - in all their glory can be quite deceptive. I don't mean the nutritional facts on the back with their sly tricks for serving size and rounding down content... I mean buzz words and trends like "Low Carb" "Low Fat" "Reduced Fat" "Light" "Organic" "All Natural" "Whole Grain" and my personal favorite "Fat Free"

Lets take a look at what some of these mean - and DONT MEAN:

Low Fat: Low fat means a product contains 3g of fat or less per serving, and 30% or less of total calories

Reduced Fat: Reduced fat products contain at least 25% less fat than the original version. This does not mean that the reduced fat version is low fat (or even healthy). Take a package of reduced fat cookies, for example. If the original fat content per serving was 20g, and the fat has been reduced to 15g, it is still five times higher than the 3g per serving that officially qualifies as low fat.

Low-Carb: The FDA has not yet legally defined what "low-carbohydrate" means - so buying a low-carb snack, could mean abolustely anything.

Light: At least 50% less fat or 1/3 fewer calories per serving than the “regular” full-fat food cited on the label.

Organic: 90% of the food item is produced by farmers who avoided the use of bio-persistent nonselective chemical pesticides, fungicides and fertilizers. It does not ensure 100% organic - there is a 100% for those type foods.

Whole Grain: Are cereal grains that consist of the intact and unrefined, ground, cracked or flaked fruit of the grains whose principal components - the starchy endosperm, germ and bran - are present in the same relative proportions as they exist in the intact grain.

All Natural: According to the USDA, food can only be labeled natural if it contains no artificial ingredients or added colors and is minimally processed.

Fat Free: Each serving of food has less than 1/2 gram of fat - but not necessary completely void of fat.

Day 30^3 minus 8 PLUS Thanksgiving.

Today is day 30 of my "3rd Round" of P90X which is not actually P90X, but just lifting weights in a manor to build some bulk. Last week I took off (hense the Minus eight in my title), so I guess I can consider this day 22.

I meant to post this before the Thanksgiving long weekend, but I failed in doing so... but the advice can be applied to any major holiday... perhaps cristmas/easter/thanksgiving (etc.)

The question was "How can I stick to my diet over the holidays?"

The answers are:
1. You're in charge. You make the choices. You ultimately see the food, put it on your plate, re-pick it up with your fork, put it in your mouth, chew it, swallow it. Somewhere along that chain you need to ask yourself "Am I full?" and stop.

2. HAVE THANKSGIVING. Just be a bit prudish - take 1 slice of turkey, take 1 spoon of stuffing, take 1 serving of squash... but when you're finished - you're finished.

3. Most people eat until they are in pain. How many thanksgivings have you had where you just feel bl;oated because you're over-full? Don't get that way. There's no logical need to gorge yourself silly. Skip desserts and have a normal sized portion of food. You really only need 1 bite to get the flavor - the rest is all just going ot make you sleepy and crampy anyway.

4. Watch out for gravey. A little bit goes a long way. There is no need to drown your food in brown-liquid. It's super high in sodium and only excess calories to the already high calorie meal.

5. Don't let others serve you. They dont know your diet and passing them your plate could be the nail in the coffin. *More potatoes?* is a phrase you'll want to battle by saying "Sure send them down" at which point you take only a small amount.

6. If leftovers are offered - simply say "Thats okay" or suggest somebody else who has a bigger family that has kids.

7. Alcohol - most families (at least mine) tend to drink way more than normal on holidays. Wine, beer, liquors, etc... just go dry and if you're having a hard time - have a glass of wine with dinner but dont go overboard, not only does alcohol contain a lot of diet-busting sugars and calories, but you want to be able to drive home at the end of the night too. So keep it to 1 drink, maybe 2 at most.

8. Don't sit by the snack table. Youre going to nibble - it's the way it is. Stay clear of the chips, pretzels, cheese trays, fruit platters... they're all going to tempt you to no end.

9. Go for a walk! Get outside! Nobody's going to fault you for wanting to get some fresh air with the family all yelling/screaming at eachother (again another thing my family tends to do on the holidays - perhaps it's alcohol related?)

10. REMEMBER REMEMBER REMEMBER - if you screw up and you totally blow away your diet on Thanksgiving - don't give up on your diet and exercise. The faster you get back to dieting the better you'll be. Don't say "Oh Christmas is coming in 1 month why should I even bother" NO NO NO say "Tomorrow it's back to my normal routine and get myself back on track" Don't throw in the towel because you screwed up 1 night.