Day 4

So, I had a bit of a cheat yesterday. My good friend called me up and wanted to go out to a bar, and my first inclination was to decline because of my current fitness goals. But I thought about it, and realized that I don't get very much time to spend with my friends these days, and it's something that I'm really working on addressing in my life. So I made the decision to move my 1 day of alcohol intake to yesterday instead of Saturday. Everything else was kept the same, I stuck with hard liquor (no beer) and had a good time. I had to be up early, so I missed out on a bit of sleep, but I can make it up by going to bed early tonight.

I don't regret this decision, and ultimately it will average out the same, while keeping me from getting neurotic about all this stuff. I'm back 100% today, no caffeine, no alcohol, etc. and I will continue until my next drinking day, sometime next week.

Everything else is going well. I nailed 3x5 back squats at 260 pounds yesterday, which was tough but doable. I threw in a short bodyweight metcon just to test my conditioning, and did really well. The strength I'm gaining is definitely translating to easier bodyweight movements, and I didn't feel like I was going to die, so I haven't lost much (if any) work capacity. I've got a couple more weeks of physical therapy before I can get back to heavy Olympic lifting, but right now I'm happy just getting stronger. Now to go eat some beef shank and berries to refuel.

Current measurements

Today I remembered the measurements that I took on Monday, so I wanted to post them before I forget:

4/4/11

Weight: 209 pounds

Body fat (measured by handheld bio-impedance device): 17.1%

Bicep: 14.5"

Thigh: 24.5"

Waist (relaxed): 38"

Waist (flexed): 36"

Chest (relaxed): 42.5"

Chest (flexed): 44.5"

Hips: 36.5"

I looked back at my info from a year ago, and I had 18.1% body fat at the same weight, so over the course of a year I gained 2 pounds of lean mass and lost 2 pounds of fat. Definitely not the best results ever, but still an improvement. If I kept that rate up for 10 years I would end up at 7.6% body-fat at 210 pounds. But that's still a bit slow for my tastes :) The most important measurement I'm looking to change is my waist measurement, since that's where a majority of my fat currently lives.

Today I weighed in at 206, so I'm down 3 pounds from Monday already. Blah blah, water weight, I know. Still feels good. Been drinking decaf coffee with organic heavy cream during the day (along with lots of water), and at night I've been having sparkling water with lime juice on the rocks, and some herbal tea. My sleep last night wasn't as good as the night before, and I had some crazy dreams, so there's still some adjusting going on internally. Today I'm fasting until at least 1PM, then I'll have some pot roast and some carne asada I made last night, along with some strawberries and olives.

I think the daily blogging is helping a lot, so I'm considering extending it another week to keep up the momentum.

Day 2

Day two is off to a good start. I made sure I get to bed early last night, and it paid off with a great night of sleep, almost 10 hours, which tells me I needed it badly. Got a great lifting session in, and hit the squat weight that I missed last week. As they say, there's no such thing as over-training, just under-eating (and maybe under-sleeping) and that's what I was doing last week.

I ate a lot yesterday, more than I normally should if I want to lose weight, but I was hungry and wanted to make sure I got enough calories. I'll adjust my quantities on a day by day basis based on how quickly I drop weight.

I'm feeling a bit clearer mentally today, lack of caffeine notwithstanding. I'm looking forward to a few weeks down the road when I'm fully clear of stress-inducing substances and running at 100%.

That's it for now, but things are looking good.

Off to a good start

Today's the first day of my grain-, sugar-, alcohol-, caffeine-free month. Drinking decaf coffee is fine, but I'm still pretty tired, which tells me I should probably just work on getting more (quality) sleep. My brain also feels a bit foggy, but I know these things will pass within a few days.

I took some measurements this morning but forgot them at home, so I'll post them tomorrow.

Breakfast was some beef shank stew with vegetables, lunch will be chili and Manhattan clam chowder along with some strawberries, and teriyaki chicken with veggies (and maybe a sweet potato) for dinner. The chicken has a little bit of sugar, but as long as I only use a tiny bit of sauce it'll be fine, especially after a workout.

I'm feeling recovered from last weeks aches/pains/issues so I'll be back in the gym tonight squatting and getting stronger. I'll be posting every day this week, even if it's just a short status update. I think I'm off to a good start, now to just get some momentum built up.

Time to shape up

Time for a confession: I've been letting the diet slide lately. And I feel like crap as a result.

The past few weeks I've been seeing a physical therapist for my shoulder injury 3 times a week, so I decided to lay off the Olympic lifting until I finish the PT. I changed up my training to 3 days a week of heavy compound movements (back squat, weighted dips, weighted pull-ups, deadlift) with some metabolic conditioning thrown in when I have the time. All of which was going great, and I've been making really good gains in strength. But, in the interest of "recovering" from my workouts I've started allowing things that I had practically eliminated from my diet. Rice, fast food, candy, etc.

But the funny thing is I'm now recovering worse than before, even though I'm eating more calories and more carbs. Right now my body is terribly inflamed, I had no energy for my workout on Wednesday (which I had to give up on), and I'm sore as heck from a level of volume that should be easily maintainable by me, even while attempting to lose weight. I had forgotten just how sensitive I am to dietary toxins, but this has been a rude reminder.

What all this means is that it's time for another round of "super diet clean-up." Beginning Monday, April 1st I will rid myself of the following things:

* Any beverage stronger than green tea (includes coffee, energy drinks, alcohol, diet soda, etc.)

* Any and all grains or grain-like seeds

* Sugar

* Most dairy save for some whey protein post-workout and a small amount of grass-fed butter, as I've found these don't bother me

If I need some post-workout carbs I'll have a couple bananas, or a sweet potato, and just stick to meat, eggs, veggies, berries, a small quantity of nuts, fish oil, and a variety of spices to keep it interesting. A square or two of 85% dark chocolate here and there, and a few glasses of wine once a week (on the weekend) to help keep me sane.

The goal is to stay this strict through the month of April, and re-evaluate at the end to see what worked and what didn't. I can practically guarantee a few things, though: improved recovery, improved sleep, more energy throughout the day, improved body composition, and hopefully some PRs in the gym. The first week is always the toughest, so I'll be blogging every day next week to keep my mind in the right place. I'll take some measurements this weekend as well for comparison.

Wish me luck!

Meet results

Saturday I competed in my first Olympic weightlifting competition in the 94kg weight class. It was tiring, chaotic, motivating, and fun. I made 5/6 attempts, snatching 70kg (154 pounds) and clean&jerking 107kg (235 pounds) for a total of 177kg. I missed my second snatch, and watching the video of my snatch attempts I can see why. I was not fast at all in the catch, and it cost me. My snatch PR is 175 pounds, so I'm kind of bummed that I didn't even come close to hitting it, but you have good days and bad days.

After the snatch I was pretty focused on the clean and jerk, and was able to match my PR on the platform. I'm just so much more confident in both my clean and my jerk than I am in my snatch, and that's a big factor. All said and done I placed 3rd (out of 5) in my weight class, and I'm pretty happy with my performance on my first time out.

Now that the competition is done I need to focus on getting my shoulder back to 100% and getting stronger. I did end up getting a prescription for physical therapy, and I'm seeing the PT 3 times a week. I'm going to avoid doing any movements that aggravate my shoulder for the time being, and just focus on getting as strong as possible in other parts of my body. Unfortunately this means I won't be able to do heavy snatches for a while, but I can still practice my form (which is my real problem) with lighter loads that don't bother me.

My weight is fluctuating right now due to having to make weight for the meet. I weighed in at 202 on Saturday, and this morning I was 206, so I figure it'll stabilize somewhere around 204 within a day or two, and then I can focus on getting under 200.

Quick update

Today's Weigh-In: 204.6

PhysicsDiet.com Average: 205.4

Hey, just wanted to post something quick. My weight is back on the downward slope, so I'm happy about that. I tweaked my shoulder in training the other day, so I'm going to see the doctor on Monday to hopefully get a referral to see a physical therapist, as my shoulder is a constant source of injury and missed training days. I'm hoping they can assess me and give me some rehab movements that will strengthen my shoulder and allow me to train at 100% again. I'm still planning to compete at the lifting meet, but I may have to be more conservative with my weights due to the shoulder problem. I'm sure it will be a fun experience either way, though.