We’re getting ready to ring in the new year, so I thought I’d add my checklist for the day (as I won’t likely be back to the computer).

Day: 4 / 84

Exercise: N/A - Rest
Warm-up: N/A - Rest

Recovery: N/A - Rest

Food (2100 max): 2098 - Yes
Macros (40P, 25F, 35C): 40.2P, 24.6F, 35.2C - Yes

Water (4L min): Yes

Weight (AM): 254.2
Weight (Day 1): 256.8
Change: -2.6

Overall - 100%

So… see you all next year!

So, another day with nothing much to report. I did the resistance A2 workout and the cardio, and even managed to push myself into doing the recovery. I can barely do the regular planks for a minute, the side planks are a no go. I just physically can’t hold the position, so I just did regular planks.

I continued on with my scanning and I’m building up quite a little pile of paper to get rid of. I’m off to Costco in the morning, so I think that’s it for me for the day. I think I’ll take some time tomorrow (on my rest day) and try catching up with my reading!

Day: 3 / 84

Exercise: Resistance A2 - Yes, Cardio - Yes
Warm-up: Yes

Recovery: Yes

Food (2100 max): 2097 - Yes
Macros (40P, 25F, 35C): 40.2P, 25.2F, 34.6C - Yes

Water (4L min): Yes

Weight (AM): 256.0
Weight (Day 1): 256.8
Change: -0.8

Overall - 100%

So, although I feel that I had a nothing day, I still got a fair amount accomplished. The chili is all in the freezer, and I made a point not to cook anything else today! I do still have the beef to stew, but I’ll leave that until the end of the week. Mainly I continued on with the scanning project. I just checked and I did about 650 scans today. At a minimum I want to clear the bottom shelf on the bookcase, so I’m probably about close to halfway done. Although I know that the format of the other stuff might make it slower.

Oh, and I did my OPT resistance A1 today. It definitely felt lighter than my usual strength workouts, but I expected that. It probably is a good choice, but we’ll see how I feel about that in a few weeks. I’m down a fair bit from yesterday, but again, I would have expected that anyway - just getting my eating and water back in line does that. So, that’s it for me for the night. Just adding the compliance information before I go.

Day: 2 / 84

Exercise: Resistance A1 - Yes
Warm-up: Yes

Recovery: Yes

Food (2100 max): 2086 - Yes
Macros (40P, 25F, 35C): 39.6P, 24.7F, 35.7C - Yes

Water (4L min): Yes

Weight (AM): 255.2
Change: -1.6

Overall - 100%

o, I’ve gone back and forth on whether I’ll bother with food logs or not. I think for a change I’ll just post some kind of ramble with a compliance list every night.

Day: 1 / 84

Exercise: Cardio - Yes
Warm-up: Yes

Recovery: Yes

Food (2100 max): 2094 - Yes
Macros (40P, 25F, 35C): 40.0P, 25.0F, 35.0C - Yes

Water (4L min): Yes

Weight (AM): 256.8
Change: none (day 1, right?)

Overall: 100% - good start

I added the warm-up because I know that I have a tendency to skip things like that. I added the water because I notice that when my eating goes off track so does my water. Of course, it could be that the water goes off track first and then I overeat. What was really quite funny was that I took the calories for fat and protein and divided them by the total (to get a decimal on them, which Fitday doesn’t do) and they rounded to zero). Oh, and I also did the recovery today, and can I say… hate, hate, hate the foam rolling.

So, what else did I do today?  I finished freezing the turkey soup (had some today for lunch, very nice).  Oh, and I made some chili.  That leaves me only with the stewed beef to make, but I think I’ll take a day or two off from the cooking before I do it.  I may also make some rhubarb marmalade for my mother, if I have enough empty jars.

I seem to be on a clean-up / organize kick the last couple of days.  It started with me cleaning out the desk drawer (something I probably haven’t really done in years).  I seem to simply shift stuff from point A to point B a lot.  I want to keep at least two of my books from last semester, but have nowhere really to put them.  I have quality books in a dresser drawer upstairs, and a bookcase in my bedroom that’s filled with recipe books (mine and my mothers).  Oh, and gardening books as well.

So, I’ve started putting the fancy print/scan/fax machine to good us.  I’ve been scanning in old recipe pages (looseleaf in binders).  They’re already indexed in an Access database (by title, book #, page #) and usually when I’m looking for something I’ll search, write down the info and then go upstairs to look for the actual recipe.  This should let me start to find some space on the bookcase.  I should probably just chuck them all into the recycle bin, but I can’t bring myself to do so.  You know, just in case I suddenly have a burning desire to make….

Yes, I’m a pack rat, but at least a somewhat organized one. 

And if nothing else, I’m getting some NEAT in.  I throw 10 pages in the scanner, press the button and really have to leave the desk.  Although I should be able to use the computer, if I do too much the scanner hangs.  So, I get up, walk away, and then come back.  It’s kept me from sitting at the desk too long during the day.

On that note though I think I’ll head off to my bed.  Looking at OPT, that’s one day down, 83 to go…

I still seem to be struggling, again with two days this week where my eating was out of control. It’s actually more drinking that starts it, so I think I’ll try dry for a little while. I suspect it’s lowering my inhibitions to the point where I say ‘why can’t I eat as others around me are’. The thing is that I know the answer. I also realize that I didn’t eat enough to gain four pounds this week, and it will come off in a day or two (or most of it). The 9-week loss is only 1.2lbs (0.13/week) which is usually the ‘number’ I look at to see how things are going overall. At the moment I’m not too impressed with it, but the only thing I can do is go forward. The other little compulsive number I look at is how many days I’ve been ‘on plan’ primarily with food. I still consider the maintenance week ‘on plan’ since I accomplished what I wanted to. So, since yesterday was my last bad day this is day 1 on plan with food.

I started OPT this morning, a system from Leigh Peele (I know everyone on JP Fitness knows this, but I usually cross post this to my blog as well). So for the next 12 weeks I’ll follow her plan, as well as I can, since I tend not to conform in my own little ways. I’ll do a Sun-Sat cycle, which for the first three weeks will have 3 days of cardio, 4 days resistance training, and I’ll eat 40% protein, 25% fat, 35% carbs…. yikes. I’m going to come up with some kind of daily compliance checklist, and will probably drop the detailed menus for the next 12 weeks. Wish me luck. So far (for today) I’m on track and I did my steady state cardio (had a hard time keeping my heart rate down though), so things look good. I’ll even have a shot at the recovery later in the afternoon (another thing I don’t think I ever do).

The plan is:

Sun: cardio, recovery
Mon: resistance A1, recovery
Tue: resistance A2, cardio, recovery
Wed: rest day
Thu: resistance A1, (recovery - extra?)
Fri: cardio, (recovery - extra?)
Sat: resistance A2, recovery

Calories: 2100 (40P, 25F, 35C)

So yesterday should have come in at 2300 and (with lots of estimating) came closer to 3700. Yikes. So much for any deficit I might have been running this week. I’ve decided that I need a little more structure so I’ll likely start OPT for 12 weeks on Monday. I know from a couple of weeks back and ~3000 cals a day covers maintenance (with no exercise), so I’ll likely base the percentage deficits on 3250 and see how it goes the first couple of weeks. I probably won’t mess with it until I’m back at school for a couple of weeks as I know I’m more active when I’m out of the house during the week. (Since OPT isn’t likely something I’ve talked about here, it’s a 12-week set program with 4 days resistance training, 3 days cardio, 4 days recovery/foam rolling - with very specific macros and deficits.)

So that puts me at 35%-2100 (2112.5 actually), 30%-2275, and 40%-1950 for each of the specific deficits. In the end the hardest thing I have an issue with is the macros. I tend to struggle a little to hit over 30% daily, so the 40 and 50 percent weeks will be a huge issue. Primarily because I simply don’t eat a lot of the low fat/high protein items (yogurt, cottage cheese, etc.). So sadly I see a lot of protein shake/oatmeal breakfasts on those weeks.

Oh, and I decided in the end to make the last pot of soup, so I’ll do that tomorrow. I’ll find room for it in the freezer somewhere.

I started off with 3 mins cardio (walking/jogging on the spot), the prescribed warm-ups, and then did:

Power Training - Strength Training (weeks 7-9)
Workout A3 (5 of 10)

1: Snatch Pull - 65t/5, 65t/5, 65t/5, 65t/5
2: Clean-grip Deadlift - 150t/5, 150t/5, 150t/5, 150t/5
3: Single-leg Supine Hip Extension - 5, 5, 5, 5
4: Push-ups (incline) - 5, 5, 5, 5
5: Bent-over Two-point Dumbbell Row - 35e/5, 35e/5, 35e/5, 35e/5
6: Push Press - 75t/5, 75t/5, 75t/5, 75t/5
7: Chin-ups (band assisted, attempts) - 5, 5, 5, 5
8: Cable Woodchop - 10, 10, 10, 10
9: Four-point Plank - 45sec, 45sec, 45sec, 45sec

Total time: 75 mins
HR monitor: 451 cals, Max: 154 (87%), Avg: 117 (66%)

I really didn’t feel particularly strong today. I wimped out and dropped a couple of the weights by 5 (#5), 10 (#1) and 15-lbs (#2). I managed to keep the push press where I was last time though. I just felt like I was struggling the entire time. Although I decided if I was going to do a workout today it had to be the morning. Starting around 1pm I’ll be messing with the turkey and such and wouldn’t likely feel like doing it.

Oh well, it’s done, and hopefully by Sunday I’ll feel more like myself. It could just be that I’ve hit the limits of what I can hope to lift while in a deficit. I have to realize that I can’t necessarily increase my lifts every time, but should be happy that this will help retain muscle I already have.

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, or Happy Hanukkah (since they overlap this year), or just a general Seasons Greetings to everyone. 

I tend to treat it like just another day. We’ve always been a small family and Christmas, when a child, was a good time for the family to go somewhere warm. My father was like me, a person who didn’t like the cold and snow. So Christmas was most likely celebrated in Florida, Mexico, or whatever warm destination that didn’t cost an arm or a leg during the Christmas break. Actually, I remember at least two cruises over that time frame as well.

Today we’ll amazingly be having turkey. This is something we really never do. A couple of years my mother and I would roast a turkey leg, but even that we stopped doing. So the second turkey will be smoked today and will be the dinner for tonight. And then I’ll slice the rest of it up and freeze it with the rest of the lunch items I’ve been making the last few days. I whipped up a batch of lentil soup yesterday, adding some chopped chicken to it to boost the protein content.

Then I got really lazy last night and didn’t post before bed. I think some of it is the cold. I get curled up on the couch, fall asleep watching television, and then later when I go up to bed I don’t want to risk taking time to post. I’ve always had a tough time getting to sleep and I’m concerned that I’ll get on the computer and then hours later I’ll still be awake.

I decided that the best I’m going to do with the turkey stock is make it, and reduce it. Even if I made the soup, I’ve got no room in the side by side freezer to store it. So, I’ll reduce the stock today and the same with what I make tomorrow from the second turkey carcass, and just store it until I have room.

I got up early enough today that I managed a Christmas workout, so I’ll post that in a minute. I will post yesterday’s food before I go.

Food for yesterday:

Total: 2005 (31% fat, 34% carbs, 34% protein)

Breakfast: protein shake with sour cherries and oatmeal, pecans (470)
AM Snack: none (0)
Lunch: whole wheat tortillas, mustard, smoked turkey, apple (424)
PM Snack: hummus, carrots (166)
Dinner: turkey/beef burgers with bbq onions, salad w/dressing (625)
Late Snack: protein shake, apple (227)

Well, it’s been one of those somewhat busy days that you end up wondering where the time went. I did get the first turkey smoked, and made some really tasty lamb soup. I likely won’t put up the recipe, since it’s rare that I have lamb stock around, but the recipe came from here:

http://www.explorenepal.com/recipe/soups/?i=lamb_barley_soup

I changed it a little (ie. I don’t like spinach, so I used celery) and it needed way more liquid than it called for. This was good as I had more stock than that. I was also a little light on meat so I added a couple of smoked turkey/chicken sausages. For me, it was a small pot of soup, making 9 servings.

I also spent about 45 minutes outside shoveling snow. We didn’t have more, but it’s supposed to be a combination of snow/rain/freezing rain over the next couple of days. So I cleared snow away from the house, hoping that we don’t end up with a flood in the basement. I noticed while doing that today that I’m a collection of aches and pains as well. One hamstring is sore, my shoulders/neck area is still bugging me, and while tossing snow I felt a bit of a pinch in my side. Yikes, I feel like I’m falling apart. Although, last year I wouldn’t have even considered shoveling as much as I have so far this year, so I suppose that’s progress.

So, all the soup has been frozen, and tomorrow I’ll slice up the first turkey. The plan is to smoke the second turkey on Christmas day, and we’ll have some hot for dinner that night. Tomorrow I’ll also probably get a start on making some turkey stock, even though I’ll have more bones after doing the second turkey. I might also make another pot of soup (lentil) with some pork stock (the last of the stocks in the freezer). The catch is that there’s little to no meat in that stock, so I’ll probably cook and chop up a couple of chicken breasts to make it a heartier soup.

I also rearranged the freezers a bit, so I’ll have room to put all the stuff I’m making away. I don’t think that I’d thought that far ahead. The odd thing is that all this work has been on lunch items. I notice that the dinner stuff is kind of running low. I’ll likely be making some type of stewed beef and possibly some chili next week. I like having both of them handy as they are ‘last minute/no work’ dishes. At the moment what little is there all requires thawing the raw meat before cooking it.

Having said all that, I’m kind of tired, so it’s time for bed!

Food for today:

Total: 2010 (25% fat, 36% carbs, 33% protein)

Breakfast: two fried eggs, honey oatmeal bread, jam, clementines (332)
AM Snack: chocolate zucchini cake (78)
Lunch: whole wheat tortillas, mustard, smoked beef, apple (464)
PM Snack: protein shake, cookie (261)
Dinner: spicy meatloaf with roasted potatoes, bean/carrot blend, butter, salad w/dressing (625)
Late Snack: protein shake, apple (250)

Anyway, I got busy last night and forgot to post my food and such for the day.  I ran back out to the stores in the afternoon for some cooking ingredients for me, and food for the cats.  I figure they might run out just about Christmas day, and that wouldn’t do.  It’s funny, but the little one needs a supplement so they get soft food twice a day (so I can mix it in).  Usually they get it around 5pm but last night I was working on something and it slipped my mind.  About 5:30 the other cat comes downstairs, jumps on the desk and gives me the biggest loudest mournful meow I’ve heard.  I’m surprised he waited that long, he seems to be pretty good at telling time.  Normally we get about a 5 minute grace period and then he’s bugging whoever is around.

I never did get on the treadmill yesterday, but did get out of the house a couple of times.  I also got the rest of the minestrone frozen, made another pot of soup (beef barley mushroom), and have some of it in the freezer already.  Total for the day from the HR monitor was 3293, and I didn’t actually take it off until 11pm (although since I’m doing 10-10 I’ll add that in to today’s totals).  Now I’m off to soak wood chips and smoke the first of two turkeys.  Yes, I’m nuts.  At least it’s not snowing… 

Food for yesterday:

Total: 1994 (25% fat, 37% carbs, 35% protein)

Breakfast: egg/egg white omelet, honey oatmeal bread, jam, clementines (340)
AM Snack: chocolate zucchini cake (78)
Lunch: beef mushroom barley soup, honey oatmeal bread, apple (539)
PM Snack: hummus, carrots (178)
Dinner: baked chicken with tomato/wine sauce, cheese, bean/carrot blend, butter, salad w/dressing (586)
Late Snack: protein shake, apple (272)