Training & Diet Update

Deload week complete - yesterday's workout went about exactly as it should. The weights felt pretty light and I feel ready to hit it this week. It also occurred to me maybe I should post my diet for shits and grins. This is what I eat literally every day. The only alterations are 8-12 ounces chocolate milk post-lifting 3 days per week (with 10 grams creatine), and on Sundays I generally go very low carb (though today was a different story). While I understand the need for variety, I tend to thrive moreso on simply consistency. It seems boring, and to an extent it is. But I can stick with it, and in the long run, that is the key. The great thing is, I get plenty of veggies, and I pretty much get to eat dessert every meal, as the sweetness from the fruit gives me that feeling. I would also note, I don't eat on a schedule - meal frequency is largely overrated. I merely get hungry pretty frequently, so I eat fairly frequently. A person could easily condense this into 3 meals if they so choose (or 1 even).

1st meal
3 eggs
1 cup egg whites
salsa
spinach or broccoli
orange

2nd meal
~8 oz chicken breast (cooked weight - seasoned as hell with Mrs. Dash)
10 asparagus spears
1 apple

3rd meal
~8 oz ground beef or sirloin (cooked weight)
steamed broccoli
1/2 pear

4th meal
~8 oz chicken breast (cooked weight)
1 bag frozen mixed veggies
1 kiwi

5th meal
1 cup fat free cottage cheese
2 cups combined grapes & strawberries
celery & hummus

I'll have to see where I'm at on the scale (went pretty overboard at lunch today), but was down 6 pounds after the first 2 weeks. I'd like to say it's all fat, but it's certainly not. Remember - it's a marathon, not a sprint.

Training Update & Determination

Training still going pretty well. Got 260x5 on bench Saturday, which was a PR (I'm pretty sure 255x5 the week before was as well). Admittedly, the technique can use some work, as I can feel the scapulae "riding up" (for lack of a better phrase), which, while it enables me to use more weight, will make for unhappy shoulders at some point. That said, it's a bit lighter this week, so we'll see what happens. This week is a bit of a deload, though I must say that squatting today went pretty damn shitty. 290x3 on my top set felt heavy as hell. Good thing it's a deload I suppose.

Among the many joys of parenthood, one is getting to see a little human mature from the completely helpless little thing you bring home from the hospital into a little person, and all the stages of development that go along with that. With my son coming up on 7 months, he's trying his damndest to start crawling. He can army crawl all over the place, and he can get up on all fours, and even crawl backward on all fours, but still no forward crawling in that position. But it's certainly not for a lack of effort. The kid pops up on all fours all the time, and is constantly trying. In fact, sometimes you can almost see his brain working, thinking "OK, now how the hell do I make this work?" It's truly amazing to watch (and I'd be lying if I said it doesn't make me a proud papa!). The determination that he clearly has to make it happen is pretty awesome to watch. While I do believe many of our traits are inborn, in that some babies are just inherently more active than others, I do think that things like curiosity and determination are also traits that are mostly inherent. However, over time I think these traits are slowly pulled out of kids, as they begin to be coddled and roped in. Rather than being allowed to explore and feed their curiosity and thirst for knowledge, they are given the answers and told to sit down. Over time, this becomes the modus operandi, and the child essentially thinks this is the way of the world. I am much more of the school of thought of allowing him to explore and make his own mistakes (possible fatal or severe-injury inducing mistakes notwithstanding) in an effort to find the answers he seeks. I can only hope that his curiosity and determination stick with him and continue to blossom the same way his motor abilities are as well.

Training & The Proliferation of Bullshit

As usual, haven't updated lately on training. The lower (yet still heavy - relatively speaking of course) weights next week are coming none too soon, I think. While I've managed to hit all my weights, it is getting tougher, though of course it is supposed to. That said, my impaired recovery (due to lack of sleep) is doing me no favors. But I digress. Hit 315x5 on squat Monday, which is basically a PR. I hit 320x4 years back. 260x5 on bench this Saturday could get pretty hairy, but I got 255 last week, and while difficult, it wasn't a complete max effort. I remain confident.

The Proliferation of Bullshit
As I have mentioned before, I'm a huge fan of the Opie & Anthony show. Recently, they had Dr. Ian Smith on, who came in to promote his new book "Super Shred." While I won't go into all of the ridiculousness he spewed, I will just note this - why are people, most of all DOCTORS, allowed to peddle nonsense?! It's shit like that that has the nation completely confused as to how to lose weight. How about this - come out and simply tell everyone LESS FUCKING CALORIES. DO THIS FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME AND LOSE WEIGHT. I realize that doesn't move product, however.
While that is a specific, it's an unfortunate reality of the capitalist system. Now listen, I'm all for the free market. However, the issue arises when popularity and noise rules the day over actual substance. And, as you've hopefully noticed, that is what rules. Those with the most money can figure out how to make the cheapest product, spend more money to make more noise, sell more product, and continue making noise. It's a vicious cycle I don't see ending anytime soon.
The Golden Rule, while perhaps idealist, is still golden for a reason. I'm not religious in any way, but still see value in treating others as you wish to be treated. If you were to fuck over others who make a living doing the same, they no doubt would not be happy. And yet, those same assholes have no problem doing so! Ugh, my hope for the human race simply dwindles nearly daily... 

Training Update

As usual, haven't updated lately. This week's training went pretty well. I started cutting down this week, meaning calories were a bit harder to come by. That said, it still went just fine. I didn't take a "before" pic, though I did take one today, so it's a start. I will probably take one this coming Monday morning, along with weight. My goal will be to do this every Monday, merely as a progress tracker.

Tuesday
Squat - worked up to 305x5
Bench and row were 5x5 each, don't remember weights

Thursday
Squat, deadlift, military, pulldowns all 5x5, again I don't remember exact numbers

Saturday
Squat - 5x5 @ 265
Bench - worked up to 255x5
Row - worked up to 205x5