Stress 7/10 (work was the source of this)
Hunger 2/10
Mood 5/10 (stress related)
Progress 5/10
Hydration 6/10
Skipped the leg workout due to just feeling depleted. We slept in too late and just didnt want to force it. I also like to have some carbs in the system before leg day.
We did get in a good walk x 2 with steps accumulated to 10k today (and 8k on thursday and weds this week, which I forgot to add in the posts)
Gf took me out on a date today. I had a couple alcoholic beverages, nothing to cause a buzz, but the meal was hibachi and defintely use of seed/vegetable oils for cooking, so not the healthiest. But there was plenty of protein. Probbaly a 1200cal meal.
Still sticking with the supplements and shakes so protein is staying high
Sat/Sun 6-29, 6-20 (days 13-14)
I combine these two as they are not the typical days and I am skipping the numerical ratings (mostly out of laziness)
I began Saturday with a leg workout which was a solid lift.
Bulgarian Split squats with DB in one hand, other hand lightly supporting x 1 set to failure per leg
Knee supported Dumbbell RDL (search @Gareth_Sapstead - it was an exercise he posted about a few months ago and an awesome posterior chain lift) x 1 set to failure per side
single leg calf raises 1 set to failure per leg
We got a nice walk in as well, with a hike to a local audobon. Total steps today was about 12k. I had x2 3-scoop MD shakes following the workout then didn’t eat again until almost 4pm, when we went to 2 cookouts. The food wasn’t super healthy, but I tried to focus on meat, salad. Definitely took in a good amount of carbs. I also partook in more adult beverages, but I kept myself in control.
Sunday - went to the beach and got a good walk in, total steps for the day was about 8.5K, 2 MD shakes, and had early dinner with gf and family. I had some bread and 2 cannolis but otherwise everything was meat/veggies. I did have a small binge of pretzel chips and ice cream that evening.
I am writing this 07/01 morning. In reflection I got too loose on the weekend…as I have written before, this is a weakness of mine. But again, I am still “experimenting” and overall feel I’ve leaned out a bit since starting ,y Frankenstein’ed V-diet 2 weeks ago. The lowest weight I saw last week was 209.3lbs, which is down about 8lbs from my bloated weekend weight and 3-4 lbs since my dryest weight of that first week of about 213 point something lbs. I will remeasure tonight or tomorrow to see my dry weight following the less than ideal weekend (and the loss of the sub-Q water I know I am holding).
Stress: 6/10
Hunger: 2-4/10
Mood 4/10
Progress 3/10 (bloating and mood definitely play a role on this)
Hydration 7/10
Notes: Got two walks in today plus walking around Costco and a local grocery… Worked a bit later than usual and by the time I finsihed all my paperwork, it was bedtime. 9.1k steps yesterday.
There are some health concerns for my grandfather who is 96 years old. He and I are very close, as is my mother, so this took an emotional hit. My mood wasn’t great until later in the day when I felt most of the “chores” had been done for the day and was able to lighten up a bit.
HSM - 2 half-sausage links, about 8oz grilled chicken breast, and a bunch of sauteed peppers&onions, leftovers from my parents made the previous night. Est. calories ~800-850.
AM weight on monday 07/02 214.1 lbs ( I can feel and see a ton of water retention - will try to re-weigh this evening to compare).
Notes:
After a day of “keto” / very low carbs, the water began to shed today. I am down 2.5lbs since this morning and this is post meal. Still kinda feeling down about the health of my grandfather, so mood is a bit low. But managed to hit a weight and rep PR for overhead press and lateral raises:
Smith machine OHP x 1 working set to failure
incline DB press x 1 work set to failure
Lateral raises, chest supported 2 sets to failure
Also got about 8K steps in total, with a solid 15min walk included with 25lb weight vest on 3.0 incline at 3.2mph.
PM weight (post meal) 211.6lb
HSM was baked veggies tossed in italian dressing, parmesan cheese, and I’d estimate about 3/4lb chicken. I’d approximate 800-900cals
PM weight of 209.9, following some serious rehydration and my PM meal. My meal consisted of almost all healthy food - sirloin steak tips, a bunch of veggies and salad without dressing - only part I wasn’t crazy about was the maple-bourbon glaze (definitely added sugars) that was added to the tips, it was a pre-made meal by the golf club I belong to.
Got about 10.5k steps today and stayed consistent with the shakes, supplements, etc. Trying to stay really low on carbs in anticipation of the holiday. Feeling pretty good in the gym and general energy. Todays workout was back:
Chest supported T bar rows 2 sets to failure
Seated hammer strength machine row (neutral handles, upper arm more adducted) 2 sets to failure
Reverse pec-deck 2 sets to failure
*note: I experimented today with a focus on trying to “cramp” my back muscles at the contracted position.
While this is something that probably is second nature for most people, I’ve been seeing good results focusing less on the internal cue and more on ensuring progressive overload with solid technique. I did feel a bit more of a pump to the upper back today, however I take this with a grain of salt because my pump is heavily dependent on how hydrated/ carb depleted I am
I was more relaxed today, able to get work off (I work for a Visiting Nurse Association as a PT - and we are a “365 Day per Year” company
2 Shakes, 1 AM (2.5scoop) and 1 PM (3.5 scoops). Between that, was more lax. Early dinner/late afternoon was 2.5 sausages, about 4oz steaktips, some french bread, and about a cup of pasta salad. I also had 3 adult beverages that totaled 300cals. My gf and I got ice cream, a medium chocolate-butter ice cream with brownie end pieces). I have no idea what the calories looked like.
Spent a good amount of time in the sun, a little too much based on the sunburn on my upper arms.
But it was a relaxing day. I needed it. My mood has been affected quite a bit by the news that my grandfather’s health is “failing.” Again, I am not quite sure what this means…his GP told my mother this word exactly and did not really explain anything else other than he is losing weight. The guy is 96, so my expectations are tempered, but it still kinda sucks hearing this info from his doctor, and he does look a little rougher the last 2 weeks. Nothing prepares you for this.
Anyways - the day off work, NOT over eating or drinking, was a nice therapeutic break. Working on July 05, and then July 06 is another holiday celebration. My realistic goal is to stay as low carb as possible Friday, and moderate myself on Saturday.
Last minute edit: got a little over 5k steps in, and some quality family time (gf and my own family) so that’s good to throw in here
Mostly normal shake day, but Dinner was cookout food - 2.5 burgers with bun and condiments, with a glass of Tennessee honey whiskey and 2 low carb beverages.
My workout this morning (legs) consisted of
RFE Bulgarian split squats x 1 set to failure
Standing unilateral hamstring curl x 1 set to failure
Standing unilateral calf raises x 1 set to failure
(All of this done with wearing 25lb weight vest)
Then 3 rounds of 45-60seconds all out bike sprints on recumbent with 3-4min rest between (still cycling on very low resistance)
This really burnt out the glycogen I had left, I could feel on the second and third round I had no “gas” after about 20 seconds of cycling. Between sets of resistance exercises I was getting in steps, about 1k during the workout.
This really stimulated hunger today but once I had my shakes, I was good to go. Dinner could’ve eaten 3x as much but reminded myself: “no”
Day 20-21: 7/06-7/07
I didn’t bother with rating scales, because these were not good dietary days. Too many adult beverages and cookout ish food to even keep track. I normally do worse, so I’m not going to beat myself up about it. Had some good quality social time, family time, vitamin D, and somehow got almost 17k steps on Saturday. Sunday started out OK but then succumbed to bad habits and mental weakness. Back to the grind on monday
Day 21 7-08
Stress: 5/10
Hunger: 2/10
Mood: 4/10
Hydration: 6/10
Progress: 2/10 (feeling guilty after letting myself go so bad on Sunday)
The hangover from the weekend was in force today. Was very lazy, just getting by through work, did not do great in regards to getting my steps in. But I stuck with my shakes and a lower calorie HSM (Keto - chicken, veggies, a small amount of zero carb dressing) and will have my PM shake later.
I only comment on Sundays shenanigans because this was truly a day of compulsive eating and drinking, which is where I try to draw the line for myself…in other words, I knew Saturday would be off the wagon, and therefore gave myself some grace to enjoy it…but my plan was to get back on track Sunday…and I failed myself.
So trying not to get too far down that shame spiral, but at the same time, am feeling guilty…
Anyways.
Tomorrow will be a lifting day and getting back into routine walking/step accumulation.
Day 22 - 7-09
Stress 5/10 (work stuff, and my air conditioner died in some significant humidity)
Hunger: 2-3/10 with a brief 5/10 at the end of the day before HSM (I think the hunger was also partially salt craving from the sweating)
Mood 4/10
Progress 6/10
Hydration - 4/10 (due to sweating in my car all day)
Tried not to let the air conditioning thing get to me. Once i accepted I didn’t have it, I was fine. But I was hot as hell as my car heats up like an oven and I am on the road all day. 2 grand to fix my AC evaporator, which I am just not willing to dish on my old car
Workout - Push day/chest/shoulders
Smith OHP rep PR
DB incline bench rep PR
Lateral raises rep PR (all one set to failure)
Felt good and reassuring as my weights still going up on pressing day. HSM was made by my amazing girlfriend - 2 “keto friendly” tortilla (each has 26 g of fiber, which is much more than I am used to, will see if this affects me tomorrow) - about 2/5 lb ground beef 88-12% lean, 2/5 bag of fat free mozzarella, some au-jus sauce and some onions/peppers with salt and pepper. Bedtime another shake.
My weight this AM was 212.0 after a day of low carb. Slightly lower than 7 days ago. I also measured 1" below the navel at 96cm which is down about 6.5 cm from my original measurement. Good to get some objective feedback via these and my weights in the gym
PM weight (in a slightly dehydrated state) 207.2lbs. Liking that number. I should mention I am glycogen depleted, but hey - heading in the right direction. I got in 13.3k steps in with golf in the afternoon. Humid as hell, but my girlfriend let me borrow her car which has working AC in it (graetful for her!).
Lift this morning (pull/back)
chest supported DB rows 2 sets to failure
Lat pulldown 2 sets to failure
Reveres pec deck/flye 2 sets to failure
My volume is much lower when glycogen depleted end of the week, so this amount of training is great to recover from and still feel like I am maintaining or even progressing.
HSM was basically salad, grilled asparagus, and steak tips
Day 24 7-11
Stress 4/10
Hunger: 1/10
Mood: 6/10
Progress: 7.5/10
Hydration 4/10 (was back to my car without AC so sweating pretty much all day, plus being low carb all week)
Did a 15 minute, 4mph walk at 3 incline this morning. Total steps for the day about 8.5k. Work wasn’t terrible either, just hot as hell and I think the dehydration was getting to me. Once I was home was good. Meal wasn’t super healthy, as there was wheat based pasta (I’d say 2-3 servings) with a mix of sausage, fresh mozzarella cheese, peppers, onions, which is boiled/baked with a red wine/worchestershire sauce and low carb marinara) the calories were probably in the 1200-1300 range, and Had a glass of wine with my girl. but did not worry at all about it - this week was really strict with low carb, and my meals otherwise were healthy (low carb) and about 7-800cals each. Feeling good going into the weekend - there will be temptations (playing in a golf tournament this Friday-Saturday) so will try to remain in moderation.
Day 25 7-12
This day kicked off a two day golf tournament that is filled with all sorts of temptations. I am giving a rating of 3/10 on hunger, stress; 6/10 on mood progress and hydration
I focused on 2 MD-casein shakes (I added a scoop of MD and a scoop of a casein powder I really like) which gave me about 92 grams of protein. I had a couple carb free alcoholic beverages at the end of the day, and tried to keep my PM meal as healthy as possible. A few slices of fresh cut roast beef, shrimp cocktail, crab claws, mussels. There were a couple of crab cakes and stuffed clams in there as well. Totalled about 13k steps for the day.
Oh - also got my leg workout in with a weighted vest -
RFE split squats single arm support with DB on other hand x 1 set to failure
KNee supported DB RDLs x 1 set to failure
Single hand supported weighted calf raises x 1 set to failure
Day 26 7-13
This day was 27 holes of golf. I will give similar ratings except progress where I give myself a 4/10 (later)
This was a along day in the rain at first then heat. I started off with a 1.5 scoop MD-1 scoop casein blend shake (repeated this at night) with some fatiier meats (no carbs/wrap) from an italian roll-up provided by the golf outing. Had 2 coffeas and a 5 hr energy to hold me over. On the final 9-hole match I cracked a few carb free adult beverages. Lter that night I had a couple more. The meal was MOSTLY protein/fat (with exception of a small amount of BBQ sauce on the ribs, included baked chicken breast/wing combo, ribs, and a few shrimp. Generally, kept myself in check these two days which was the goal…
Also had almost 20k steps in so I was certainly active in this aspect and recovered well from my leg workout the prior day
Day 27 7-14
This was a lazy day. I felt fatigue from being in the heat and not ideal sleep/recovery the lsat two days. Not hungover but definitely not optiamlly hydrated today. I saw my grandfather who wanted to have a drink. I had a couple with him. He is in th late stages of his long life and I wanted to enjoy his company. Later went out for Japanese style BBQ with my girl. Enjoyed this. Mostly protein and veggies, with some white rice, garlic noodles and some sauces. I estimate I had about 1800-200 cals in this meal. I had one Kirin beer (12ox) and later on I had an ice cream sandwich. Stopped eating around 6pm and had a 1.5 coop MD-1 scoop casein shake before bed. Steps were low - only about 3k. Like i Said, lazy. Back to the more structured set-up Monday.
This will be day 28 of the Frankenstein V-diet I’ve been following. Will probably get a PM or Tuesday AM weight. I just ordered another batch of x2 MD protein, some flameout. circumin, and elitepro. I will run this style of the diet for another 2-3 weeks before I do another formal tape measuring session. Feeling good thus far and happy with myself for actually sticking to moderation this weekend, while also getting some quality social/family time
Stress 3/10 (not sure why stress felt so low but I took it happily!)
Hunger 2-4/10 with more toward end of day before HSM
Mood 6/10
Progress 6/10
Hydration 7/10
Random thought: These ratings get a little tedious for me, but I understand the importance of them. I just notice as I write them I am typically in the middle ranges (geberally, 3-7/10) and I think it’s just a psychological craving of not reflecting anything too extreme…maybe something I should talk about with my therapist
Today was a “stressful” day at work, with a lot of schedule volatility and people flaking on me… but I took it in stride. I think by not going off the rails too much this weekend with my bad behaviors, I was better able to manage stress this Monday…shocking, Frauls, I know
Got about 8.5k steps in. HSM was a keto option from Chick-fil-A, as my gf wanted to try something she saw on IG. Personally I didn’t end up wanting to put the effort in. I just got grilled nuggets with some buffalo sauce and pickles. Estimated cals about 230 - when I got home, ate more pickles, and had x 2 OIKOS-zero yogurts each 90 cals with 15g of protein. So total HSM was about 410cals. But I was satisfied with this plus a shake before bed. Nothing else crazy or significant today
Push workout included smith maching OHP with a rep PR, incline DB press rep PR, and lateral raises (with the former 2 x1 set to failure and raises x 2 sets to failure). Steps about 8.5 K for the day. HSM was another “IG-inspred” take out meal - chipotle - bowl with fajitas, chicken/beef, shredded cheese, mild and medium salsa, lettuce. I estimate a caloric load of 700-900 cals. Shake pre-bed. Nothing else of note comes to mind as I write this
Morning AM workout was back/pull
Lat pulldown x 2 sets failure (close grip to change it up)
T-bar chest supported row x 2 sets failure
Slight incline DB scp retractions (chest supported on bench about 60 degrees) 1 set to failure
Pretty carb depleted but felt good energy wise and got a couple rep PRs. Really trying to focus on squeezing and “owning” the retracted/depressed position on back days , as this is something I neglected for a while in favor of progressive overload via numerical increase only.
SPent my work day in my oven of a car. It is never tood bad when the car is moving but once I park, it’s running to my patient’s homes or go for a walk inside Walmart (I did this today lol)
I made a pit stop at my mother’s home to see my grandfather which was nice, will be away for the weekend so I wanted to see him. I was planning on another PM walk but after this we needed to eat (and had not food prepared) so we went out
PM meal was 1/2 HSM 1/2 not Healthy.
Chicken, stake tips, lamb tips with steamed broccoli. And then 6 fried chicken wings and about a half handfull of fries. I felt like I needed the carbs, and also had my FFB take over a bit. I estimate the meal was at least 1000 cals, probably more, but I was really strict this week and will be back to keto/low carb tomorrow. Total steps 8.3k
