Meal Log

I woke up early today, and got my cardio session in early.  I was out of the gym by 6:45 AM.  It had been some time since I’ve done a cardio intervals work out, I originally thought I would try it on a treadmill, but when I got to the gym I decided my knee couldn’t handle the pounding.

I did 4 cycles of intervals each one starting at a resistance level of 30 and working up to resistance 100, then back down.  The difference in the four cycles was the incline level, I started the first cycle with full incline at 20, and the final cycle was done with an incline level of 6.  At the top of the 8 thirty second intervals I held the level for one minute each, before taking the 7 thirty second steps down.  At the bottom of each cycle I did two speed sprints, with a minute of active recovery between each sprint.

My heart rate monitor was on the fritz again so I wasn’t able to use it for this session; I found it difficult to maintain a high intensity because I have become accustom to the heart rate levels as a barometer of my commitment.  I’m going to replace the battery tomorrow in the actual monitor to see if that will do the trick, if not I may just have to buy a new one. 

Following my morning hour of cardio I went to my parent’s place where I was kicked in the head by the uncooperative patient, aka my mother.  She found it amusing when my eyes started to water, I must be the world’s only unlicensed physical therapist who gets his ass kicked by his one patient during every session. 

It takes an hour to get through the catalog of exercise prescribed by the physical therapist from the hospital, most of the hour for me is spent counting reps, and watching the time, while flinching every time her hands or feet get near my body. 

Following my mother’s make shift therapy session I headed to work, and was able to catch up on quite a bit of paperwork.  I’m starting to feel the tension build back up, and I’m getting agitated over things that didn’t bother me when I first got back from the Biggest Loser Malibu.  I really need to find a manager at one of my sites, so I can find that happy state of equilibrium that I achieved in California.  I’m starting to feel like a washed up high school athlete who talks about the good old days…

I’ve had a bit of time now since I’ve been home to think about my future, and I’m formulating a few ideas as to how I can move forward in my professional life in a manner more in line with my values.  I need to reach a point of fulfillment that I’m not finding right now.  It’s one thing to be in business for yourself, I think it’s quite another thing to be in a business which gives your life meaning.  If a person can go from being a reality TV contestant to starting Tom’s Shoes, a company which donates a pair of shoes for every pair of shoes that are purchased, I think I can find a business which fulfills me. 

My evening session with Zap was moved up so I could get my evening physical therapy duties finished at a reasonable hour.  Today’s work out was focused on the chest muscles.

Most of the chest work was done on the bench press.   I warmed up on the Nordic Track incline treadmill, I did a shortened version of mountain, I did 7 three minute increases of the incline starting at incline level 2 working up to incline level 9.  I did the entire warm up at a 3.0 mph.

 First the flat bench with 4 sets of 15 at 135lbs.  In between each set I sat on the Bosu and while holding a 6lb medicine ball over my head I did a sit-up, throwing the ball at Zap before I came up for the sit-up.  My first set I did 10, my second set I did 30, and my last two sets I did 50 reps.  

Zap then had me do an incline bench press, 4 sets of 12 at 115 lbs.  I was able to do 12 reps on the first three sets and 15 reps on my final set.  In between each set Zap had me to a push-up style plank on four different unstable surfaces.  The first plank I did was on the Bosu and I held it for two minutes. 

From the straight bar bench press he had me do an incline bench while lying on a resistance ball, I did four sets of 20 at a weight which I’m not sure about because I was pressing from a free motion machine, and the weight stack was behind my back.  In between this exercise I did resistance ball crunches first pressing a 12lb medicine ball, and the final three sets with a straight bar.  I had good video of this part but can’t use it because Zap left the camera running for 2 hours. 

My final superset was to do 4 sets of a simulated decline bench press, and a burnout of bicep curls from a cable machine, 4 sets of 50.  I finished the workout with a good stretch which took about 20 minutes.

After my evening personal training session I went back to my parent’s house to have my mom do her evening physical therapy session.  It’s funny the venomous eyes that she stares at me during her hour of exercise.   Normally by minute 40 she is asking me why I’m not going home, and don’t I have someone waiting for me at home and if I don’t why not?

I had two good workouts today.  I’m satisfied with the results, especially because when I started the evening session I wasn’t feeling as if I had much gas left in the tank.  I did eat an orange before the workout which I think helped create a quick burst of fuel. 

Kent suggested to me that instead of taking an entire week off without any type of exercise, perhaps I take a week where I don’t get any personal training, and do light cardio four or five days.  He even went so far as to suggest the elimination of cardio in the gym, and just up the distance that I walk my dog for a week.  I’m not sure ultimately what I will do, but I know I need a bit of rest. 

Beyond the fear of lapsing to my old habits, I can really start to see the changes in my body.  When I’m driving, I unconsciously will touch my biceps, or flex my chest muscles to feel the hardness below the fat.  Before I got in the shower this morning, I was going off of something Mary had written to me in an e-mail that in one of the videos she can see the lines of abdominal muscles forming, so I was feeling around my gut when If felt abs below the surface. 

I believe truly that below the surface I am developing some serious muscle tissue.  This realization is helping to push me through days like today.  I have a really tough day tomorrow, 2 personal training sessions, a short cardio session, and my core class.  Depending how I feel Thursday morning I might skip my either my cardio work on Thursday or my session with Zap.  Fridays are always a big day of work so a little extra rest might be needed.