Week 2 Recap… Simplicity & Effectiveness

April 9

Morning Weight: 168.7 @ 6:00 AM

***Scheduled Training Day***
I had pushed Workout C to Sunday (today) because I knew Saturday would be a tough day for a workout. I hadn’t anticipated Saturday being as draining as it was. I had a great time with some awesome people and we ended up going out and staying out pretty late.

Oh, did you think, that I wasn’t going to have any fun while dieting? I was just going to be a hermit crab. Negative ghost rider. Life’s short and it’s good to unwind and hang with some great people when the time comes around.

Now, there are trade offs. Ultimately, I had to push my workout back another day because Sunday afternoon when it came time to train, I just didn’t feel it. I was drained. This brings up another critical point: know thyself.

It doesn’t make you weak to skip a workout when you’re not at your best. I’d much rather forgo a workout then risk injury . Trust me, I’ve worked out when I shouldn’t have because my trainer told me to do it. Got hurt. It sucks. I’ve had to hire a houston personal injury attorney to help me with the lawsuit and over 9 months later and still nursing a hamstring/tendon issue and building strength back up.

Swallow your ego and rest my friend. That’s one thing I hope that this new routine (and the documentation thereof) will demonstrate.

You’ll be surprised about how little it actually takes to achieve results.

Long story short, I couldn’t get motivated to go lift at either one of the two most iconic places to workout on the planet, Gold’s Gym Venice or Muscle Beach. I figured that was a sign, so I decided to take a nap on the beaches of Malibu instead.

Nutrition Notes

Food was kind of thrown for a loop because I had planned on working out and hitting up James’ Beach (as seen in “I Love You, Man”) for some tacos. I opted to stop in Von’s and after about 4 rounds around the entire store, this is what I’ve found…

SMH at the protein number… those are pretty rookie numbers… shitty day of eating but it did the trick, I reckon.

April 10

Morning Weight: 167.3 @ 7:10 AM

***Training Day***

Woke up today and was pretty sluggish. Probably a direct correlation to yesterday’s diet.

I got up and took a walk around the neighborhood. It was not a walk for cardio purposes but rather a mental clearing move that I use when I need to organize my thoughts. Plus, I really needed to get the body up and running and a nice morning walk usually helps.

I think the caloric deficit has caught up to me. As I’ve extended it a bit longer than I would’ve liked. Last workout was Wednesday and I’ve been in a significant caloric deficit for the past 4 days, which is a bit longer than anticipated. Nonetheless, this plan is designed for that type of flexibility.

Workout today was tough but I managed to get through it! Today, came close to one of the rare times I don’t workout fasted but I still chose to forgo a pre-workout meal.

I was already drained before arriving and the squats took the rest out of me. I skipped the lunges. I’ll hit them on Thursday on Workout A. I’m training with a buddy on Thursday; I know he’ll appreciate saving the lunges for him.

***A Few Key Notes***

1. Dead Lifts Effect Squats
Every time I program heavy dead lifts and squats in my workouts, my dead lift will increase pretty consistently, while I’ll hit massive plateaus on squats. I have found this phenomena to be true among my clients as well.

I’m not sure what the culprit is here but I was reminded of this today as I had to scale back my working sets. Something to keep in mind as we move forward.

2. Too Many “Recovery Days”
I probably shouldn’t go any more than 3 days in between training days, if I can at all help it. If it’s necessary to take a few extra days off in between workouts, the caloric deficit shouldn’t be as aggressive.

The sluggish feeling stems from the energy deficit, I speculate. This is a good time to bring up this point, you’re not going to avoid all the bad things on this diet (or any other diet). You’ll find times where you’re hungry, sluggish, etc. It’s just inevitable.

However, we’ll minimize things with this approach. The process will take a bit longer but it’ll be much more easily sustained. I suppose this brings up the “Set-Point Theory” topic but I wish not to dive into that at the moment.

It’s late. I’m hungry. I think I’ll chug some water and call it a night! Here’s the food log for the day:

April 11

Morning Weight: 168.2 lbs @ 7:10 AM

***Non-Training Day***

Energy levels were a little low. Hunger was a bit of a B-Word today but managed not to screw up. After all, I’ve got all you goons holding me accountable. See, you guys bring me value!! I’m all about the symbiotic relationships. I pray that this process brings you guys value too!

April 12

Morning Weight: 168.2 lbs @ 8:05 AM

***Non-Training Day***

Two meals today. I am meeting with a friend from Nashville. She was a regular at our group fitness classes at Quest Performance Center in Brentwood, TN. She is in San Diego for work, so we are going to sync up and destroy some sushi.

Notice, the day before I consumed close to 2,000 kcal. I’m thinking that the caloric deficit is a bit too much. Last week’s average calorie consumption was just over 2,000 kcal, even with some pretty calorie consuming on the two workout days.

***This is the total of the grilled chicken in both meals. I put them all under the same thing in the app to make it easy.

Day Recap
Solid day. I was able to enjoy some great food with good company and not go too overboard with my nutrition. Very pleased with this day. I won’t be able to weigh in the morning as I am staying in Oceanside tonight.

April 13

Morning Weight: n/a

***Training Day*** @ LA Fitness, Oceanside, CA [7 AM]

Workout B
Last weeks workout, I managed to hit all my rep goals so I will increase accordingly on this workout. Typically, I would only do a 5 lb jump each week but because I started out so conservatively, I decided to go 10 lbs this week. This is where experience comes into play.

I was able to hit all my desired reps with given weights. More than likely, I’ll continue to increase by 10 lbs until I feel I need to slow down. I speculate it’ll only be another week or two.

I was very pleased with how bench went. The rest of the workout was really just icing on the cake. The work, at that point, had been done but I was feeling good and had a buddy to push me a little bit, so I took advantage of that.

***these got my hamstrings talking to me… decided to forgo the lunges because of it… hoping that these legs are ready to roll for dead lifts on Sunday. I’m planning on feasting at a nice brunch or dinner for easter Sunday, Keto-dieters be warned.

Here’s the food log for the day:

Supplement Notes:
I typically workout a bit closer to mid day, 11-2. Somewhere in there. Due to the timing of this workout, I utilized NutraBio’s Reloaded Recovery Matrix immediately following the workout.

Utilize “LaToof” at checkout to get yourself a discount on all NutraBio Products

This product provides all the BCAAs necessary to help start the recovery process from the workouts while still allowing me to benefit from remaining fasted. I broke my fast around 11 AM today with a Fit Crunch Bar…

This was the first one I’ve eaten in a good while and I quickly remembered why… the  sugar alcohol content in these bars, always messes my stomach up. Next time, I think I’ll opt for a reese’s cup and protein shake; the macros would probably be better anyway.

April 14

Morning Weight: 169 lbs @ 6:50 AM

***Non-Training Day***

I started doing a Daily Vlog today. Scope it out here!

April 15

Morning Weight: 170.1 lbs @ 6:45 AM

***Non-Training Day***

I got a new phone and couldn’t find the rotisserie chicken that I’ve been using to calculate. I’m not convinced that the chicken I ate today was as fatty as listed. I speculated that my fats are probably much closer to 50g than 76g.

That would drop my calories down to around 1850-1900. A little higher, but ultimately not too bad. I’m looking forward to my dead lift and back day tomorrow. I’m equally looking forward to the Easter Brunch Buffet I’m gonna destroy post workout.

Tomorrow’s Daily Vlog should be relatively easy to shoot. Wake up, go hard in the paint training and eating, then pass out for the remainder of the afternoon…

Happy Easter You Good Looking’ Guys & Gals!

WEEKLY NOTABLES

Nutritionally…

I’ve been breaking my fast much earlier than what’s been typical over the last few months. Noon has been the typical breakfast time and I’ve been fasting into the evening and nights. While I’d prefer to break my fast a little later (honestly, right before bed would be ideal), this set up is the most convenient for my schedule at the moment.

The majority of work is taking place in the evenings so I’ve just been getting all of the calories out of the way around 12-2 PM. Friday and Saturday breakfast came a bit later, 4-5 PM.

***Data Breakdown***

Average Weekly Weight: 168.5 lbs
Average Weight Morning After Training: 168.5 lbs

Overall, a solid week. Workouts were solid. Lot’s of data the past few weeks but not quite enough to determine if changes need to be made to calories.

KEY NOTES:

***Protein number was a down from last week (-17.5g)
***Fat number up from last week (+7g)
***Weight is down from last week (-1.3 lbs)
This is actually a pretty solid number to keep track of. I like this number. Fat loss will be pretty slow but over the long term (12 week plan), 2-4 lb fat loss will be a nice difference.

Stay patient my friends and by ALL MEANS… stay #Relentless

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