Mr Phi

Soooo sore. I’m trying out this new workout program called 20 squats. It’s been pretty brutal on my body. Basically you do 20 barbell squats then follow it up with three circuits of pull-ups, dips and sit-ups.

The squats act as a testosterone booster at the start of your workout, so every exercise you perform after will be more effective for muscle gains.

Looking forward to see what results I get.

Did some shopping today at Sprouts. Nothing fancy, just bought ingredients for spaghetti with meatballs and salad with chicken. It’ll be my lunch and dinner for the next few days. I also bought eggs and sausage for breakfast. As I was picking out food, I kept a mental tally of how much protein I’d consume in each meal. I was aiming for about 30 grams per meal.

Breakfast

• 2 Eggs = 12 grams
• 2 Sausages = 18 grams

Snack

• Mixed Nuts = ? (haven’t counted them yet)

Lunch 

• Meatballs = 28 grams

Snack

• Protein Shake = 30 grams

Dinner

• Chicken Breast ~ 30ish

Grand Total = 118 

With the mixed nuts that would bring me pretty close to 150 grams, so that would be near the 1 gram of protein per pound of weight recommendation. Well it would be if I wasn’t overweight. I’m sitting at 184lbs but ideally I should be 150lbs.

I’d hate for my hard work in the gym to go to waste simply because I didn’t eat right. So I’ve been trying to maintain my focus not only on routinely working out, and eating relatively healthy.

Eating fast food on a daily basis doesn’t sit well with me. I’d like to avoid it as much as possible. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some fast food. But it really is awful for your body.

I know what I’m cooking isn’t the best for me, but it’s a start, baby steps right? I sort of fell out of the habit of cooking since I’ve left California.

This whole diet and exercise business can be time consuming, sometimes I just want to say fuck it. But I know down the road I’d regret it. 

My treadmill runs have been improving. I feel some initial discomfort in my foot/legs at the beginning of the run, but it passes after ten minutes. I can breath comfortably, rather than gasping for air as I did before.

My workout schedule has been erratic. Some days I’ll run for 30 minutes, others I’ll do weight lifting. It’s a self-discipline issue, so in the mornings when I wake up I try to get out of bed as soon as possible before my mind has a chance to talk me into sleeping in. You can never trust yourself in the morning, the idea of sleeping in is going to sound too good to pass up.

I’ve also noticed a change in my thinking, I use to have more negative thoughts, but since I’ve been working out I feel more positive about everything. 

I’m off to find some new workout music, my current playlist has become stale. 

The hardest part about working out is the start. I took about a year off from the gym and my fitness level is pretty crap.

I was only able to run for 5 minutes treadmill, then I’d have to walk for a bit to catch my breath, lol. That was about two weeks ago, now I can do a 30 minute run without much trouble. I’d like to hit 45 minute runs eventually, but I don’t want to over exert myself. 

I’ve also switched my running shoes to Vibram five fingers, this allows me to run in a more natural manner. Instead of landing on the heel, I land mid-foot. Since I’ve made the switch I can feel some soreness in my upper foot and calves.

I use to look at running as a tool to cut the fat once I’ve built the muscles from weight training. But now I see running as the most important part of my workout routine. It gives me a sense of well-being that I don’t get from weight training.

Don’t get me wrong I’ll still weight train, but it won’t be my top priority. 

My current workout schedule goes as follows.

Monday - Friday

5:00am Run for 30 minutes

Monday/Thursday

6pm weight train

So there’s usually 2-3 days between weight training days for adequate healing.

I haven’t really fleshed out my weight training program, at the moment I’m just doing basic stuff like chin-ups, dips and incline bench press.

I’m not too fond of the idea of leg weight training. If I do I’d be sore for days and I wouldn’t be able to run. I’ll think about it some more, maybe I can squeeze it in later.

I’ve also been looking into more nutrition again, but that’s a post for another day.

Miserable, I hate all this wisdom tooth business. It’s like every night midgets take turns dropkicking me in the face.