Day 38 was Back and Biceps and I must have strained my back during the workout because I'm feeling a bit of a twinge in my back. I did my favorite exercises from Total Body Plus in afternoon and got a great sweat going.

Day 39 and I’m still feeling some back strain. I slept in today and only had time for 45 min of YogaX. It was a nice workout but I did not sweat as much as last week for some reason. After work I ran intervals on the treadmill.

I’m doing a pretty good job of burning more than I’m eating but I have 3 business trips coming up soon and I’m worried that I will not do so well when not at home. My workouts and diet always fall apart when I’m away.

Till next time… Bring it!!

Today was Plyometrics and I really brought it today. I had a great workout and even took the afternoon off.

I have been reading a lot about diet and exercise lately and thinking that I’m working a little to hard. I need to concentrate more on diet. I want to lower my percentage of carb intake and increase fat and protein. Good fats that is.

Here’s a great article by someone that who’s opinion I highly respect Washboard Abs on a High-Fat Diet, No Ab Workouts and No Cardio and it has shed some new light on the topic for me.

I cheated a little at dinner tonight. Today is Fat Tuesday and my wife bough a King Cake and I could not resist and had a 190 cal piece. I still kept my calories lower than what I burned today though.

Till next time… Bring it!!

Day 35 was a rest day and I did rest. From P90X anyway. I ended up having to shovel some serious snow. I wore my heart rate monitor to see how many calories that I burned while out there and was surprised at how many it was. 704 calories burned!

Today, Day 36, was Chest, Shoulders, triceps and ABX. I’m modifying the workouts and bit and decided to skip ARX this morning and do Abs/Core Plus after work instead. And instead of running after work I did a modification of Upper Plus. I just did the workouts that I like. Combat push-ups, 360 chaturanga run, etc.

I think that instead of doing a full P90X plus as a second workout in the after noon that I will do a modified version of it and on two of the days I will run. I can’t give up my runs all together.

Also, I’m focusing more on my diet and with the help of suggestions from others (thanks Boomer!) I’m starting to understand the nutrition aspect better.

That’s it. Till next time… Bring It!!

Today was a very cool day. A full day. The coolest thing was that I got to participate in the 100th episode of the Power Blast Podcast with Perry Tinsley. He Tweeted asking people to join him for the pre-recording of his 100th episode and I just could not pass it up. It was a pretty cool episode where Perry went over some of the details about how he got started and then he had some past guests speak about their experience on the show and some of their favorite episodes.

And he even asked me and another fan if we had any comments. The other person was much more eloquent than I was. I kinda choked but pretty much just thanked him for all that he does. He is a very interesting and inspirational person and you should check out the Power Blast Podcast some time.

Today’s workout was KenpoX but I decided to swap it for Kenpo Cardio Plus. I needed a change.

I also shoveled some snow today, to the tune of about 450 calories and then ran for 1/2 an hour. The running was mainly just to “tune up” my heart rate monitor and adjust the Zones it uses to track my heart rate and the calories I burn. I burned a TON of calories today and am starting to get scared that I am overtraining. But one problem. I’m addicted! I can’t stop!

OK, something I have been struggling with lately is the whole calorie/nutrition thing. I want to lose body fat so, from what I read, I need to burn more than I eat. But I also read that in order to put on muscle, which is something else I want to do, I need to eat more than I burn! I am so confuzed!

And I also read that my running may be sabotaging my muscle increase and that interval and strength training are better than long slow runs.

So I got this crazy idea that I would do a P90X/P90X Plus hybrid workout. Maybe P90X in the morning and then in the afternoon, instead of running, I would do a P90X Plus workout. I really miss some of the P90X Plus exercises and this would allow me to work those back in. I have not quite determined which workouts I’ll do in the afternoon but I should know more tomorrow.

So, if you think I’m crazy please let me know. And if you have suggestions please let me know, I’d love to hear them.

Till next time… BRING IT!!!

Legs and Back flew by today. I felt great throughout the workout and increased reps on many of the pull-up exercises. However I did sleep in again and had to do Ab RipperX before my after work treadmill run.

Not much else to add. I feel great and my weight is slowly dropping again now that my diet is in check.

Till next time… bring It!!!

YogaX was the workout of the day and I actually woke up early enough to get all 90 minutes in. This was a great workout today and I worked up more of a sweat than I usually do. After work I did 4.25 miles on the treadmill and worked some intervals in.

Diet is still in check. Calorie intake is being kept at least 500 below what I burn. Protein intake is close to 1 gram per pound of body weight.

Life is good.

Till next time… Bring It!

Today was Back, Biceps and Ab RipperX (ABX) and it felt great. I increased reps on almost all exercises. I overslept a little this morning so I did not have time for ABX. I ended up doing ABX before my run after work.

I am doing great on keeping my calories in check so far. The next thing that I am focusing on is getting the proper amount of protein per day. I have read in a few places that we should shoot for one gram of protein per pound of body weight. I am having a hard time hitting that so I am going to have a protein shake as one of my daily snacks. I buy the Body Fortress Whey Protein and it has 52 grams of protein for two scoops. I’ll try that for awhile and see how it goes.

Till next time… Bring It!!

Today was PlyoX and it’s still kickin my butt. You would think that after doing it for one year it would be much easier. Well, it’s not! It’s an awesome workout that gets me every time. I was dog tired afterwards.

It feels great to be done with recovery week and working out again. This is Phase II for me now.

After work I got a 4.25 mile run in on the treadmill. I can’t wait until spring when I can run outside again.

Well my diet is back on track. Two days in a row with over a 500 cal deficit. Right on track.

Till next time… Bring It!!

Back in the saddle again.. YES! Wow it is always great to get back into the real workouts after recovery week. I felt great and very strong during today’s Chest, Shoulders, Tris and ABX workout. One thing that I’ll have to watch is that I heard a little crunching sound in my right shoulder while I was doing (attempting) one armed push-ups. No pain, just strange noises. It scared me a bit but since there was no associated pain I think I’ll be OK.

I did great with my diet today and because of that I feel great too. And I got in a second workout today, a 4.8 mile run on the treadmill and now have a nice big calorie deficit going. If I keep this deficit going for 7 days I can be back in a deficit for the month. Right now I am 10,000 on the plus side for the month. Not good!

Till next time… Eat Clean and Bring It!!

This week was a recovery week for me and I did some recovery and some sabotage. I was traveling this past week and I have been finding it VERY hard to stay motivated while on the road lately. Despite my best intentions I eat terribly and don’t hit all the workouts with the commitment that I should. I will be traveling a bit more in the near future and I must commit to eating clean while on the road. That, and I MUST do better at getting the workouts in.

I did workout most days of this recovery week and some days I even did double workouts by getting in a treadmill run in during the evening but I was not as perfect as I wanted to be.

I’m tracking my calories lately and I am way over my daily allowance for many days in a row now. I must do better.

So for the next two weeks, before traveling again, I will really concentrate on double workouts, eating clean and burning what I eat.

I had a great Beachbody experience tonight. As I was catching up on email tonight I saw a Tweet come in from Perry Tinsley of the very inspirational Power Blast Podcast. The Tweet said “Join me in 45 minutes 6:00 CST for an online BB presentation!” so I clicked on the link and was treated to a very motivating conversation and presentation from Perry himself. It was pretty cool to talk to him directly as I have great respect for him and his dedication to his body, his diet, his podcasts and his Beachbody business. We chatted a bit and he went through a new Beachbody coaching presentation that he put together with his team. I am still on the fence about becoming a Beachbody coach but after that presentation I am leaning a bit closer to taking the plunge. It was great to talk with him and if you ever get a chance you should check it out. He does these once a week so follow Perry on Twitter at http://twitter.com/perrytinsley.

So till next time… Bring It!

I’m still feeling a bit under the weather but better than yesterday. I did KenpoX today and really brought it. I felt strong throughout the workout.

Tomorrow starts a recovery week for me and the timing should be pretty good, being sick and all.

I have done a great job keeping my calories very low today. I’m trying to make up for yesterday.

Well, till next time… Eat Clean, burn what you eat, and Bring It!!!

Bad day all around today. First off, I’m sick. Like VERY sick. Like groggy, dry hacky cough, runny nose sick. I woke up at 3 am and could not get back to sleep because I was sooo hungry and felt so crappy. I have been famished all day. I can’t get enough food. And I made some bad food choices today. That seems to happen when I am sick.

So I skipped working out today and made today my rest day. I will do KenpoX tomorrow.

One more negative thing that happened today was that up until yesterday I was only at a 300 calories deficit for the week/month. I was trying to eat 500 calories a day less than what I burn in a day. And because I did not workout today and I ate a ton of food, some of it junk, I am 1443 calories over what I burned for the week. All that hard work for naught. And to further depress me I track a running total of where I should be if I actually did eat 500 fewer calories than I burn in a day and today I should be at –3500 for the month. I’m actually 1443 on the plus side so I’d need to make up (burn or not eat) 4943 calories to be back on track.

To turn this into a positive I’ll think about it this way.

1. This is EXACTLY why I needed to start tracking my calories. Without tracking I would have no idea where I stood and would just be wondering why I am at a plateau

2. I created an Excel spreadsheet to better track my calories eaten vs burned and now I will have an easier time figuring out where I stand. So all in all I am in a better place right now.

So now I know where I stand.

Until next time… Bring It!!

Day 18 was YogaX and it went pretty well. I felt stronger than last week for sure. I have been skipping the Warrior three sequence because I ended up with pretty bad ITBS from doing it but I ended up doing my best to complete the Warrior three sequence during this workout. It wasn’t too bad while doing it but the following day, today, I feel a bit tender in the spot that used to give me trouble.

Later in the day I did 4.5 miles on the treadmill.

Today is Day 19 and was Legs, Back and AbX. I had a rough night of sleep last night and I feel like I am coming down with something and had a hard time getting out of bed this morning. I almost talked myself into sleeping in but my conscience got the best of me and I rolled out of bed. I was too late to do both Legs and Back as well as ABX but I’ll do ABX after work before my run. I had a great Legs and Back workout today and increased my reps on all pull-up exercises by one pull-up.

Till next time… Bring it!!

Today was P90X Shoulders, Arms and Ab RipperX. I love this workout, the glamour muscles. I felt good and strong again this morning but I did feel that slight, and I mean very slight, pain in my right rotator cuff. Mainly in the first set of Overhead Shoulder presses and it seems to go away as the workout progresses. Nothing much to worry about but I will be watching it.

After work I did 4 miles on the treadmill.

Till next time… Bring It!!

Today was a PLYOtastic kinda day. I really love Plyo and I felt great and string today. Good sweat, wonderful workout.

After work I got 4.5 miles in on the treadmill. I was just thinking today that I have been getting double workouts almost consistently for weeks now. Love it.

My calorie counting is going well, I’m really getting into it.

Well, that’s all for today.

Until next time… Eat Clean, burn what you eat, and Bring It!!

Day 14 was a scheduled rest day but I knew that I would be eating and drinking some high calorie/fat stuff at a Super Bowl party that evening so I decided to workout. Twice. I started with shoveling show and then ran 4.6 miles.

And then I totally went overboard with food and drink. I need to learn to splurge without getting totally out of control. Like did I really need a brownie AND a piece of chocolate cake both with ice-cream? I would have been fine with one scoop of ice-cream and a fork full of each of the other deserts. In the past I would have felt a little bummed because I knew that a splurge like that will set me back a bit but now that I have been tracking calories and see what damage I did on that splurge I think I’ll have a new outlook.

To make up for last night and get back into a calorie balance or deficit I now I have to limit myself to 2000 calories for the next two days and shave 200 calories off of the 3rd. Sheesh. I get it now! And that’s on top of my two daily workouts!

Today is Day 15 and I woke up on time (despite only getting 6 hours of sleep) and felt great. I think that all of the sugar and carbs I had last night gave me some energy in some way. Probably filled my glycogen stores. I had a ton of energy this morning and felt very strong, and added a few reps to many of the moves. It was not worth the extra calories but I sure did feel good this AM.

Well, gotta run, literally, and get my second workout of the day in.

Till next time… Eat Clean, burn what you eat, and Bring It!!