Stranglehold on me

Yes, I worked out 3 times today. Normal morning lifts and evening TKD, but a blackbelt I shall refer to as The Juggernaut was teaching a sparring-focused class at noon. PM class was a semi-private workshop (class decimated, everyone playing soccer) on self defense. Now I know how to break someone's wrist or shoulder if they grab my arm, how to knock them backward off their feet if they try to punch me, how to cut off circulation to the brain, and how to escape if someone tries that on me. Until I get a stepladder, midgets and 4th graders better watch out. Ah, the other old ladies would've been so jealous to see me with Instructor Foxy in a headlock (and vice versa).

4:30 wake, Metabolic Drive Complete
5:30 workout 1, Syntrax
7:00 brown rice farina, egg, kosher dog
10:00 chicken, carrot
12:00 TKD
2:00 chicken, egg, cauliflower, butter
5:00 Metabolic drive, met dr complete
6:30 TKD
8:00 romaine lettuce, big mac sans bun

Cals: 1475
Carb: 75g tot(20% net)
Fat: 71g (48%)
Prot: 139.4g (38%)
Fiber: 16g

My Boo (-Boo)

Belated Sunday Post:
One reason I get injured so much is I just don't feel any pain until after the fact. At the end of class I realize that I've turned my ankle, strained my tri, and torn all the skin off the bottom of my toe. But after this little hook kick to the upper arm I stopped and said "Aaah! Ma muh eee mah!" ("Ow, that's going to leave a mark." can't articulate through mouthguard). Isn't it lovely? The site of impact looks normal, but there's hemorrhaging all around it. Can't wait to show her mom, she'll be very amused.
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bfast: part of a monster bagel with egg, cheese, Canadian bacon
w/o: 3h blueberry picking (hiking around steep hill through moss)
lunch: ww pasta, chicken, crudite
w/o: Dad helps me lug two shelving units into my place and carry out stuff that's been cluttering my storage unit. The 40lb Dell monitor that has plagued me all these years is gone at last!
snack: coffee, graham crackers
dinner: salmon, rice, veg, sorbet

Blueberry picking

Ahh, wild blueberries are one of the perks of living way north. Cheechakos might find them a bit tart, but you can taste the arctic sun and spicy moss they grow in. The flabby grape-sized ones in the grocery store are as bland as water. The berries were at their perfect peak today and it was a perfect sunny, breezy, bug-free day to pick them.

4:00 wake (drat!)
5:30 potato, turkey kielbasa, celery
10:00 sesame bagel, lox, cr cheese
1:00 rice ball, chicken, salad
4:00 rice ball
6:30 wh rice, chicken, swiss chard, corn, blueberries, cool whip

Did someone call for a Hero?

I (heart) Robot Chicken.

I had grand plans today, I had the whole thing planned out, balanced, prepped and bagged. Then, I just really really really didn't want to eat to the point that force feeding myself was just going to be a waste of food. I got really banged up at class tonight and now my heartrate is too high and I have a stomach ache from the smoothie. I think it has to do with this batch of pineapple.
--------------------
4:44 wake, grout, green tea
5:30 workout 2
7:30 tilapia & spicy rice
9:00 celery (snack=yuck! rebellion!), latte
12:00 chicken BLT (schedule change, arrgh)
3:00 salad w/ beef (this is my actual lunch)
5:30 ugggghhh, I don't want to eat
6:30 sparring
8:00 PLB smoothie w/ Syntrax, leftover tortellini, 2 sl bread

Disturbo the Anti-Sleep Cat

I actually got to bed on time (give or take an hour) so naturally the cat (who has slept downstairs alone for weeks) decided she needed to join me! There was much digging at sheets, tearing at blankets, and headbutting. She also has this behavior where she lies on her side gazing adoringly at me, then reaches out a paw and taps my hand. Not so adorable at 3AM, 4AM... Oh well.

Her people left her at the pound when she was nearly 15 so I had to adopt arthritic, hyperthyroid, renally insufficient Siamese grandma. I'll miss that squeaky snore when she's gone.
------------------------------------
1:00, 3:00, 4:30, 6:00, 8:00 wake, PLBM smoothie
10:00 egg, apple
12:00 chicken, salad
3:00 tofu, celery
6:00 beef, celery
9:00 syntrax
------------------------
Calories: 1181
Carbs: 92.1g tot (23% net)
Fat: 40.5g (34%)
Prot: 124.2g (42%)
Fiber: 24g
dammit! I was going to be so good today, bad Keiko =(

---

Yet another movie.............

Mostly to be social I saw "Waitress" at the 2nd run theatre with pals. Normally I shy away from chick flicks as they give me hives, but this one had Nathan Fillion in it from Firefly, Serenity, and Slither. He's at his best as the cynical wisecracking Captain Malcolm and the, um, fairly similar dude from Slither. Less so as a paralytically nervous, twitchy, pudgy (!!) doctor prone to staring up at love interest like a basset hound.

There were lots of pies in the movie, watch for a cookbook. Hopefully the cookbook will point out that if you pour cooked custard into a raw crust and put it in the oven, you'll get a rubbery mass of congealed protein. I also suspect that if you put some crushed berries into a raw crust, top off with melted chocolate and bake, each slice will be a 5000 calorie brick of scorched chocolate with a pocket of slime.

So next time: Cage Fighting!!
what? oh, c'mon..... come ooooooonnn!....*sighs*

4:30 wake, grout
5:30 workout 1
6:30 Syntrax
8:00 tilapia/spicy rice, peas, coffee
11:00 big salad, chicken, toast, JIF
2:00 boiled egg, 1oz cashews, celery
6:00 missed TKD @$%#$!!!, beef, gr beans
8:00 met/lime/pineapple/berry smoothie
---------------------------
Cals: 1540 (yay)
Carbs: 132.5g tot (26% net)
Fat: 54.6g (35.7%)
Prot: 142.3g (37%)
Fiber 30g
I figured out why the percentages don't add up, veggies have more calories than can be accounted for by non-fibrous carbs...Not my algorithm, not my problem =)

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Does this bo-duk make my butt look big?

belated Tuesday post:
OK, ok, I'm back. My internet is back (don't like blogging in the lab), my eating is back and I'm cheerful at being back in the gym. I also found my tripod who had lived in the coat closet for the longest time until I decided to put it somewhere "logical" the last time I used it. i've been searching for it for days now and finally decided to pile up some boxes in lieu. Then I opened the drawer where the camera lives and there was the tripod... see, logical!

Anyway. My very good friend Tim the Asian Fetishist said "Aww, send me a picture of you in your sparring gear!" and although he knows damn well what I look like, I suspect he harbored some faint hope he would see "Foxy Tough Sweaty Fight Girl" rather than "Dork in Padded Headgear"
7:00 grout
8:00 HIIT 1m/90s x 4
9:00 oops!
11:00 peanut butter crackers
12:00 salad w/ flax, chicken
3:00 Metabolic drive, pineapple, berry smoothie
4:30 nap
6:30 TKD
8:00 tortellini in pink vodka sauce >=)
I thought I'd feel like a bloated pig this morning but instead felt really hard, maybe my muscles have been flat from low-carbin' it

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Ron Jeremy & the Fount of Useless Knowledge

1) Speaking of movies, if you ever rent a Docurama documentary, the DVD includes a huge catalog of trailers to watch which is how I happened upon the only RJ movie I have ever seen, "The Legend of Ron Jeremy". Many years ago, I thought I had seen him. An old boyfriend wanted to watch a porno a friend had lent to him and never having seen one, I wanted to know what all the fuss was all about. My impression was that it was a remarkably boring series of 30s scenes of bizarrely augmented Barbie women primped, bleached, painted within an inch of their lives pretending to have a very good time with men who--although they obviously spent some time at the gym--couldn't otherwise be bothered to shave their backs. I pointed out one particularly ugly dude who looked just like a muscular Shane McGowan (I love you, Shane, I do not wish to see you naked -->). He told me it was the legendary RJ who was so unspeakably hideous he was known as "The Hedgehog". In fact, old boyfriend had no idea what he was talking about and RJ is just that balding, dumpy dude who shows up in tiny cameo roles in movies.

2) I have no idea what people see when they meet me, apparently she is smarter, kinder, gentler, sheltered, shy and prudish, certainly not someone who has a sense of humor, kicks people for fun, lifts weights or spontaneously re-enacts Mrs. Conclusion/Mrs. Premise skits with her best friend. Anyway - my doppelganger probably is good at remembering useful information like important historical figures, molarity calculations, her zip code etc. when in fact all that has been crowded out by things like Pogues lyrics, bizarre phrases in foreign languages, and pointless useless fascinating facts on all subjects.

3) Did you know........."Jeremy" is his middle name, he was not a bad looking guy when he was young, he is a terrible comedian, he is a Jew. I'm looking forward to springing this useless knowledge on the unsuspecting.... I wonder how many people name their hedgehogs 'Ron Jeremy'?
--------------------------------
Sunday-
9:00 GoLean, Metabolic Drive
12:00 br rice, peas, gr beef
3:00 Spirutein, lactaid [BLARGH!]
6:00 huge party at parents'

Speaking of 15yo boy demographic...

"Slither" was fine cinema. Subversive, hilarious, icky AND it had ZOMBIES, fast ones!
Watch clip and hopefully not notice that I did not eat today. Will be more diligent tomorrow.

----------------------------
breakfast: muffin, latte
12:00 br rice, peas, gr beef
6:30 wh rice, snow peas, salad, beef
8:00 chocolate chips

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Huzzah!

I got my new bo-duk today. My old one is made of really heavy material and is a little too narrow for my torso so I have to keep pulling it closed and it makes me look hugely fat. You would think ninja-jammies would be the most forgiving workout clothing ever, but they make you look like you are as wide as the widest part of you and give you an artificial beer gut.
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8:30 pineapple/lime/berry smoothie w/Metabolic Drive Complete
12:00 peas, gr beef, brown rice
3:00 same as lunch
4:30 nap
5:30 toast, neufchatel cheese, coffee
6:30 sparring
8:00 farewell dinner for friend (fish & chips, vodka & tonic; actually the food came around 9:30 or 10:00, great service)

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Movie Binge Week

My Netflix were piling up and I really wanted to see "300" on the big screen. Vivi knows I'm a reliable source of recommendations for quality cinema so:

I secretly wanted to see "The Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift" after I saw the trailer. Then it turns out a high school friend who is now a professional translator in Tokyo worked for the director so I HAD to see it. She's supposed to be in the credits, but the type was so miniscule I couldn't find her name. I was rearranging furniture, from what I saw it was quite an entertaining flick.

"300" was gorgeous and now I want to see the "Making of" to see if they shot the whole thing in front of a blue screen. Way better than Brad Pitt in a skirt... which I did not see... Brad Pitt will always be "Earlie" from "Kalifornia" to me.

"Jackie Chan's First Strike" is a classic. I love Jackie Chan because he makes everything look so hard. Also Nathan Jones who is awesome because he is 6'10" and has gotten his ass kicked onscreen by the trifecta of tiny Asian men: Jackie Chan (ok, he didn't really get beaten up), Jet Li, and Tony Jaa. I would love to see Nathan Jones get a huge part as the monster in a sci fi movie. Come to think of it, my Netflix queue probably falls within the 15 year old boy demographic...
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My stomach was horribly upset all day (as it has been for 2 or 3 days now), I suspect the GoLean Crunch =(
8:00 wake
9:00 metabolic drive complete, GoLean crunch, orange
12:00 chef salad w/ minimal bleu cheese dressing (I ate the egg, and picked the lettuce out from around the chicken, cheese, and bacon), 1/2 single bag SunChips
4:00 rest of the bag of SunChips
5:30 toast, neufchatel cheese

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The week so far....

has not been a stellar week for diet and exercise. For some reason I'm listless and frustrated and while not low-energy, not enthused to expend any. I have trouble getting to sleep, staying asleep, and waking up. My knees, shins and feet are inflamed and my back has been tweaky for weeks now. This all annoys me because I had time off the week of July 4th. I got to bed late on Monday so I tried going to the gym to lift in the afternoon, but then the Crazy Lady was in my squat rack and I've seen her spend 40 minutes on one piece of equipment doing the same exercise so I went to do HIIT instead. About 10 minutes later this dude who smelled like dirty laundry and sour milk got on a machine upwind of me so I had to leave. Kicked the heavy bag for awhile, but I had a doctor's appointment so I left (Crazy Lady still in squat rack). On the plus side, my blood pressure is 100/64. When I had my overtraining/chronic fatigue it was up around 120 and my pulse was in the mid 70's and I couldn't get across to the doctor that it was really abnormal for me.

Dietwise, I decided that the two days keto, one day normal was stupid because I won't eat enough and just end up wrecking myself again. I even took a whole free-day on Sunday and ended up not really eating because I didn't feel like it. Part of the problem is that since my teens my stomach doesn't normally give me any hunger signals. There are more subtle low blood sugar signals, but I have to be paying attention and usually the progression is mellow, chilly, spacy, fatigued, shaky, then suddenly weirdly alert and energetic. Then, since the nadir of being sick, I don't get food cravings anymore. There are certain things I don't keep around--like pasta or Cheetohs--because I'll demolish them if they're in my vicinity, but I don't really crave them.

And then I was pondering my metabolism. I'm pretty much a mesomorph: short, big shoulders, above average strength for my age/sex/size, always 99th percentile for the goofy Presidential Fitness Tests even though I didn't do any sports, put on muscle really fast, etc. Looking back, I started getting sick three years ago, there was a downward spiral for a year and a half, then I quit going to the gym spring semester last year, a year ago I started being able to walk and do bodyweight exercises and I've only been lifting again since the end of last year. In all that I really didn't lose any strength and my lean mass is now more than my original bodyweight when I should've just shriveled up.

I don't think I have a slow metabolism, per se, I tend to be too warm rather than cold, was never cold even at 10% bodyfat, burn off alcohol really fast, while not loud fidgety person am not a languid sleepy person either (unless I'm hungry) and often get a frustrated that other people tire so quickly. I know I don't do well on a high carb, low-fat diet (tried it, that was the previous fattest time ever) and that LISS (anything I can do for 45 minutes is LISS even if it's 80% of "max") does nothing for me. I also know that high protein, low fat (i.e. chicken breast & broccoli) causes a weird blood sugar crash and I'll collapse and be unconscious for 2 hours or just feel sick.

So I don't know what the plan is now... For the rest of this week it will be "don't snap", get some sleep, do some HIIT Thursday, Friday, Saturday, go to TKD, go to sparring class, go back to how I was eating before. Evaluate. Raise calories to 1600 (not including fish caps) and stay on that for a couple of weeks. I didn't see much difference between 40/40/20 and 30/30/30 so I'm not going to sweat the ratios. Maybe try calorie cycling with an average of 1600/day and see if that shakes things up. Anyway - right now it's just "get through the week".

Today was an I Give Up sort of day:
bfast: metabolic drive, GoLean, orange
lunch: chicken caesar salad
snack: metabolic drive, 2 shots espresso
dinner: grilled burger and fries (I'm not sure how much I ate, I was at the 2nd run theatre watching "300" and my burger self-destructed halfway through and it was too dark to see what I was eating)

Easiest, Tastiest Sauce Evar

I can't remember where I got the original recipe for crockpot (I thought it was Stella's, but it's not). There were other flavoring ingredients which I think are unnecessary and I just cook it in the oven. It's great on tilapia, so I think would go well with other white fish or tofu, even.

Peanut Salsa Sauce
1lb chicken (or fish or tofu)
1c chunky salsa
1/3c natural peanut butter (JIF + salsa = abomination)
-- Mix all ingredients together, put in casserole dish, bake at 350-400 for about 30m or until meat is done (or cook in crockpot).
-- I like to cut the chicken breast (which I HATE) into little pieces so they all get coated and it doesn't taste like chicken.
--You can just make a quarter recipe (or more) for 1 piece of fish, coat the fish on both sides and bake til flaky. If it's a thick piece of fish you might want to cover the dish with foil so the sauce doesn't burn. OR try making a foil packet and then you won't have to wash the dish.
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9:30 Metabolic Drive, GoLean Crunch
1:30 grapes, salad, chicken thigh
4:00 2 graham crackers w/ JIF, 1/3 cinnamon roll
8:00 corn, salad, stir fry, chicken, rice
Dessert: angel food cake w/ strawberries and light whipped cream

Cals: ~1474
Carbs: 216g tot (52% net)
Fat: 33.8g (23%)
Prot: 84.5g (23%)
Fiber: 25.3g

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Why we use quotation marks

Our fearless leader speaks out about Hurricane Katrina:My big bro sent this to me, lol. I think if it were my job to type the News Flash, I'd appreciate the opportunity for zingers too.

In other news, despite putting about a day's worth of carbs in my post tkd 'snack' I was only up 0.2lb this morning. NOT that I'm getting all tied up in the numbers or anything. Mass x gravity aside, I have cheekbones again, the spare tire is slightly deflated, and I'm down a millimeter or two in the skinfold so all is well. I guess I wouldn't be averse to having a keto week occasionally, I would just time it better so it's not right before the bloatation phase and when there are no dining events.

Today is closer to normal despite yesterday's planned schedule. I'm not being no-carb today no no no no no no no no no no no

6:30 wake (!!), grout & diet Pepsi
8:00 workout 1
9:00 Syntrax
9:30 green beans, turkey sausage, 1/2c brown rice
12:30 salad, chicken thigh, light honey mustard dressing
4:30-5:30 pineapple/lime/berry/protein shake, carbquik muffin, Kraft FF single, beef jerky
(for some reason my watch got reset one hour late so I missed my 3:00 snack)
6:30 sparring class
8:30 broccoli, peanut salsa tilapia, carbquik muffin, neufchatel cheese
-----------------------------------
Calories: 1508
Carb: 153g tot (31% net)
Fat: 46.7 (31%)
Prot: 142.9g (38%)
Fiber: 38g

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aaaaaaaand I'm OUT

I don't think I'll keep this up much longer, it's too hard to get enough calories to keep my iffy metabolism from crashing completely again. I've been averaging a little under 1200 calories which is about 500 cals below what I should be eating and 250 less than what I have been. I was down 5lb at one point, went up one pound after dinner at the brewpub, then despite sticking to the diet went up to 130 where it's held steady for 3 days (vs the losing ~1lb per day before) I don't know if it's hormonal or just diminishing returns. On the plus side, I think my head has returned to a more normal size and my new comparison pants are almost wearable in public. Now the trick is to transition out so I don't swell up like a pig.
The plan is to carb cycle thusly:
........Monday,Tues-low (45/10 carb/45)
........Weds: normal (1550 cals, 40/40/20 fat)
........Thurs,Fri-Low
........Saturday-normal
........Sunday-high (1700 cals, 50/30/20)
Calories will cycle as well, I'm sure there'll be a cheat in there at some point =)
--------------------------------
3:00 wake
4:30 Metabolic Drive complete
5:30 workout 2, HIIT (30/90 x 4)
6:30 Syntrax
7:30 2 hotdogs, 2c broccoli
10:00 egg, bell pepper
12:00 salad, chicken thigh
3:00 skipped
5:00 peas, chicken thigh
8:00 peanut chicken, eggroll, toast, PB (yep, it's the freak out)
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Cals: 1511
Carbs: 105.7g tot (20% net)
Fat: 59.7g (40%)
Protein: 139.2g (39%)
Fiber: 28.5g

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The Maligned Anchovy

Long known as the malodorous little fish plaguing pizzas, our wee friend the anchovy is actually a source of omega-3's and the secret ingredient in Caesar salad. On a bleary morning overcast with the prospect of another ketogenic breakfast, why not yank random food off the shelves, mix them together and hope for the best? The rich, savory flavor of anchovies drowns out the gag-ariffic taste of eggs while frozen green beans add a squeaky texture.

Anchovy Magnifique
1 can anchovy fillets w/ capers
2 boiled eggs
1c steamed green beans
Chop ingredients and mix together. Enjoy!
(disclaimer: I'm joking. While I did detect some potential here, it was above all blindingly salty and I couldn't finish it either way)
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11:30-2:30, 4:45-8:30 sleep
9:00 2 eggs, anchovies, green beans
12:00 chicken breast, cucumber, green pepper, lettuce
3:00 supposed to be the same as lunch, but I couldn't eat it
5:30 buffalo wings, cucumber, green pepper lettuce
8:00 Metabolic Drive, 1oz beef jerky
-----------------------------
Cals: 1179
Carbs: 26g tot(6% net)
Fat: 65g (55%)
Prot: 123g (42%) these still don't add up
Fiber: 6g

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Gabriel Sings!

Gabriel Grimaldi is the world's greatest guitar maestro... just ask him!

6:30 coffee, Metabolic Drive
7:30 HIIT 8x[30s/60s]
9:00 steak, 2 eggs, brussel sprouts
12:00 salad w/ chicken breast, flax oil
3:00 turkey sausage, green beans, peas
5:00 Metabolic Drive complete
5:30 - 7:30 TKD
8:00 peas, 2 chicken thigh, coffee

----------------------------------
Calories:1548 (woohoo)
Carbs: 60.4 tot(10.7%net)
Fat: 76.3g (49.3%)
Prot: 154g (39.8%)
Fiber: 18.9g

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TMI Alert!!

I thought these two weeks were going to be the "Dr. Berardi Poo-Like-a-Horse-Diet", but 10-12 servings of green vegetables per day contain a surprisingly small amount of fiber. Looking back, a lot of fiber came from the oranges and berries and MRP I am not eating. I am cheating a bit on this diet, i.e. the eggs and protein powder. Also I am taking my supplements because nothing disrupts sleep like the late night charley-horses. I'm not having any cravings and I wonder if it's from the 6g fish caps because I heard they prevent sugar cravings.

8:00 wake
9:00 egg, coffee, broccoli, smoked oysters
10:00 workout 1 (redo week 5!), ran out of time and skipped HIIT. Took a really nasty elbow to the teardrop last week and now my vastus stings when I do step-ups so I just did them faster than I was supposed to
12:00 shredded cabbage, chicken, beef stir fry w/ olive oil
2:30 same as lunch (couldn't finish)
5:00 2 shots espresso, 1 scoop chocolate whey, 1 scoop Metabolic Drive, cream
7:30 dinner at brewpub
----------------
Pre-dinner stats
Cals: 987
Carbs: 39.1g tot (30.3% net)
Fat: 38.5g (39%)
Protein: 122g (49.4%)
Fiber: 8.8g

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Walk in the woods

In the lab today catching up on stuff. Even though I live in the wilderness/gulag I really haven't been out in nature this summer (bugs, sunburn) so during a long boring reaction I walked for about an hour on the trails: fields of flowers, cool green shade under the trees, bright red and blue damselflies, tiny orange butterflies all under a sky full of puffy clouds and a cooling breeze! For all my whining about heat-induced insomnia this has been a really nice summer. Every few days when it starts to get hot, there comes an evening rainstorm that cools things off. Now if my neighbors would just stop blowing noxious fumes out of their nostrils all night I could sit out on my deck...

Having some trouble stuffing in all the food when I get up late. Otherwise I feel really good and I'm not sore at all which makes me suspect I've eaten something I shouldn't. Oh well, I'm sure at 6 AM tomorrow I'll be crying a pox upon Scotland AND Canada.

2:30, 3:30, 5:30, 8:00 wake
9:00 canned oysters, 1/2 artichoke
12:00 chicken thigh (I could not heat up my green beans because the break room microwave is smarter than me. I have never seen such an interface, I think that's why someone 'donated' it to the break room)
3:00 coffee w/ cream, ~4oz round tip, green beans, brussel sprouts
6:00 lettuce, broccoli, halibut ~2" piece corn on the cob (oops, but it was grilled!)
9:00 Metabolic Drive, Syntrax, Green Magma
-------------------------------
Cals: 952 =(
Carb: 33.7g tot (10.1% net)
Fat: 32.6g (34.2%)
Protein: 125.6g (52.8%)
Fiber: 9.7g

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Brain fog.......?

It takes me two days to reach ketosis and the spacey foggy fluffy brain tells me I'm probably there. I feel like a furnace (or a fever) supposedly from all the thermic qualities of the food I've been eating. The other way I can tell is that I notice food commercials. A BREAD commercial? How utterly cruel! Next thing you know the Sushi Council of America is going to show slow motion closeups of steaming rice being scooped into bowls.
My activity for the day was helping my parents clean out the attic. My dad would hand boxes out to me on the ladder and I would rest the box on my clavicle and descend the ladder letting the box slide on the rails. Open box, exclaim over childhood. Ascend ladder. Repeat for hours.

8:00 wake (trouble sleeping)
9:00 1/4 artichoke, sardines, 1c broccoli
1:00 chicken thigh, peas, gr beans, smoked salmon, lettuce
4:00 3oz turkey sausage, 1/2 artichoke, broccoli
6:00 organic beef patty, 1c steamed collards
9:00 2 scoops metabolic drive, 1T flax oil
-----------------------
Cals: 1216
Carbs 51.5g tot (11%)
Fat: 59g (48.5)
Protein: 128g (42.1)
Fiber: 18g

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Increasing NEAT

I wonder if I'm just too sedentary when I'm not working out. Sometimes if I'm doing lab stuff I'm on my feet for hours, but, when the machine is running a 3 hour reaction I end up at the computer. Then when I'm at home, my place is not huge and there's only so much puttering I can do before it's time to sit down and put all my food in the spreadsheet and figure out what to eat for the next day. Part of the problem is that I'm a pasty freak. Sat outside last week for about 15 minutes wearing SPF 70 and still managed to get burned and broke out in a rash where I burned. I don't like the sun. I'm happiest at 10 degrees so I feel trapped indoors when it's hot and sunny out (even at this latitude) which puts a damper on afternoon walks.
---------------------
4:30 wake
4:45 Syntrax whey
5:30 workout 2
7:30 peas, green beans, chicken thigh
10:00 chicken, broccoli
12:00 turkey sausage, romaine lettuce
3:00 canned oysters, broccoli
5:30 Syntrax whey
6:30 sparring
8:00 romaine lettuce, 2.5oz tofu (neither of these are on 'the list', oops)
practice patterns
10:00 2oz turkey sausage
--------------------
Cals: 1222
Carbs: 51g tot (11% net)
Fat: 47.5g (38.9%)
Protein: 146.3g (47.9%)
Fiber 17.5g

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Wherein I contemplate a challenge...

They are having a challenge at the Precision Nutrition forum and I was thinking of tagging along. Not officially registering because a) I'd have to purchase PNv2.0 and I have an e-book moratorium on myself until September b) there's an excellent chance that I would make no visible progress c) I actually bought PN and sent it back because it appeared to be the 7 Habits discussed ad nauseum more than a useful reference. I also thought the recipes used a lot of ingredients and looked like catfood. However, the 7 Habits are excellent guidelines which I have sort of been following except for the past few days because I re-read BFFM and thought it would be ok to put some starch in my non-post-workout meals.

ANYWAY - it kicks off with 2 weeks of a thinly disguised ketogenic diet which is one step down the crazy ladder from Lyle McDonald's insane 600 calorie per day low fat protein and green veg diet. I actually did the insane diet for two weeks and didn't lose any weight during the nadir of my mystery fatness disease. HOWEVER - maybe I'm better now and a 'kick-start' might provide some motivation...

8:30 wake
8:45 2/3c GoLean, 1/3c diluted Silk, boiled egg
12:00 3oz turkey sausage, 1c brussel sprouts
3:00 1 chicken thigh, 1c Romaine lettuce
5:30 TKD
8:00 1 can sardines w/ mustard, 1c peas
-----------------------
Calories: 784
Carbs: 60.4g tot (22.9% net)
Fat: 30.8g (39.3%)
Protein: 66.3g (33.8%)
Fiber: 16.5
hmmmmmmmmm. I don't think this is going to work. I'm not hungry at all and my metabolism will totally shut down with this little food...

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Oops!

OK, today basically sucked, but I'm recording it all in the name of accountability. Was going to take a walk, but it was sunny and hot out by the time I woke up. I was going to do workout 2 with just the weights I have at home, but decided that I should finish painting my cabinets. So my activity for the day was lugging cabinet doors out to the deck, sanding, painting, etc. I did do a lot of step ups from a step stool up onto the counter and back down again. They were all done one-legged and very controlled so I wouldn't kill myself. Then to top it all off, I went to see a band. This involved dinner and beer. The venue also had a clever business design of no air conditioning + selling ice cream. I would've come out right about on target calorie wise if it hadn't been for the Haagen Dazs bar, lol.

8:30 wake (!!)
9:00 Metabolic Drive, 1c GoLean
12:00 pineapple/berry/lime smoothie, 1/2 container tofu, 1oz Doritos
note: I have smashed the rest of the Doritos in the bag into unappetizing crumbs for salad, this should prevent any more temptation
3:00 orange, 2 eggrolls
note: almost out of damn eggrolls. no more cheating!
7:00-11:30 chicken caesar wrap, beer, cider, ice cream bar

Not counting chicken caesar wrap
Calories: 1784
Carbs: 220.7
Fat: 56.9
Protein: 66.6
Fiber 27.7

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Wherein I formulate a cunning plan

...to get my paws on a kettlebell. The next time I'm in the states, I'll have it shipped to a nearby friend and then schlep it home in my luggage. The question is: baggage or carry-on? If security sees a big metal ball in my suitcase are they going to call the bomb squad and detonate it on the tarmac? The other scenario would be me at security check going, "Well, comrade, it's called a girya used by Soviet Special Forces to --hey! where are you taking me? Help! Help!" Next post: "Greetings from Camp Delta"...

7:30 wake (I can't sleeeeep)
7:45 GoLean, Metabolic Drive, diet Pepsi
9:30 skipped, bad bad
12:00 peanut chicken, peas, brown rice
3:00 boiled egg, orange
5:00 Metabolic Drive complete
5:30-7:30 TKD
8:30 spicy rice, broccoli, salmon, big salad, decaf
-----------------------
Calories: 1510
Carbs: 153.6g tot (31.8% net)
Fat: 44.8g (29.7%)
Prot: 135.3g (35.8%)
Fiber: 33.7g

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Murphy's Locker room Law

Why is it that if there is one other person in an otherwise deserted locker room, her locker is always right next to mine?

Today begins Weeks 5-8 of Afterburn. I know it took me like 8 weeks to get through weeks 1-4 what with travelling/plague and all. But I didn't let franken-toe keep me from lifting, in fact I think lifting helped me recover faster.

Workout 1:
------Superset 3x [24 co-con lunges, 12 wide-grip cable pulls, 12 Romanian deadlifts]. My arms are tired after the pulls and it's impairing my deadlifts, but I don't want to use straps and look like a wuss =)
------Superset 3x[12 decline bench press, 24 step ups, 12 reverse curls].
The tempo for these is much slower than for the first phase so even tho I'm doing fewer step-ups they really really hurt. I also have to do four HIIT workouts so I'm going to double up on Mondays. On just HIIT days, after I finish my intervals I get to play on the heavy bag as incentive. I'm going to take both Saturdays and Sundays off and do some kind of active rest because the gym doesn't open til noon which is just a pain in my tuckus.

4:30 wake. didn't really sleep, but feel ok
4:45 grout, coffee
5:30 workout 1, 4 rounds HIIT
6:30 Syntrax
7:30 chicken, (steamed!)green beans, brown rice
9:30 egg, orange
1:00 1/2 serving peanut chicken, green beans, rice
3:00 pineapple/berry/lime/MD shake
7:00 huge salad w/ beef, 1 piece dark chocolate

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Calories: 1423
Carbs: 142.1g tot (31.5% net)
Fat: 35.6g (22.5%)
Protein: 145g (40.8%)
Fiber: 30g

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