the (other) fall classic

Dialing it back

crmsn2010 — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:55:31 +0000

Whew… sorry to keep writing these posts, I know I’m going to start sounding whiney but just the beginning of the most killer couple of weeks right now. More term papers being assigned, parts of them already coming due this week and next - my final project for a graduate-level class (intimidating enough) is 100% of my grade, and due next week already! Yeesh! (Actually, I’ve been keeping up with that, so it’ll be okay.) Observations and stuff to keep in mind for me this week:

New phase of HGM (3 - advanced); this means I’m doing heavy weights and strength focus - DEFINITELY my weak point in training, so I’m excited to work on it and turn weakness into (lots and lots and lots of functional) strength! However, this does mean I’ll also be switching up my schedule; strength training takes time, and college students only have so many hours the gym is open and we’re out of class, unfortunately.
Hoping/praying my work gets done and done well this week - gonna take a lot of effort, but that’s all right.
The Game - our big football contest with you-know-who - is in 2 weeks. I’m in charge of the tailgate chili cookoff (of course) so I’m super-excited to get this one going…
I’ve got to dial back/dial in my diet. I’ve only been eating clean and was intending to put on some weight, but the fluctuation has been 10 pounds over the course of the 52DC, which seems like A LOT of weight to have put on, although I do feel strong. I think it might be overdoing the reload days, so I’m thinking I might finish up the 52DC on plan B, just to minimize the fat gain and hopefully lean out a bit while still building strength around my workout.

Another killer Wednesday

crmsn2010 — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 23:24:25 +0000

… in the books. The good news is I keep plugging through ‘em, and things are actually going really well. School’s going all right. (Ironically, you transfer your sophomore year to supposedly the toughest school there is, and classes get more manageable that you’re able to substantially up your courseload? I’m not willing to ascribe it to anything other than work - I’m not classically “bright” but I don’t have a problem with the workload. But let me just say the better scores are extremely gratifying, especially when you’re lonely without your girlfriend and trying to distract yourself with work.)

As for the 52DC, I’m doing pretty well I think - I think the missing piece in my puzzle, at least before, has been intensity. As you can see by my numbers and my little schpiel about school above, I’m the “steady” sorta guy. Slow and methodical discipline is my speciality - I can tamp down the right foods on a diet like none other, and I feel pretty much no “cheating” temptation. (The one thing I have to watch might be portioning - thank God for TNT’s flexibility on that.) But when it comes to pushing myself to where I’m uncomfortable, well, I’m uncomfortable with that. But for these 52 days, I promised myself I would push for overload when I was lifting, I would get myself to bed on time, etc. And I think it’s paying off.

All the best for you guys today - sorry I know I haven’t been around much for support, but hopefully as things calm down a bit soon I’ll be able to give more encouragement!

Back at school; back at it.

crmsn2010 — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 01:59:59 +0000

Had a good rest; now I’m back for 3 weeks ’til Thanksgiving to get some serious work done, in the 52DC and especially on some term papers, etc. Let’s get to it!

On being connected.

crmsn2010 — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:34:33 +0000

Whew - Wednesdays are always the toughest, but this one felt a bit shorter because I was able to lop off an hour of class time in exchange for two midterms. (Maybe not quite an equal exchange, but I felt okay about it!) Looking forward to going home this weekend SO much; as a bit of a “homebody” it can be tough being away for long stretches - thank God for family plans on cell phones to keep the lines of communication open when they need me to sort something out for them (be it a family feud or, more likely, computer problems), or when I need them. Obviously, the same goes for my girlfriend in Scotland, too - it’s good to be connected. If you extend the concept a little bit, I think it’s a reason I’ve really liked the 52DC so much, as well. Talk about community - you guys really know how to pick each other up. The advice and cheerleading is just top notch, and I’m really glad I’m a part of it. Obviously, you can chalk up a little bit of success to anything (and mine is mostly due to leaving a lot of effort on the gym floor that I used to not utilize), but the motivation and accountability, not to mention good advice, is probably the reason why I’ve finally, after months of trying, started to notice some physical differences in myself. Maybe not in the weights moved, but that’ll come, with a little time to rest this weekend and a little more effort in the future. In the meanwhile, celebrate every relatively lean, 2-pound gain, right?

Good all-around day

crmsn2010 — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 22:35:30 +0000

Got up on time, got my workout on first thing like I love to do, and got on with my day. It being midterm season, that day was pretty busy, but mostly filled with good news - got a preliminary thumbs-up on my research paper and a hint from a teaching fellow that a midterm went well (that I thought did NOT). Can’t complain at all, then! Other than that, got some more midterms (of course) tomorrow, a research review to type up, and I’m outta here on Friday morning. (Can you tell I’m looking forward to it?)

The one thing I will say that struck me as a “gotta work on that” is my exercise intensity. I feel like I’m pushing myself to where the workout says I should - max weight for 3 set of 10 - but my numbers go up SUPER slowly, don’t go up at all, or even go down a bit on occasion. I think it’s just finding that little bit more to dig deeper, but wanting to maintain good form is also a factor. So, just gotta try to get the most out of it however I can!

Feeling SO much better

crmsn2010 — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 03:40:29 +0000

Which is great, because I usually take a week or more to kick a sinus infection. A little rest (I think I may have brought it on by not getting enough sleep for my stress level right now), and we’re good to go again! Next up, this week - midterms (2 more), and a few papers. The bigger papers are starting to come due, but thankfully not ’til after Halloween. This weekend, I get to go home, though, which makes me really excited. Trying to resolve one sticky issue, though, which maybe the TNT readers of this blog could help me with. I know we’re having chili, with beans, served in little baby pumpkins. I am very meticulous about staying on plan, especially on TNT and most especially during the 52DC. However, even though I am quite proud of having lost nearly 100lbs since 2 Halloweens ago, this is still my extended family - picky eating gets made so much fun of, and I’m already the butt of jokes about coming home and being an annoying houseguest, not eating their food. Plus, pumpkin chili sounds good. (Obviously, I’m staying the hell away from the candy!) So I’m trying to decide what to do in terms of my reload for this week. Since it’s pretty unlikely that it’s gonna be low-fat chili, it’s not ideal, but should I start my normal Saturday reload with this carbo-loaded chili on Friday night, and keep going into Saturday? Should I not reload Saturday and just do Friday (which is hard since I’m traveling cross-country and my schedule will be weird, but I can try)? Or should I just have the Friday reload meal and then skip Saturday until it gets more normal next week? Choices, choices… but who can complain about having to decide what to eat when you’re home with your family!

still sick, but fighting through it.

crmsn2010 — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 01:14:20 +0000

I chose all small letters for the title because I’m feeling kind of small today, aside from my massively inflated sinuses. I’m prone to sinus problems spring and fall, and I’ve got a pretty bad one this week. Thankfully, I got all my resistance workouts for the week in before it got really bad this afternoon. I don’t really know where to go from here - hopefully a lot of rest this weekend will help a lot. I’m planning on hitting the sack in an hour or so here, just to try to sleep it off. I’d really like not to miss any days but if I have to, so be it. Cardio tomorrow is all there was planned for this weekend, so if I have to recoup and try on Sunday I guess I will. HIIT would be a beast with the way my head is right now.I totally admit my perfectionist and slightly obsessive tendencies - I think it’s sometimes responsible for holding me back, because I am tempted to tweak before I see how anything works. Already I’m battling myself over whether to reload tomorrow - I’ve been having carb shakes all week, am I on plan B or D? I don’t really know, and I’ll have to figure it out, but I think coming to peace about this sort of thing will take some time. It’s just in my nature to obsess. And when I’m sick it’s doubly bad - my body doesn’t act like I want it to, and I just feel like throwing a little-kid tantrum (that is, if I could work up the energy!)On the other hand, sitting home on a Friday night and sipping green tea instead of going out with the guys does have its advantages. I’m getting a bit of work done, I’m getting to write soul-searching blog entries like this. And so on. All the same, I hope this cold goes away soon - I wanna do my Saturday sprints and grocery store run!Hope you’re all having a good start to your respective weekends.

Ugh…

crmsn2010 — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 03:35:24 +0000

Midterm went okay (we’ll see). But I’m getting wicked sick, all congested and a sore throat to boot. No matter - I always feel better after I work up a sweat, so I’ll be able to do that first thing tomorrow and I’ll be right as rain.Had a bit of trouble staying on the plan, but I was able to eat clean (if a bit light on the calories) today. After an unplanned “cheat” where I found out something was made with sugar earlier this week, I’m determined to stay on track. That said, it was easy as the food at my special dinner tonight wasn’t that good, especially for a law school fundraiser… Did these guys seriously raise $450 billion dollars (that’s a SERIOUS number, no joke) in the last 5 years by serving cruddy whitefish and sweet potatoes? (Take a few forkfuls of the whitefish, leave the starch, and wait for cottage cheese and fish oil pills before bed!) Hope today was a good one for y’all…

Wow midterms make me wanna die(t).

crmsn2010 — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 22:20:22 +0000

Seriously, hitting the gym is such a stress reliever right now. Midterms and papers suck anywhere, but without saying any more I’m kind of putting myself through the maximum meat-grinder courseload at a pretty tough little school. So it’s good to have family in town and dinner out to look forward to tonight. Hope you all had a good day, worked hard, and kept it clean!

Wow, it’s chilly all of a sudden!

crmsn2010 — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:15:15 +0000

Boston is freezing… I forgot how quickly the weather turns around here. It’s actually kind of bracing to get up and go to the gym in this - early though it is (6:15 today), it feels kinda good. My dad’s in town this week, and really wants to get a good fitness program going for himself, so I’m a coach as well this week, which is fun. Didn’t get off to a great start today though - poor guy made his knee a little tender doing lunges, and had to run out to a business breakfast at 7:15 a bit hobbled. I’m going to take it as easy as I can on him, but I think he might actually be able to stick with a plan I’ve got for him (HGM stage 1), so that’s encouraging. With him, as for pretty much everybody, I think the key just comes down to diet. He’ll cut calories all day, but then be ravenous at dinnertime. And that’s just not the way to go about it… Oh well, we’ll work it out for him. Like anything, it just takes time, I guess.