Day 57 of 112, half way there...

so today is day 57... im officially half way there, well yesterday was technically half way, today is the down hill day, 56 was the peak, 57 starts the down hill cruise to the end... NOT REALLY. starting today it gets harder, im not exactly happy with my results so far, well i am, but i know i should have more results by now, so im upping the intensity a bit, more carbs, more cardio, more super sets and tri sets... the reason for more carbs is because ive been carb cycling for the past 4- 6 weeks and i dont think the results are any different from when i diet with high carbs, i actually think the results are worse. when my carbs are low then my body doesnt get the calories it needs to heal from the workload that i put it through, so the body goes into panic mode and thinks its being starved, and what happens then is it slows down the metabolism starts to store fat and feed on muscle, which is not what we want... so im putting the carbs back in my diet slowly, starting at around 225 grams a day, then depending on how i feel ill add another 25-50 grams a day... because im adding more carbs then im gonna have to add more cardio and more work out intensity to make sure i use the carbs or else ill store them, which is something else i dont want to happen...
so im going to join another gym, im gonna join anytime fitness so i can do some cardio at midnight after work before i go home and go to sleep, i might even do some 2 a days now... of course ill still be doing my day time weight training at nautilus... im a little excited about joining another gym and seeing what kind of equipment they have... wish me luck...

Day 53 of 112, Leg Day Refreshed...

so im almost half way into my diet, and im feeling a bit flat, so to combat the dullness of the routine ive enlisted the help of my trainer Tabetha... ive worked out with her off and on for over a year and a half now, she always does a good job of mixing up my routine and making me do things out of my norm that i dont particularly like to do (which is a good thing) like tri-sets and such... so today we did legs, with a bit of abs and lower back... abs and lower back are a bigger part of leg day than youd think, they aid in squats, dead lifts and so on a good deal... so we do them together to tie them all in...
today we started with a short jog on the treadmill to warm up, then went straight into a tri-set of squats, leg presses, and box jumps. we did 4 tri-sets of those. then did 4 super sets of lunges, and dead lifts, and then finished legs with another 3 super sets of hack squats and leg extensions... then i did 4 sets of 20 with 110 pounds on the big crunch machine (which i call the crunch master, cause when weighted enough it really puts a nice bit of stress on the entire core i think), and 4 sets of weighted low back extensions... so it turned out to be a really great, and a little over 90 minute workout... that i look forward to doing again next week...
today really put things in perspective for me, and refocused my focus... it was a workout that i needed, and im really glad i did it (although ill be limping till monday, thanks Tabetha :)
this is what bodybuilding is all about, you diet your ass off 24/7 regardless of whether or not your bulking or cutting weight, you workout till you wanna puke, then push further, and when things get rough and you feel like youve hit a wall, you go back to the drawing board change things up a little bit and bust through that wall with full force...

Day 52 of 112 The Fight/ The Dream...

The Fight...
The further into the diet you get, the more you start to feel like each day is a fight, a fight against yourself... after all this fight is my mind vs my body, and each days challenge is to keep going. you drowned out the emotions that are telling you to quit, or the thoughts that tell you youre not making enough progress, those thoughts come everyday. some days you feel like your doing great, some days you feel like you look like crap. those are the bumps and bruises of this fight, but really if you dont let them get to you, who or what can stop you from reaching your goal. who chooses your destiny, who determines whether or not you win this fight, you do... no one else can say start, stop, slow down, or maybe this is too much. no one else can tell you the weights too heavy, or your doin too much. so in short, its you vs you, or as i said before your mind vs your body. thats the fight of the next 8 1/2 weeks, as you dig deeper into your fight, your body says your tired, but your mind and heart say keep fighting... be that monster everyone thinks you are, show your mental strength, show the world where you stand, youve come to far to budge now.. thats what this fights all about...

The Dream...
i have this reoccuring dream, its me the very last day of my 16 weeks. im standing in the mirror evaluating my progress, in the distance i hear cheers, and boos, but i cant see any of my progress, the mirror is just dark smokey grey, then behind me a curtain raises, my name is called and i step onto a stage filled with smoke, blinding lights come on and i wake up... this is the dream that i have over and over, almost every night, kind of vain right... now this dream could mean a number of different things, good and bad.. to me im gonna say this dream is telling me to keep pushing, only at the end can i truly know the outcome... this far into the diet your mind starts wander, and you cant stop thinking about the end and whats its gonna be like. when actually im not really worried about the outcome, i just cant wait til this ones over so i can take my month and a half long rest and start another diet. during the rest ill still be lifting, ill just change my diet and eat maintenance calories instead of being at a deficit. ill reevaluate some, make some changes, and see what else i need to do... this is the never ending cycle of my dream... keep pushing, and never wake up...

"Youve got to save your own life, no one can save it for you." kai Greene...

Day 50 of 112: Pain...

another day of aches and pains, thats the bad thing about the weather change. the sore joints and muscles that we live with everyday get worse, more intense and not to mention stiff... the only thing you can really do is stretch more, warm up more, get sufficient rest, and push through the pain... youve got to remember that without pain there is no growth, you have to hurt the muscle to trigger the hormone release that tells the body to grow and get stronger... you work the muscle to complete failure, you force the body to grow and strengthen to adjust to the workload your forcing it to move everyday... then the rest comes into play, because the body needs the rest to heal... sleep, thats what we need the most, thats when our body works to heal all the damaged muscle cells...
although, good solid sleep has been avoiding me lately... towards the middle of the 16 weeks i start to get anxious, and it gets hard to sleep. i toss and turn all night, and come morning time when the clock goes off i dont want to budge, because i didnt get enough solid sleep... and i know if i could just get another hour of sleep, my knees and back probably wouldn't hurt so bad... plus my knuckles, this time of year some mornings, i cant close my fists, trust me its really lovely... but i still get up, make breakfast, get the boy ready and we head to the gym... gotta stay focused on the goal, no matter how bad the aches and pains are... hell some days i enjoy the pain, it lets me know im alive during this non stop routine. eat sleep train, thats how the week goes, but i cant complain i love this life style... i wouldnt trade it for anything, im living my dream, how about you?