Day 135 - Slowly but Surely

In the last week or so I was able to get some exercise in, including one class of kickboxing and one session of PT. I was short of breath a bit at kickboxing (lungs still not great). For the PT, I was a bit short on energy (appetite was low that day so minimal caloric intake). Got a great workout in for the PT though and my legs were sore as hell for days after. Still not 100% but getting there...

Day 126 - Out of action

A nasty cold has me sidelined. If there is any truth to "catching a chill", then my run last Friday was been the death of me. By Saturday I had a sore throat. Sunday I went to kickboxing and shouldn't have. By Monday I was full-blown sick and sucking on Buckley's like it's sugar water. I've found an odd truth though - when my throat is horribly sore, Buckley's feels damn good. My sinuses are so damn plugged I can't really tell how bad it tastes so Buckley's really does taste like sugar water.

In other news though, even my personal trainer commented last week that it looks like I've lost weight. I'm starting to notice it myself now too. I'm also noticing some definition taking shape in my shoulders which is very cool. This is all happening despite my lack of a decent weight-loss diet. If I didn't feel all pukey when I eat "well", I'd probably look like GSP now, all six-pack and Quebec-like. What that last bit means I don't know.

Day 120 - Cool Runnings

About 11-12 k today straight. 1 hour door-to-door. Thank you orthotics.

Day 117 - Running again

Finally got in another run today. Maybe I was just waiting for the rain to abate first...

Anyhoo, set out for Beaver Lake again. This time I got in 4 laps plus the trip there and part way back. All said and done, probably ~6k. The COTing (cycle of throbbing) was MUCH less today, in fact I don't think I experienced any throbbing at all, just a little soreness in the left foot. My shins were complaining when I first set out but they went silent after about 5 minutes. Probably the least pain-filled run in over 4 years. A fresh new blister and a lack of water did me in today, but I was happy with the result. It also happened to be a great day for running in Stanley Park...

Day 109 - Kickin butt

Graduated to a high green belt tonight. This is really the first "serious" belt, where the expectations get harder, the workouts get harder, etc. Apparently I nailed by spinning back kick!

Also, in that last two days, I've had two more comments that it looks like I've lost weight. The scale still says the same thing but I know I'm much stronger. I guess the fat->muscle conversion is going well.

Day 106 - More on running

I went for a run on Friday and it was a pretty good one. This time, I ran errands on either side of the run but basically ran some of the trails in Stanley Park. I included 2 laps around Beaver Lake (1km per lap). Probably about 1km to the lake, gradual uphill, then 1km in reverse for a total of ~4km. I stopped after about 3km but I could have pushed it. All said, it was a decent run but with the usual "cycle of throbbing" in the feet. The weird thing about that throbbing is that immediately after the peak of throbbing pain, there is a moment of near-zero pain where I feel like my feet just want to take off like rockets. I remember that feeling slightly when I once (and only once) experienced runners euphoria. It's the same feeling of lightness, absolute understanding of my body's capabilities and focus. But with this throbbing cycle, it only lasts about 10 seconds and is not total-body.

Anyhoo, I'm glad to know that the 8km wasn't a fluke.

Tonight, I just did a 20 minute "intermediate" cycle on the treadmill, mostly to work out some aches in the shins and get some cardio for the day. I followed it up with 50 squats using a medicine ball a la "truck driver squats", then a superset of leg extensions and leg curls, 70 lbs each, 4 sets of 10. The weight was light so I'll up it next time and bring down the sets.

Tomorrow is my day with the personal trainer since Wednesday I have my kickboxing grad.

Day 100 - 100 Freakin days!

Didn't actually work out today. Had a few appointments that sucked up my day but I wanted to jot down some notes from the last couple of days or so.

First up, I haven't written about diet for a long time. I gave up trying to adhere to the kind of diet needed for proper weight loss. I'm even running a bit shy on protein these days. All in all, I'm just avoiding crap and making sure I eat enough to not feel pukey all the time. As far as that goes, my energy and abilities for exercise are a lot better now that I'm back to "normal" eating. So I'm making better progress on the exercise, "proper" diet is still shelved for the time being.

Kickboxing has been going well. I got my fourth stripe on my green belt yesterday, which means I'm set to graduate this month to the high green belt. In our club, high green is more or less the first serious belt. It's also the target point for a 2-year stint. At class yesterday, I was pre-tested for the new belt and I gave it my all the whole time. I was able to keep up a good show of strength for the whole time, which is a testament to what my personal trainer has been able to do to me. The testing is a brief, but very intense fit of activity. My core strength is pretty decent and it shows.

After kickboxing, I tried to get in a quick run to keep up the orthotics acclimatization but I think my feet were already beat from kickboxing. I got in about 4k with a couple of stops for throbbing feet. No arch pain though, so I'm hoping this is just part of the adjustment period.

Day 93 - Upper Body Day

I'm down to 1 workout per week with my trainer, so I need to do some sessions on my own. I'm aiming for one upper and one lower per week. The PT session will be a mix of things, with heavy focus on core.

Today I started with upper body at the gym in my building. There are a few things I can't do there (like standing one-leg cable rows), but I can get a decent mix of exercises in. Here's how today went:

*Seated Cable Row - 100x15, 100x15, 100x15
Dumbbell Curls - 25x8, 25x8, 20x8
Dumbbell Kickbacks - 15x15, 15x15, 15x14
Dumbbell Chest Press - 30x15, 35x15, 30x10 (overdid it on the second set)
One-Arm Bent-Over Row - 25x15, then abandoned due to back pain
*Cable Bicep Curl - 60x15, (60x10, 50x5), 50x14
Pushups - 20, 6, 10 (not sure what the hell happened there...)
*Cable Tricep Pushdowns - 50x15, 50x15, 50x15

* weight in pounds I think - all others kgs

Overall, my tris and bis were well cooked, chest was not. Didn't touch shoulders and my back wasn't up for the challenge today. Next time I might focus on back and shoulders since I need those for kickboxing more than big arms.

Day 92 -Welcome Back Seawall

8km!!! After 4 years, I finally ran the seawall nonstop around Stanley Park! The part that I run is a bit over 8km but considering I haven't been able to run more than about 2km straight, this is just amazing! My arches were sore almost the whole time but my toes weren't numb at all. I knew my legs were done at the 8k mark but I managed to run through a wall at ~5k so it was a good day. In three short runs I went through this:

1. total of ~2km, mostly walking
2. total of ~4km, 50-50 mix run/walk with a solid 2k stretch
3. total of ~10km, with the first 8km straight, then ~2km to walk/jog home

That is a pretty significant escalation of capability which I have to attribute to the orthotics. Finally, I might be able to lose some weight now!!! I also just thoroughly love running on the seawall...

Day 90 - Orthotics Trial part II

Got in my second run today with the orthotics and what a difference! My feet hurt, my toes hurt, my shins hurt and even my knee made the sore roll call. But, after about 15 minutes of that, everything settled into a weird long-paced throbbing groove. About every 2 minutes or so, everything would suddenly start to increase in pain, reach a peak, they fade away leaving me with about 2 minute spurts of running bliss. I was able to run for a stretch of about 20 minutes straight which I haven't been able to do for a long time. I hope it's a sign of things to come...

Day 85 - Orthotics Trial

Finally got my orthotics last week but they came a bit too late to try them out until today. I was surprised how thick the buggers were. I took the insoles out of my runners and popped in the orthos. When I put my feet in there they felt like they would come out of the heel of the shoe on every stroke. Turns out that fear was unfounded, but it sure did feel weird at first. It also turns out that my cross-trainers don't have removable insoles so I either have to get new ones that can accommodate the orthos or not use the orthos in the gym. For now, I'm going to go with the latter.

As for the trial itself, I took a quick jont around Brockton point in Stanley Park. There were plenty of new aches which I new were going to come along. My left foot, where the original problem was, felt like it was now being over-compensated and I was getting some pain in the OUTER side of the arch. All the toes had some numbness on the left side while the right stayed relatively fine for most of the run. Near the end of the run, I had a slight tinge of shin splint on the lower inside right shin but it didn't persist. All in all, I never felt the old aches and pains, only new ones...but the new ones still stopped the run well before my cardio was going to give out. Still keeping my fingers crossed that this will do it.

Day 71 - Time off again

Taking time off for a summer trip to the Okanagan Valley (just got back from) then off to Pasadena for a conference. Won't be getting in any big workouts but I do want to try and get some stuff going while I'm on the road. I've never been good at doing the exercises on the road and I didn't get any in while I was in the Okanagan. Hopefully Pasedena will be better.

Still no news on the orthotics...

Day 66 - Back in action

Awesome session yesterday. I wasn't expecting much cause I injured something on my hip at kickboxing on Sunday. I figured I injured it doing stretches before class and when I described the most likely time of injury, it jived well with what Sean figured I did. We stretched the hell out of my upper IT band (tensor fascia lata I think) and Sean worked on it with thumbs and elbows. I screamed like a little school girl but when it was over, that injury didn't affect any of the exercises. We did a lot of plyometric exercises which drained my tank big-time... I was able to increase my numbers on the exercise ball hamstring exercises so they're coming along nicely.

I should mention to that a lot of my kickboxing exercises seem easier these days and it's all due to the increased core strength. Core strength training isn't sexy or fun but the results can be magical.

Day 64 - End of the no trainer era

Tomorrow it's back to normal. How did the week go with no trainer? I'd give myself a C+. I got in two isolated gym sessions (one lower, one upper). Both were light and I would consider them 'maintenance' sessions only. My muscles were not sore the day after on either workout. I did get in two kickboxing sessions as well - both good. Today's kickboxing session was cool. We were doing elbow strikes for the first time (other than in Kata). My energy was good and I was hammering the pads and I realized just how powerful that strike could be if you could use it properly. In the locker room after class, a few of us were talking about the spinning back kick and how to tweak it for best effect. Normally, the kick is from the fighting stance with the back leg doing the strike. If the legs are close together in the stance, this is do-able, but if the stance is wide, this kick will be hard to hit straight ahead. In the latter case, you can step forward with the back leg, cross it in front of the front leg while doing the spin, then do a back kick with what was the front leg. This maneuver also covers a lot of ground and apparently is frightening to see coming at ya!

Anyhoo, I've had two independent comments that I'm looking buff these days so I guess the training is doing it's thing. I still haven't received my orthotics so serious cardio is still on hold, as is the spare tire area.

Day 58 - No trainer, no training...

You know what they say "No pain, no pain". My trainer is out of town today so I can goof off. But for some reason, I'm not. Damn discipline training MIGHT be setting in.

Training on my own has never been my favorite activity, but I don't want to loose any ground for when I do get back to training with Sean. I don't expect to get the "barely able to walk" or "can't lift my arms over my head" sort of training if it's just me, but I want to keep the momentum going.

So today is legs day. Went down to my building's gym. Here's what I got in:

5 minute warm up run on treadmill
Squats on the floor with a 4kg medicine ball extension out from the chest (30 x 2 sets)
Shuffle squats with a low (4") bench (~12 x 2 sets)
Exercise ball hamstring extensions (15 x 2 sets)
Exercise ball plank extensions (15 x 2 sets)
Burpee/pushup/jumping pull-ups (~6)

At this point, the only other person in the gym was pissing me off so I left. The f**ker seemed to have little concept of shared space. There was about 2 more sets of exercises I wanted to get in so I may have to go back. Got some good burn in though.

Day 57 - F**kin Arches

And I don't mean the Golden ones...

Went down to the gym in my building tonight to get a nice cardio workout. Went on the treadmill and cranked up the elevation to 15. Set the speed so I could stay on the damn thing and get some good arm swinging. At around 8 minutes, my arches were screaming. By 10 minutes, I was done. All this while I was hitting a really nice target zone for heart rate. My orthotics might be here this Thursday so I'm praying to the f**king arch gods.

F**king fireworks are about to start. Better go shower so I don't stink out my girlfriend while we cuddle.

Day 55 - Day off

Glutes are sore, quads are like jelly. Upper body still sore from Monday. Definitely time for a day off. Normally I would have hit kickboxing at 11:15 but I advised myself against it. I think I'll just get my neck stretches and back exercises in and call it a day.

Last night after dinner, I started getting lethargic...really fast. I basically passed out or shut down and had a nap - something really unusual for me. I like naps though so it was kind of cool. :) I then woke up and promptly ate some watermelon while we watched the fireworks in English Bay. Sappy music but otherwise China's show was pretty damn good.

Day 54 - Legs

Like a potato sometimes, my legs are baked. Good heavy session today. I left with wobbly legs. The really cool thing was no pukey feelings at all today. Perhaps related to this is that I haven't exactly been sticking to a particular diet. I just make sure that I eat enough to have a strong workout and try to stay away from crap. I'm almost certainly getting too much in the carbs department and not enough in the protein department...

Turns out my current protein powder seems to have a hint of cassein protein to it. Some of the shakes are not tasty unless they are chilled down. My frozen blueberries help the chill but sometimes I add ice cubes. More than once I've skipped the shake because of the dreaded taste I knew it would bring. Nightmares of the old pure cassein days...

I also haven't been taking my one-a-day vitamin, CLA and I've been hit and miss on the glutamine. I'm definitely not taking the glutamine before workouts and I've been playing around a bit with having it about an hour before bed. Heard that works well. I'm pretty sure it was the glutamine or the vitamin that contributed to my pukey feelings so maybe I'll add back in the vitamin to see if the brings on the stomach contents.

Today's exercises brought on the need to engage my lower back a lot and it wasn't fully up to the task. My shoulders are also tight since I've been really hit and miss on the stretches. Have to get both of those things going again...

Dasy 52 - Numbers are up again

Had a good PT session. We're back to upper/lower alternating days now that my pukeyness has settled down a bit. My numbers were back up to what I was doing before the big holiday lay-off so that's good. No big pukey feelings today either. Nutrition was decent, drank lots of water, motivation was pretty high.

Yesterday, my kickboxing club had their annual BBQ at Ambleside Park. It was pretty much the only day in July to rain but luckily it stopped just before we started. We had class at 12:00 on the grass. I like working outdoors like that except for one thing - the Canada Geese were roaming and feeding freely on the grass and what goes in must come out. Part of the exercise was following instructions, part was avoiding shit. Not everyone brought shoes and you could hear exclamations from our shoeless peers as they "encouuntered" some goose leftovers. I myself only hit one bad patch, unfortunately, I was one of the shoeless folks... Next year, I'll know better. I'm thinking of renting some sort of vacuum and hit the field before hand or maybe camp out there and scare off the feathered buggers for a few days straight. Used to eat them back home but in urban settings that is somehow not cool. Especially the part where you use a 12-guage shotgun to harvest them. Oh well, I never really liked the taste anyways.

Ended up getting a pretty decent workout from the kickboxing class. My calves were sore and so was my lower ab. Lots of jumping jacks and clapping pushups were to credit for that good stuff.

Day 48 - Podiatrist

Just got back from my podiatrist appointment. Went over the results of the taped-foot run from June 12. The two aches I described are apparently common ones from that sort of thing. Heel pain is from the tight taping around the ankle, shins splint from the padding twisting my heel a bit too far. I went over the feeling of poor circulation with him and described in some more detail what was going on. It so happened that even walking the 5-6 blocks to the clinic brought on that painful feeling.

In the foot diagram, it roughly shows the area where I get the numbing and achy feeling. The podiatrist said that that is more indicative of muscle or nerve pain, not circulation. Circulation pain would give more of a lateral pattern - i.e. all the toes. He tapped around the foot a bit, poked and prodded and concluded the most likely scenario is muscle pain in the arch. So we casted for orthotics and I'll get them in 2 weeks, try them for 3-4 weeks then see him again for a follow up.

I'm hoping this does the trick because I want to get back into running. My winter fat layer is going nowhere without so good sustained cardio baby!

Day 47

Managed to get my nutrition stabilized a bit for today's PT session. I also put off having the glutamine until after the workout. Last but not least, I brought a water bottle with delicious cold H2O with me and kept up the hydration during the workout.

Session went well. No major pukey feelings that stopped the show. Just a solid cardio workout. The legs didn't get the same monster workout as on Monday which may have made some difference. I'm really happy with the results today though.

I was getting mad at myself during the one-leg, running-row thingy exercise we did because I couldn't seem to keep my balance. Sean reminded me to make sure my core was engaged and voila, balance was back. Subtle but powerful. It's because of things like that that paying a personal trainer is worth it. I would have dragged that exercise into ad futilitum...

Kickboxing last night was good. We had a good class of light sparring and I learned of 2 of my weaknesses for being faked out. First was when my partner hits me with some left and right jabs/hooks to keep my block occupied and more importantly, blocking my view from the round kick to the head. I couldn't see that bugger coming until it hit me. Counter? Open up the block a bit to prevent against the kick and give visibility to see the kick coming. You have to adapt the block a bit more for the punches but as they say taking a punch is better than a kick to the head.

The other weakness was falling for the old "I'm going to make you think I'm throwing a jab, then I'm going to use my fake jab momentum to transition into a spinning back fist and pound your head" trick. Don't know the counter for that one yet.

In the plus category, I was getting a bit better at reading some body language for kicks and even managing to block some like the instinctual animal fighter I am. :)

At the end of class, we lined up to do squats and as we're going up and down with our arms up, our instructor was punching us in the gut. Makes you tighten those abs pretty well.

Day 46

Yesterday's PT session was the first "real" one in about 4 weeks. My mental state was good - I wanted to go hard and ignore mental blocks. I hadn't eaten well - slept in late, only got one meal in before the session, but felt ok.

Session started well. We hit the legs hard with lots of squats and jump shuffles and my numbers were good. Sometime after the majority of the leg stuff, I hit the block I wasn't prepared for. My old friend Hurl. Hurl didn't actually appear that day, but he was sending me a lot of messages.

This was a different kind of pukey feeling this time around. As I was sitting on a bench trying to keep Hurl from appearing, I had time to describe how I felt. "It's kind of like I want to sort of fall asleep and have the puke dribble out the side of my mouth. Different that the projectile feeling of pukeyness I had before". It was just the utter tiredness of it all that I don't even think I had the energy to put into giving the puke the velocity it so wanted. If it was coming, it would have to climb out of my throat on it's own.

After lying on the floor for a bit then stepping outside for fresh air, we lightened up things a bit and hit the arms. With about 15 minutes left in the session, Hurl wasn't calling anymore.

That pukeyness is a bit of a show stopper and I think it comes from the heavy leg workout, but I'll have to watch for it on arms days. The sessions are still fantastic though. I like being able to do a lot of the jump shuffles with no breaks, especially if I pull them off clean. All the squats help my kickboxing immensely and my extra energy level showed through well at my kickboxing class on Sunday.

Day 42

The first session back after my vacation was a real bitch. I had the capabilities of someone who just came off major bypass surgery. I think I was mostly finished after about 15 minutes but we dragged it out for the full hour. The next day, my quads were screaming sore and I was starting to walk like something was shoved up me arse. Who would have thought that two weeks would do that? At one point in the PT session Sean mentions "I'm only laughing because it will get better". That's the kind of day it was.

Starting that day, I tried to get the diet back on some sort of decent direction so I cut out the Salt and Vinegar chips. Just kidding. I managed to get back to eating some normal food and eating more than 2 meals per day, none of which are deep-fried. I also got some protein powder started up again and added back in the glutamine today.

Second PT session for this week went much better. I mentioned how glad I was that the gym has that fake wood flooring cause it would make vomit cleanup so much easier. I avoided that experiment by at least a full minute as I lay on the floor at the end of the session hoping my guts wouldn't spill out. As much as that sounds bad, the session was good. Energy levels felt right back up there and I didn't wimp out on too many things.

Today's session really highlighted something for me. I've always known a lot of guys that can just push through the pain and discomfort and ultimately get the most of their workouts. I'm not that guy. Once I feel that wall, every fibre of me says "Take a break buddy. Wouldn't some salt and vinegar chips be good after this is over?". I've been battling that asshole in my head for some 30 years now. He always won. Lately though in kickboxing and now with Sean, I'm tapping into that competitor. Today, I was at that give-up-point a few times but then I turned on the mean face and pounded through a few more reps until I was truly done. I kept thinking "If I do better today, it will be easier tomorrow". There was some other little asshole voice that piped up and said "with those extra reps, you've earned a few chicken wings". Haven't heard that asshole voice since university. Anyhoo, if I can tap into that tough guy more regularaly, I actually see how one can get in shape. The goal seems to be that if one can push oneself to the point of puking, one has done well with discipline... :p

Now I just have to get back to kickboxing.

Day 39

I've been off now for the better part of 3 weeks. Quick trip to Tofino then 2 weeks in Manitoba. Four meals per day was an impossibility so I didn't even try. Protein intake was low because I didn't bring powder. Meals were whatever. I even satisfied the salt and vinegar chip craving I was having. Ate a lot of fish so that was good. Drank a hell of a lot of coffee.

Back home now and I have a session tomorrow at 2.

Day 18

Woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Groggy and achy. Nutrition has been so-so today. Not all that hungry for some reason.

I went to my naturopath this morning and had acupuncture and procaine injections in my shoulders to ease up the traps. A couple of the needles hit a real tight spot and wow! I'll see in kb tonight if it helps.

Day 17

PT sessions are back on track. Today's went about a million times better. Focus was good, energy was good, exercises were tough but felt rewarding. My balance seemed pretty decent today.

Diet was good today. Small cheat in portion size for dinner - my stomach was howling!

I have a bunch of vacation coming up where the diet and exercise will not receive as much attention as they are now. First up is a short trip to Tofino, then on July 1 we head to Manitoba to visit family and get a bit of fishing in up north. Close to 3 weeks that I'll be away from home. Sean's lining up some stuff for me to do while I'm away, then it's up to me to actually do it.

Day 16

Last night at kickboxing, I thought I'd press my luck. At the end of class, we finished off with pushups and I thought I'd give the normal pushup a go. Turns out my core (i.e. abdominal injury area) took it well! I didn't feel a tweak down there at all! Either the work I've been doing with Sean has aided the rehab of that muscle pull or it's finally healing on it's own. I suspect it has more to do with working with Sean since he makes me focus on tightening the abs in almost everything I do. When I tighten my upper abs, my lower abs don't have to engage as much. I suspect the upper abs are already a LOT stronger. Bottom line -- it's nice to be able to lift my knees of the floor when I do pushups... :)

Day 15

Had an off day yesterday. Focus was poor, energy level was low and I was giving up on the last couple of reps for almost everything during the PT session. The night before was the night I had pizza and I also had trouble sleeping that night. I ended up cranking away on my laptop at 1:00 am and went to bed exhausted. For one reason or another I had no coffee yesterday and I think that may have given me my temporary ADD.

My lats were still sore from Monday but I got some decent backwork in and some arms and chest work before I had to go to the mens room to hurl. Felt a LOT better after that so with a little help from Scope, back to a final couple of sets. I was sweating so bad that a stream of sweat ran into my eye and stung like hell.

Today, my nutrition is back on track and I should make it to my 1:00 kickboxing class. Energy is up, and the ADD is gone. Would have been a great day for PT...

One thing that is obvious from the last few PT sessions is that my legs are in decent shape strength-wise, but not my upper body. Stamina can use some work overall. I'm guessing the legs have had decent workouts from a year and a half of kb, arms not so much. That will change pretty soon. I'm also looking forward to seeing the effects of better balance. Sweet stuff!

Day 13

Biggest diet cheat so far. Pizza. Not going to even try to offer any excuses.

Day 12

It's painful to put on underarm deodorant today. Either the lat muscle anchor point or the little muscles right above them that wrap into the arm pit. Wow. Apparently I have the pull-ups to thank for that one. It's also tough to raise my arms above my head.

No pain, no gain though eh? Last night at kickboxing, the class flew by faster than it ever has. I realized at one point that I was having a bit of fun with the exercises, mentally challenging myself to do a little extra or exaggerate movements. This is what made time pass so quick. It's a sign that my fitness is already picking up because I normally have to pace myself a bit more. Another alternative is that I'm just simply feeling more confident about my abilities. Whatever the root cause is, the effect is new.

As for diet, the last couple of days have been off-days for sure. Nothing crazy, but I'm down to 4 meals including the shake after a workout. I've had some business meetings that take me away from home and the timing shifts meal times to the point where it would be tough to eat again at the next scheduled time. I'll need to get a bit more savvy with the sandwich as my out-and-about meal.

Sean put my legs through a hell of a workout today. Not as wobbly as I feared when it was all said and done, but I had to pause twice going up stairs an hour later. No pukeyness today.

I was planning on going to kickboxing tomorrow morning but everything on me hurts right now. If it's any worse tomorrow I might take the day off although my girlfriend has the day off and wants me out of the house so we'll see...

Day 11

Another fantastic workout yesterday with Sean. I felt like I was going to puke more than once and sweat was running off my head like crazy. We did upper body and my shoulders are still dead today. Although we haven't done a lot of isolated exercises for the arms, my biceps feel like they are already strengthening a lot. Balance is picking up. Most of the exercises we do (upper or lower) involve having to balance in some way (one arm chest press on the ball is a great example). My wobble-legs aren't as bad as last week so I'm starting to be able to concentrate on the movement and the balance comes a bit more naturally. A "bit" being the operative word. :)

On the food front, I'm seeing some of the drawbacks of the high protein diet and am going to need to get some more of what All Bran has to offer. May need to swap out the breakfast shake for something with a LOT more fibre or get some more Omega-3's in the day. I'm probably going to up the fish intake and decrease the red meat as well. Picked up some Montreal-Style Chicken Seasoning to hopefully make the chicken breasts a bit more appealing. I'm also going to try and go for a more crispy (i.e. grilled) version of the chicken breast. Baked just don't cut it.

I made some ahi tuna with green onion for lunch at it was pretty tasty. One thing this diet is making me do is think about healthy ingredients to make a meal tasty. Normally, one can just add sugar, salt or fat and the meal will almost automatically be flavorful. Without taking that carefree approach to food seasoning, I actually have to use some sort of creativity. It might make me a better cook!

Injuries aren't hurting at all today. Kickboxing tonight...

Good Run

I had a nice run today. I chose to run from home to the South Creek trail near the Rose Garden in Stanley Park, then skirt around Beaver Lake until I hit the North Creek trail. Up to Prospect Point and then down mostly the Bridal and Tatlow Trails.

I just mapped that out on a cool little site and it comes out to 5K. Not a lot of distance but I chose that route because the North Creek trail is a nice incline up to Prospect Point and a good test of the state of the legs.

The foot injury started acting up a lot on the incline but not enough to stop the run. No hint of the heel or shin pain from when I had the pads taped on my feet. On the decline I felt no pain at all. Circulation was a bit bad but again, not enough to stop things. I hope this is a sign of things to come...

Day 8

The last two days have been tough diet-wise. My body and mind are revolting against the diet like never before. I've been pukey on a somewhat common basis, energy levels low and the idea of eating the food that I have on my list just disturbs me.

So, I've been out for a couple of sushi lunches and stuck well to healthy options (with lots of shashimi for protein). My carbs increased on these meals for sure but fat stayed low. That's always been one of the greatest things about sushi - you can always get tasty and low fat. Low carbs isn't quite as easy. Because it was some of the first tasty food in the last week, I ended up eating a bit more than the scheduled portion size.

Last night, I still couldn't get out of the crappy food revolt so we ordered from a Mexican restaurant. I forgot how a lot of Mexican food can utilize veggies a lot - think salsa. I ordered a chicken breast meal (2 flattened, baked or poached chicken breasts, tomatillo sauce). That in itself is pretty decent. I just couldn't stay away from the damn taco chips and rice. The beans were probably a bit more creamy than I expected and again, I just couldn't stay away.

So, that's my cheats going into the weekend.

Today, I just knew I couldn't eat that crappy plain old bland oatmeal on it's own so I put it in my shake. Very palatable that way and makes breakfast just a little bit easier to make and clean up. I hope I can make this one a go for a while. I need some stability in my meals.

Podiatrist Appt

Just got back from my podiatrist appointment. Apparently my arch on my left foot is collapsing a bit when I walk. The tendon that anchors in the arch and runs up to the knee is trying to pull the arch back up and is working overtime, causing tendinitis. So, he taped my foot up with a bit of arch support and I need to go for a run to see if things get better.


So the run brought back an old ache from the past and a brand new one. On the decline portion of the run, my shins ached again. They haven't bothered me on runs for a long time - usually because the feet give out first. The new ached was in the back of my left heel. It started aching almost immediately but got some relief on the decline and flats. As for the sore spot of interest, I didn't notice any ache until I slowed to a walk. It wasn't nearly as bad as it usually is and wasn't a showstopper for the run. Poor circulation in my feet was still an issue but just a overall general soreness is what ended the run.

Day 5

It appears that the metabolism is still adjusting. Got up this morning and started making my oatmeal and protein shake. Sat down for a moment and almost puked. I had just taken my multivitamin, CLA and glutamine and maybe that did it. I tried to swallow a bit of protein shake to sooth the tummy but that triggered the main event. Walked back to the kitchen sink and boom!

My body is really missing all the old foods I ate. Most noticeably is drinks. I am craving my 7-UP and Iced Tea bad. Having a glass of water just doesn't cut it. This all makes me realize how self-gratifying my diet had become. Body craving a bit of sugar - give it lots! Craving something a little on the fatty side? Golden Arches! I suspect one of the big killers was the late nite bowls of ice cream with my girlfriend... Portion size had to be generous there. I worked hard, I deserved a treat. :)

This reminds me of the time I was living with my buddy Jeff. We had wrapped up our crazy diet and bodybuilding session a few months earlier. I went on a rampage of burgers and fries for a couple of months and then came the salt and vinegar chips. Had to be Lays. Had to be the big bag. Jeff comes home one day and I'm laying on the floor in front of the tv. The first casualty had lain cold for sometime and the second was about to fall. Jeff looked at me with wonder and disgust. All I could think of was I think I could use a new bag of these...

So, that leads me to my dilemma now. There is not a lot of point in these see-saw diets like this. I haven't had to live in feast and famine for a few generations now. I need to make sure that I don't bounce back crazy like that after I reach my initial fitness targets. I need something more sustainable. That being said, a stricter diet gets me to my goal quicker. So, do I just tough out the diet for say 6-8 weeks then add some things back in? If I'm not working with a personal trainer after that time will I manage to curb my cravings on my own with no one to have to own up to?

For this mornings meal anyways, I went for some All Bran with milk and a tiny bit of brown sugar and a half-portion sample of Matrix 5.0 protein powder. At least I didn't puke it up.

...a hour or so later...

As I was about to hop in the shower, I jumped on the scale. I was hovering around 188-190lbs before this last week. This morning I'm at 184.5. That may explain some of the puke, mood swings, headaches, etc. Normally, the body absorbs a lot of water to deal with carbs. With my carb reduction, I'm sure most of the weight loss is this water loss. But, that still seems a bit drastic to me. Again, I have 2 options: stick out the diet for quick loss and sucky quality of life, or even out the diet for more sustainability.

Skipping the planned diet for today. I'll aim to stick to the intent of the diet: high protein, low carb, low fat but I'd like to avoid puking again today.

In fitness news, I made it out to kickboxing last night. After a full day of lunges with Sean on Monday, we finished off our kickboxing class with karate stance walks and 200 squats. My legs wobble when I walk today.

So, not workouts today and a "normal" meal tonight of baked chicken, rice and asparagus. No skin on the chicken, only vinegar on the asparagus, everything in ~1/2 the portion size I normally like for that meal. 30 minutes later and I'm slightly hungry...

Day 4

No headache today. Thank god for that one.

I'm switching up some of the meal contents today. I'm going to my kickboxing class tonight at 8:00 and wanted the prior meal to have more carbs than my meal 5 normally has (close to none). I was going to go get some tuna shashimi and edamame for lunch, then have some rice with my dinner tonight but my target sushi place was closed. Instead, I'm having a protein shake and carrots, and I'll stick to the rice + meat + veggie tonight.

My meal shake-up is due in part to poor planning, a bit of laziness and a lot of logistics. I had the carpets cleaned today and everything is piled in the kitchen so it's tough to prepare anything - thus my sushi plan.

On the supplement front, while I was out in vain seeking sushi, I dropped by my nutrition store to pick up the CLA and glutamine. Got em. Turns out my store changed hands a while back and the new owner, Steve, is awesome. He has a couple of great club member specials on, one of which I took advantage of. He had 1kg protein powder blends on for $9.99. While I was shopping around, he was telling another customer about the strategy of using isolates only for post-workouts and use the blends the rest of the time. This stretches out the budget and also does something else: the blends will release a bit slower (cassein) so you'll get a better stretch for protein when you don't need immediate punch.

I've used pure cassein protein in the past and it is a wonderful protein source. Unfortunately it tastes like bile. My buddy Jeff and I got some from Krupps pharmacy back in the day. We would take it at night just before sleep and we'd wake up not hungry. You just knew it was working well. We'd call each other right after drinking it though and compare horror stories and trade technique for how to not get it to taste so bad. "chug it quick before you smell it" was about the best way. The results were just so damn good we stuck with it.

I never bothered reading much of the theory behind CLA and glutamine in the past but when I combine their proposed mechanism with their recommended dosage schedule, things make good sense. Glutamine is a semi-essential amino acid because our bodies can make it but sometimes they can't make enough. A hard workout depletes this baby so that's why we want to take it about an hour before a workout. We also take it a second time in the day but I don't know what the timing is on that one (i.e. if it's not tied to a workout, why take it?). CLA was shown in studies to help keep weight OFF. I'm guessing it acts like those wood blocks they put under tires to stop trucks from rolling back. It's not a time-release supplement, so we want to space it out to 3x per day.

On the fitness front, my legs are killing me today. All those lunges added up. My kb class tonight is going to be killer. This belt level seems to be all about kicking - a lot!

Later.

Day 3

This morning, I put my blueberries in my protein shake instead of in the oatmeal. This makes the oatmeal bland as hell, but having a tasty sip of blueberry shake in between spoonfuls of oatmeal makes the oatmeal go down pretty well. There is something about a good beverage that can make any meal taste better. I'm getting extra carbs from the milk, but this meal is actually ok this way. The turkey sandwich meal can't benefit from the tasty protein shake, but it does come with an apple that can work the same magic.

I'm giving up on the Ancient Grains bread. Too dense for my taste. I got a loaf of Kamut bread from Urban Fare for $4.69 which looks like it has ~14 slices so that will stretch the dollar a bit more and be a bit more palatable. I picked up a 4L skim milk and 2 small sirloin steaks for $4.69 and $6.18 respectively. The milk should last maybe 2 weeks. The steak will be two meals. I need a substitute for beef cause I want to lower my red meat intake. I'll look at pork...

My energy and moods have leveled out dramatically today. I woke up with a headache but took a couple of ibuprofen and the rest of the day went well. No emergency diet intervention needed just yet. I wasn't starving hungry 30 minutes after a meal so that's changed for the better.

Had an awesome workout with Sean. I think my body was completely finished after about 45 minutes and I had to sit on the floor in front of a fan for a couple minutes so I wouldn't puke. But I got up and did a few more things until I just couldn't lift anything anymore. We worked on some lunges and Sean showed me some great technique for isolating the quad of the forward leg. Once I did it that way, the number of reps I could do dropped dramatically. :) But they were good ones. The key was making sure the back leg was only there for balance.

Nice isolation work on the lats today as well. The shoulder work was tough because my traps were really tight and they got screaming painful and tired fairly quick. I'm gonna have to set up a massage to loosen them up and do some stretching in the meantime. I've always had a lot of trouble with tightness there.

Circulation in the legs doesn't seem to be what it once was. Even basic stretches leave my feet tingling after a short period of time. I'll talk to the podiatrist about that on Thursday.

Today was the first real day of being on the diet and getting the PT session in and it went well. Outlook is positive. :)

Day 2

Little on the irritable side this morning. No surprise given the nosedive of carbs that my body is experiencing. I have a somewhat standing headache from yesterday which is due in part to the diet and in part to staring at a computer screen too much. The reduced sugar in my breakfast is a bitch but my body will get used to it soon.

As the day wore on, I was actually feeling pretty weak. I stuck to the diet until about 3:30 when I couldn't stand it any more and I ate half a pack of sugar. Straight up baby. I felt pukey for about an hour after than then the headache settled into a dull, steady drone.

Dinner came and I had to eat. For dinner, I made my version of Scrod (halibut, using plenty of mayo, bread crumbs and butter - not margarine, butter). I also just made some halibut with lemon-herb spice. Both were baked. I warmed up some old chicken wings with a chipotle sauce, reheated some white rice and steamed some green beans.

I then proceeded to eye up the chicken wings and scrod while my girlfriend ate them with the white rice. I wolfed down my green beans with lemon-herb halibut, snuck in one chicken wing and ate the rest of a sliced beef thing I made yesterday. The cheat here was probably portion size (and the one chicken wing), but the carbs stayed low for this meal, protein high, fat low. If I still feel like this tomorrow, I may need a tweak in the diet. I don't quite remember feeling this shitty last time around.

Day 1 Diet Cheats

The switchover to 5 meals per day is a bugger. My portion sizes have never been normal and like most North American families, the last meal of the day is usually the biggest for me. So when I hit meal number 5 tonight, I'm hungry within 30 minutes. My head was heating up and my stomach was growling and it's only 9:30. So I ate a banana.

My protein shakes were both made with skim milk. Not really a cheat, but a few extra calories. I can't say I was too observant of the low salt target, but I was probably ~1/4 of a normal day for me.

My diet target is about 2000 calories/day. Could go even less for quicker results but obviously if tonight is any indication, a <2000 cal diet is a ways off. If I was to ballpark my normal diet given the preponderance for pasta and large meals at the end of the day, I would have to guess that m intake was something like 2700-3000 calories. Even if I cheat my way up to 2200 calories, I'll see results. But I don't want to do that.

Not much other than that. Just can't wait until the metabolism settles in a bit.

Diet day 1...need a new breakfast option...

No, it's not that bad yet. :) I was actually a bit sleepless last night thinking about a project I'm working on and so I got out of bed at some wee hour and hacked out a solution on my laptop (who's name is PJ). When morning came, I was a bit groggy and my first thoughts were "Oatmeal is going to take too long. I could just eat my All Bran". I know I'll have more days like this so I figured that while my oatmeal was cooking, I'd compare the labels.

Quaker Quick Oats (per 30g or 1/3 cup uncooked):
Energy 114 cal
Protein 4.2 g
Fat 2.0 g
Carbs 20 g
Sugars 0.5 g
Starch 16 g
Fibre 3.0 g
Sodium 1 mg
Potassium 113 mg

All Bran Original (per 36g or 1/2 cup):
Energy 90 cal
Protein 4 g
Fat 1.0 g
Carbs 27 g
Sugars 7 g
Starch 8 g
Fibre 12.0 g
Sodium 310 mg
Potassium 420 mg

Probably the 2 biggest things that jump out there are the carb profiles and the sodium. All Bran comes with more sugar straight up and a lot more sodium. If that was the end of the story, I'd want to stick with oatmeal. However, my morning meal normally includes some sort of fruit to sweeten up an otherwise bland meal. This morning, I added in ~15 frozen blueberries.

My Blueberries (per 3/4 cup):
Energy 80 cal
Protein 1 g
Fat 1.0 g
Carbs 18 g
Sugars 10 g
Fibre 4.0 g
Sodium 1 mg

16 blueberries is maybe 1/4 cup so I probably added in about 6g sugar, minor amounts of other things. Other than the sodium:

oatmeal+blueberries=allbran.

Another option I played with in the past surprised me. I've always loved Mini-wheats.

Kellogs Mini Wheats (52 g or 24 biscuits):
Energy 185 cal
Protein 4 g
Fat 1.0 g
Carbs 43 g
Sugars 12 g
Fibre 5.0 g
Sodium 1 mg
Potassium ? mg

Here, you take a big hit on the carbs, but the actual sugar count is low. I presume that the 26g of carbs not shown ends up as starch. In the past I only focused on the Sugars and thought "wow, this is a great substitute when I'm sick of oatmeal". I now realize the errors of my ways. I presume the missing 4g of carbs in the blueberries is also starch, so I need to bump up my carb count there too.

The bottom line is that un-blanding the morning meal with something sugar-containing is a common theme. And, if it doesn't seem right, it probably isn't. I'll pay a bit more attention to the carb count this time around but I don't want to hate my morning meal and end up blowing it out of the water with bad cheats.

Abdominal Injury

It didn't take much but I aggravated my ab injury today. Simple thing - just saw that the light was going yellow at an intersection so I picked up the pace to cross. As soon as I started, I could feel a little sharp pain in my left side, lower ab. I tried to think about how it happened, even going so far as to figure out which foot I start from when I go from walking to running. Turns out I always push off with my right foot anchored.

Now, I remember either an exercise or a stretch where I was doing the right leg and I could feel a bit of pain in the left side of my lower ab. I'm sure someone can explain this one. The lower left side of the abdomen has always been the most sore and I'm guessing it has to do with me being "right-legged".

Hmmmm.....

Last minute grocery shopping

Had to round out the last bit of groceries and get a few of the supplements. Capers was my destination and it's by no means the cheapest option.

I got some frozen blueberries for my morning meal. For bread, Sean recommended Caper's Ancient Grains for my sandwiches. Their loaves are small and dense with only 8 slices (I had to make sure I didn't get a loaf with only 7 slices - how useless is that?). I also picked up some protein powder and one-a-day multivitamins (I need CLA and Glutamine but I'm not getting them at Capers).

So to add to the grocery bill:

Bread $4.99
Blueberries $6.99

The blueberries will last a couple weeks, the bread 4 days. That means, I'm now up to about say $55 per week for basic food. Supplements are extra.

I picked up the Sisu - Only One multivitamin, not for any big reason. 90 tablets for $18.99. They're low in VitC but that's on purpose. I'm going to take 1000mg VitC daily. so I don't need it here.

I also picked up Kaizen's 100% Whey Isolate protein powder. It's 908g which is 30 servings by their scoop size. One of their scoops gives 25g protein, 0.5g fat and 0.5 g carbs. I'm aiming for 35g protein per serving so I'll need 1.5 scoops. So, this baby may only last me 20 days on non-workout days, 10 days with workouts. I'll probably get less than 15 days. That one is $39.99. Obviously, I need a better deal on this. I had bought an (about to be) expired 5kg bucket of powder in the past for like $20 so I'll look for this deal again. If anyone out there knows the ins and outs of expired protein powder, let me know.

I'll get the CLA and Glutamine this weekend when my favorite nutrition store is open.

p.s. I opted out against starting the diet tonight. Had to get one last pasta dinner in at my favorite pasta place (Ciao Bella) and I flaunted the excuse that I didn't quite have all my nutritional supplements ready just yet... :)

Food

Ah, the essence of life...and a critical peg on which any fitness program rests. When I mentioned that I was in the best shape of my life 6 years ago, I got there with a strong workout partner, lots of weights and at the end, a really strict diet. My buddy had downloaded a body builder's diet from the web and we went after that. I didn't realize till much later that the diet was meant for the last 10 weeks leading up to a competition. Let's just say there was little joy in life and no I didn't last all 10 weeks. By the end of about 6 weeks I wanted to throw cans of tuna at any car that honked it's horn too loud and I hated all those bastards that got to go to restaurants.

That was one extreme. Supersize me is another. My worst usually included a good dose of Peanut Buster Parfaits, lots of pasta with meat sauce, grilled paninis and once in a while, that crappy Chinese food that you can get at food courts in malls. I don't think Chinese people ever eat at those places and neither should I, but that's where my sweet tooth gets it's fill. Another fairly big diet no-no was skipping breakfast then loading up at lunch. Now that I'm not working, skipping breakfast doesn't happen any more.

When I was working with Nate, I had a fairly common element diet that worked. It was based on a good dose of protein, reduced fat and carbs, like most diets. Meals were 4-5 x per day. Here's the gist of that diet:

Meal 1:
Protein shake
Oatmeal with a few raisins or cranberries

Meal 2:
Sandwich - turkey breast, whole wheat bread
Apple

Meal 3:
Chicken breast
Yams
Spinach salad (with almond slivers sometimes and a little oil/vinegar)

Meal 4 (more of a snack and skipped on non-workout days):
Protein shake
Banana

Meal 5:
Steak
Green beans

Supplements:
Glutamine
CLA
Vitamin C
Multivitamins


I didn't alter things a lot from day-to-day and didn't get tired of things for at least 5 weeks solid. The only thing that I missed was something to drink with the meals other than water. I like iced tea and I think it makes all meals go better, but it's too much sugar.

I'll be bringing that diet back for the short term and I just went shopping for things today. Some things I got in organic, others just whatever was cheap. Here's a rough estimate of the bill:

500g sliced sundried tomato primo taglia turkey breast $15.24
5 chicken breasts $15.76
5 bananas $1.35
4 beauregard yams $6.85
5 pink lady apples $3.91
spinach $0.99
big bag o' green beans $1.73
oatmeal - already have at home
bread - need to buy, aiming for a relatively expensive "ancient grains" type bread
beef - need to buy, will also need to change this up sometimes to a different source of protein like Tuna shashimi!!!

Damn, them yams were expensive. Wasn 't paying attention when I put those in the cart.

Most of that will last just shy of one week so that's about $45/week before the beef and bread, plus I still have to add in the protein powder and supplements. I never tried to keep tabs on a regular food bill, but I ate out a lot and it was a hell of a lot more than $45/week.

If I remember correctly, it took me about 4 days to have my metabolism switch over to 4-5 meals per day instead of 3. I'll try to remember to blog on that switchover. I won't be starting on the diet full-force until Friday night or Saturday morning since I have a final lunch with my coworkers tomorrow (Thai food). I also ate my last chicken adobo meal for a bit since that one is pretty high in salt. That's a tough one to give up because I think my girlfriend makes the best damn adobo in the world. It's also going to be tough to give up white rice. It's so easy to cook it with the rice cooker and I like to eat volumes of it with a little (ok a lot) of soya sauce on it (yes I realize that's a white person thing, but I like my salt).

I don't know if I'll ever be able to eat canned tuna again and I get sick of the chicken breasts pretty quick so I may need to resort to more protein shakes or gear up on the shashimi which has it's own problems (mercury). Let the diet begin!...tomorrow.

First PT Session

As I mentioned before, I've signed up with Sean as my ass-kicker. My goals have nothing to do with bulking up, just toning, strength and flexibility. Our first session was yesterday where we focused mainly on technique, target reps, weight, etc. Sean is big on isolating the muscles you want to target and boy do I ever feel it when it hits the spot. I'll have to double check with Sean, but I think it was a cable row that we did to isolate the lower anchor point of the lats. At first I had trouble hitting it bang on, especially the right side. Today tells me I got them for sure - a bit sore there.

We also did a lot of things where I had to engage my quads in a pseudo-squat position and those babies are screaming today too. Some of that may have to do with a particularly kick-intensive kickboxing session the day before.

One thing I am really excited about is the flexibility work. When I do a round kick, it's tough for me to get the kick high. I watch a couple of the folks in class who I think have a dream round kick and I am in awe. My flexibility is just not up to snuff to pull that off just yet. Sean worked with me on some stretches and there are pretty big differences between my right and left legs, but both of them are pretty tight. If we can pull off some greater flexibility, my round kick will impress Cro Cop...maybe.

Go!

It's that time in life again. After a stint of focus on work, it's time to give the body a little love. In the past, I only kept little scraps of what it took to get into a certain level of fitness and always wished I had written more info down while it was fresh. Voila la blog.

About 6 years ago, I was in the best shape of my life. The acid test for that statement was that I spent a 2 week vacation in Cuba, smoking cigars like they were going out of style and gorging on food and drink. Two days after I got back I ran my first ever half marathon with no trouble at all. Anytime a friend called and wanted to go pump iron, I wouldn't have to think much about what I would need to do there or after (to recover), I just went. 50K bike race? Let me just get a few energy packs.

Today, not quite the same. My physical condition took a hiatus while I focused on my career. I signed up with a personal trainer (Nathane Jackson) about three years ago to whip back in shape and the results were awesome. In a short span of time (~2 months), I lost weight, built muscle and my posture straightened out dramatically. I would recommend Nate to anyone. As fate would have it, Nate left for Toronto, my career took the steering wheel and my condition went back a few steps. :) Without a good workout partner or a trainer, I'm not so good on the discipline. With one or the other, I can get great results.

About 1.5 years ago, my buddy dragged me out to his kickboxing club (Champions Academy in North Vancouver) and I got hooked. I signed up primarily because I needed some sort of regimented exercise schedule. I'm not a UFC champion by any means and don't plan on being one, but I love the exercise I get from kb. So, for the last 1.5 years, kb has been more or less my only exercise. I have managed to average at least 2 sessions per week though so I did maintain an ok level of residual fitness. But the spare tire was not willing to part company with me just yet.

I knew that I was building some level of strength, some cardio and having fun doing it but I wanted a bit more. I wanted to be able to run 10K again on a regular basis. I wanted more stamina during sparring. I wanted my round kick to be more like Mirko Cro Cop. I needed help with all of this.

That brings me to today. I just quit my job 3 weeks ago, cut alot of absolute garbage food out of my diet and signed up with another trainer. This time, I went with a recommendation from Nate and signed up with a new trainer (Sean). Nate's recommendation is solid. Sean's style is perfect, just like Nate's.

Sean and I had one introductory session and one low-intensity workout to get the weight, form, etc all figured out. Next session will be the real deal. I went shopping today for all the groceries I will need for a balanced diet and I'm pumped about the possibilities!

One thing I should mention is that this time around, I have a few minor injuries that I need to work through and which affect my ability to do some of my favorite things. First up is some sort of nagging foot injury on the arch of my left foot. This one really limits my running. The second injury is a muscle pull in my lower abdomen. That one prevents me from doing some situps/crunches and almost all pushups (unless I use my knees). Sean is going to help me work around these in a sort of rehab-ish way. I have an appointment with a podiatrist next Thursday and I'm going to see about physio for the abdomen.

I'm not a great big fan of before and after pictures because the before has a way of ending up as the after. I also don't want to focus on body weight or body fat that much because my goals are less explicit - i.e. a better round kick, a good 10k run, etc.

I live downtown right near Stanley Park, I have a bike that is lonely and a pair of pants that has been on "reserve" status for some time. Let's change that shall we?