Well, I got my butt out of bed on time again today and took care of my TT workout and bike intervals at the gym right away. I went a bit low on my squats and RDLs today to focus on form, but I should be back up to normal numbers by Monday. I also opted to do DB side raises instead of DB shrugs in the workout because I’m trying to avoid bulking up my traps any more than they already are right now. It’s very annoying when, despite having reasonably broad shoulders, your bra and spaghetti straps keep slipping off your shoulders because your traps are more sloped than standard.

I experimented with flipping my first two meals of the day around this morning so I could take my planned pineapple protein shake with me to the gym to sip during and right after my workout for more energy and better recovery. (It’s laced with l-glutamine as well as a scoop of protein.) This way I have a stronger AM workout, get in my l-glutamine and protein for recovery, and get to use more delicious, sugary fruits like bananas and pineapples in my plan while more or less adhering to the Precision Nutrition/Swolegenix/TT nutrition guidelines. It’s also nice to have a filling oatmeal, raisin, and egg white breakfast right after my shower. This was what I did during my first BFL challenges when I was kicking butt with fat loss.

I’m also trying to include a savory/salty item and a light/sweet item in every main meal for this challenge. I find that a savory/salty-only meal makes me crave something sweet-flavored right afterwards, and vice versa. When I don’t take this into account and make a single-note meal that uses up all of my calorie allotment for that meal, I wind up going over my daily intake goal because I invariably add extra foods (not always clean ones, alas) at some point to balance out my palate. So going forward all of my salads will include some sweet fruit to offset the saltiness of my favorite sesame ginger dressing, breakfast oatmeal and raisins will be accompanied by something appropriately salty, dried fruit will be paired with lightly salted nuts, and so on.

And I’m putting rice back into rotation for lunches. Granted, this will be brown rice, but the point is that it is still RICE. The longer I do this fitness and nutrition stuff, the more convinced I am that every person needs to find a way to work WITH his/her treasured ethnic food traditions. I didn’t come from a Western background, I don’t like most Western foods (except the tragically junkie ones, haha!), and I am not going to spend the rest of my life worrying about perfect protein/carb and protein/fat combinations and ideal superfoods for every meal at the cost of giving up the best culinary offerings of my culture.

I will gladly workout 6 days a week for the rest of my life in order to eat the foods I love the most (in reasonable portions)…and not have them show up on my ass.

I Like to Eat, Therefore I Exercise.

Food for yesterday came in a little high at 1713 calories (49.7% carb / 30.7% pro / 23.5% fat) since I indulged in some steamed pork and leek Chinese dumplings with garlic chili soy sauce, but macros were close to my guidelines, and I still had a -347 calorie deficit. I dropped another pound of water weight today to 144.4 lbs.

I’ve only been back on the wagon 100% for three days, but I can already see visible changes, especially in the shrinkage of the holiday lower abdominal pouf. You can always tell when I am eating clean and hitting my workouts by checking the girth of the area under my navel, LOL.

I went to the grocery store last night and restocked my kitchen with veggies, nuts, non-stick cooking spray, brown rice, vanilla protein powder, fish oil caps, and frozen fish. I’m feeling a bit tired of poultry and meat after the holidays, and I think that a daily serving of yummy fish will set me right up for the next week. I also steam-boiled 21 eggs, made a veggie soup from homemade chicken stock using leftover rib bones from the peppered chicken breasts that I’d grilled up yesterday morning, and stir-fried 5 cups of asparagus veggie mix with garlic, salt, and pepper. I wish I’d remembered to cook a few cups of brown rice, but c’est la vie. I’ll do that tonight.

In case anyone is looking for a cheap emergency protein powder source, I can say that the $13.94 2-lb canister of vanilla “Premium Protein” powder sweetened with sucralose/Splenda from the Ghetto-Mart tasted all right in my pineapple protein workout shake this morning. I never do vanilla protein by itself with water, though, so I can’t vouch for the taste or mixability of the product in that situation. I’ve been holding out on ordering another 5 lb canister of Dymatize Elite Gourmet Vanilla whey until I polish off the last of my 5 lbs of DE Butter Cream Toffee, but frankly, Crushed Pineapple + Butter Cream Toffee protein = Abomination Unto Maggie’s Palate.

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WORKOUT
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- TT 2K3 Workout B
A1) Sumo Squat (3×8 @ 115 lbs)
A2) DB Lateral Raise (subbed for Shrugs) (3×8 @ 15 lbs)
B1) Barbell RDL (3×8 @ 95, 105, 105 lbs)
B2) Stability Ball Jackknife (3×15)
C1) BB Forward Lunge (3×8 @ 70, 75, 75 lbs)
C2) Stability Ball Leg Curl (3×15)

- Advanced Intervals (Stationary bike, 30 sec. @ L13/60 sec. @ L8 for six sets plus warm up and cooldown)

63 minutes total, 594 calories burned

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NUTRITION
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M1) Pineapple vanilla protein shake with l-glutamine
M2) 60g raisins and oats, 3 egg whites, 5 pieces preserved radish with chilis
M3) 3 oz. grilled peppered chicken breast, 1 large navel orange, 1 c. asparagus veggie mix
M4) 1/2 c. 1% cottage cheese, 15g walnuts, 1/2 c. mixed berries
M5) 3 oz. grilled peppered chicken breast, 1/2 large navel orange, 3 c. garden salad, 2 T. low fat dressing
M6) Chocolate soy protein shake and 15 g. walnuts

Est. Calories/Ratios: 1458 calories, 40% carb / 39.6% pro / 23% fat

Supplements: multivitamin, calcium 600 mg + D, vitamin C, 5g l-glutamine