Eat Clean, Lift Hard Forums - Blogs

Bigger, Stronger, Leaner Faster, Healthier - not necessarily in that order...

Sagat — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:53:21 GMT

Where shall I start..

I'm probably about as Mr. Average as you can get. I'm not big and probably struggle to put muscle on but neither am I a hardgainer who is very lean. I'm not particularly strong either :(. Let's face it - any gains I make are always going to be down to sheer hard work and pushing my average body as hard as I can.

I train on average about 2-3 times a week - Monday's chest and triceps, Wednesday's back, shoulders and arms. I also add a smaller arm workout at home due to to a busy work schedule. In truth I also need to build in a legs day too.

Like a lot of people I have trained with weights on and off (mainly off) since I was 15. However, this is the first year I've taken it seriously and am finally seeing small gains in strength and size.

I started running 9 months ago but have limited it a little otherwise I was burning too many calories and it was preventing gains but will resume more cardio when I want to trim off the fat.

I the past I failed to see the importance of diet - sufficient calories, proteins and good fats. For convenience I do consume some protein shakes but I just use plain whey protein. I also take creatine which helps.

Today is 'Back n arms' day so will let you know how I get on..

Chicxulub Impact

King_Marmoset! — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 00:26:34 GMT

Even when celestial armageddon reigns down on the earth triggering an extinction event that wipes out 99.9% of all life 0.1% still survive. In the long, cold, bleak nuclear winter that follows, rudimentary life in a truncated and debased form survives and wriggles in the muck. When the darkness passes and fertile times come again that life will grow and evolve and dominant.

The nuclear winter of my life is over. King Marmoset survived. The long evolution out of the muck has slowly, slowly begun.

problems with uploading pics

jaqi — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:24:49 GMT

I'm having difficulty uploading pics from my new camera on to my challenge thread. Anyone know why this would be. Never had a problem with the phone pics... could it be the camera pics are too big and need to be resized?

They load okay on to facebook incidently!

Suggestions welcome x

I can't help about the shape I'm in...

heyzeus909 — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:19:48 GMT

Just finished an hour long workout tonight, which is a modern day record.

I ran for two miles two nights ago, and a mile last night. Also modern day records.

Nutrition has been rockin' lately. Mostly eating homemade yogurt and homemade granola (good protein, fats, and carbs), homemade beef jerky (I won't touch the stuff in the store, thanks), and 85% dark chocolate whenever I have a craving for it.

I'm not counting calories are anything, but I am writing down what I eat mostly as an accountability measure, and partly for a research measure (in case I develop digestion issues - which I've been prone to over the past few years - I can go back and see what I've been eating).

I only drink water, with the occasional tea.

I'm probably around 8-9% bodyfat. I was up to ~12% a couple of months ago. I've lost a shit-ton of muscle and strength.

I spend a lot of time now strapped to a seat traveling around doing my little part to make the world go 'round. It's amazing how that can take it out of a guy.

I'm going to try to be better this time about staying on top of this blog.

Thanks.

MM

ps I can't sing.

pps I ain't pretty.

ppps And my legs are thin.

another update

shooosha — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:02:13 GMT

So I am never sure how to start these things. These blog things. (I don't like giving them a title either.)

Well this past week was actually kinda awesome. Got all of my nutrient goals in, all my workout goals in, and I didn't have any major mental stress. Did have some muscle knot problems towards the end of the week. The knots near my shoulder blades on both sides got a lil angry and pulled on the back of my head. Kinda sucked. Pulled out all the stops to get them to quiet down. No such luck.
I would like to be able to say, yeah dude, I blame the 800 swings and 200 snatch workout. But this stuff happens even when I don't workout. Then I start to feel sorry for myself. Start to get annoyed that my bf can do crossfit 5 times a week and just gets the standard muscle soreness. He doesn't need to spend lots of time foam rolling, stretching, meditating, blah, blah, blah. Then I remember my plight 4 years ago and tell myself to shutup.
Anyway. Since I dunno what else to talk about, might as well be food. Last week my diet consisted of:
sardines and yogurt smoothie for lunch/post-workout
Meat, veggies, & starch for dinner

My mood enhances when I consume yogurt daily. I like to throw in my raw yolks, fruit, and sometimes some raw liver. Lamb liver has a sweet flavor to it.

Dinner is usually something like grass fed beef stir-fried with broccoli, carrots, mushrooms and a ton of garlic & ginger. Eaten with white rice. Thats what I am having tonight.

As of right now, I am skipping breakfast and eat my 2 meals within an 8 hr window.

Oh, I found out that seafood place I went to has raw oyster happy hour. 1/2 off. Wooo.

Another oh, I have this beauty on the stove right now.

Livin' in a Fool's Paradise

heyzeus909 — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 02:02:49 GMT

Welp. I've been writing the intro to this blog in my mind for weeks, and now that I've sat down to type it out, I don't know what to say. I suppose I'll start with some goals. That's always a good place to start. No particular order:

I want to be better.

Yeah, that's pretty much it, I guess. I just want to be better. I have a small business that's going to kill me if I let it, and I need to not let it. If you're suffering from insomnia, you can take a crack at the laborious read I've posted about it before. The crux of it is I'm sometimes up 36 hours straight between work and family. It's not unusual for me to be up for 48 hours on 2-3 hours of sleep. I'm routinely up 24 hours at a time. I can never know when my workday may start, and I could be called to work for the next 40+ hours straight at a moment's notice. I have two little girls - the oldest is 6, the youngest is 2.

I no have longer have a schedule. There's no such thing as a pre-workout meal or a way to pencil in gym time on the agenda. All I have is anti-routine. Everything in my world of eating clean and lifting hard can only happy by way of randomnimoty.

This has been going on for over 3 years and it's taking it's toll on me. I've tried to endure the tiredness and workout despite it. But the stress has led to a continual cascade of injuries from neck to toe. Outside of giving up my business, which I won't be doing because I like having a roof over my family's head, the only way I've been able to minimize the injuries is to not workout. So that's what I've done lately.

I haven't eaten well for the better part of the last 3 years, either. Not by the standards I've set for myself, anyway. This must change, though. I've developed digestion issues that I suspect may be pancreas related, but could be gallbladder/liver related, too. Hell, it could be both. And it could be my intestines, too. Who knows.

I had indigestion that was so bad on Christmas day that I made myself throw up to try to feel better. For the next two days, I was either sitting on or facing the crapper. Ho, ho, ho...merry Christmas. I know that this wasn't due to food poisoning because I ate the same stuff as everyone else and this is something that has been building up for a while now. The over-indulgence of Christmas was the tipping point.

From December 27th till today, January 9th, I consumed only juice. That's 14 days, people, of nothing but juice. That ended tonight with a GAPS friendly soup I made with homemade turkey broth, lentils, white beans, carrots, broccoli, onions, garlic, chicken sausage, and spices. I will continue with homemade juices and mostly GAPS friendly foods, while attempting to address any underlying pancreas and liver/gallbladder issues. My version of GAPS will need to be lower in fat than the book version. Not that I have the book, but you know what I mean.

My pancreas concerns stem from when I was younger (aged 16 to 23) and I was partying it up and eating like shit. By my mid-early 20's there were times when I would develop pain that was so bad in my gut after eating that I thought I was literally going to die. The symptoms for acute pacreatitis matched very well...at least to me. But the doctor seemed to think it was due to a lack of anti-depressants. That's the last I've seen a doctor about it.

Acute pancreatitis can disappear for a while, only to remanifest itself as chronic pancreatitis later. Chronic pancreatitis is when you get to pay later in life for thinking that you were immortal earlier in life. I'm not sure that's what I have now, but I'm also unsure that it's not what I have. I just know I have something and it's not fun, and I need to get on top of it.

With regard to working out, I promised myself to not pickup any serious weights for the month of January. I still have a bum shoulder, and my neck has been killing me. I need to get a foundation of nutrition under me, at least, and ease myself back into the weight room. I know from recent experience that I'll just hurt myself if I don't. So, outside of some light shoulder rehab type exercises, I won't be doing much else for this month.

As far as what I look like physique-wise, I look like a guy that has spent the past 3 years not eating very well or working out. If you're expecting something different, you're insane. I'm at least not fat, but that's all I can say. I stepped on the scale for the first time in forever a few weeks ago and weighed 20-30lbs less than I have previously. For a lot of people, that would be a good thing. For me, that means I've lost quite a load of muscle.

I'm probably not going to get back to my biggest, baddest shape in a while. Maybe not ever. Nor is it my goal.

I just want to be better.

Thanks.

MM

ps I challenged a friend to a 4 mile road race that's later this year. So, I'll be training for that.

pps I don't like to lose.

Blog update.

shooosha — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 20:48:30 GMT

Last week.
Got my massage last week on Wed. So much junk released from my muscles that my lymph nodes got all swollen. Yes, I drank a lot of water. And green kombucha (with blue/green algae & chlorella). I felt horrible the next day, achy and sick feeling. Ate 2 bowls of beef tendon pho and slept A LOT. Like 16 hrs. The day after that 14. I finally feel normal today.

I did have a interesting convo with her. She was asking me about the farm food I get. Thinking that meant that I was vegan. (Farmers only grow veggies I guess). I corrected her, and gave my normal why I think veganism is dangerous speech. (Her daughter is vegan, and she herself is a borderline vegetarian, btw, she also has lupus and a connective tissue disorder; part of the reason why she really empathizes with my problems.) I don't remember how the jump to hyaluronic acid happened. But she commented on how the Okinawa diet was so great because it was rich in it. And I got excited and said yes it was, they love cartilaginous pork parts, and eat lots of soups made with those parts. She look horrified. Then I told her about how I seek out those parts from my farmer. And how I noticed my teeth & nails getting harder. Also mentioned the last time I noticed that was when I introduced raw grass fed dairy to my diet. Needless to say, she thinks I am a bit of a nut now. :)

Mineral rich food I ate last week- oyster soup, oyster stew, chicken stock (made with the head & feet), beef tendon pho, mussels, sardines. Got all my yolks in. No liver. Need to prepare some for my raw liver yogurt smoothies. Will make a liver dish for dinner this week.

Got all of my foam rolling in. Only got one kettlebell workout in. Light yoga in. My massage hit me harder than I expected.

I want to drink at least 2 mineral drinks a day.
Mineral drinks-
water with pinch of magnesium sulfate (epsom salt), shake of potassium chloride (salt substitute), pinch of celtic sea salt, and a few drops of liquid magnesium.

water with lemon/lime and splash raw whey.

oooor diluted green kombucha.

Sauna- found a very close place. Need to go check it out.

I may look into tanning bed.

I miss the sun. I feel slightly more dread about this winter than last.

Goals.

shooosha — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:11:17 GMT

I hate writing.

So I am going to keep track of my health & fitness related goals here.

Goals:
Be more social.
I lost all of my 130 lbs by myself. I researched how to do it, and what to do all by myself. So doing this blog is my way of being more social. So please interact with me. :p

-Reduce my stress levels aka get my muscles & brain to stop living in fear.
I say this a lot. And I try a lot. It needs to just be. For the past 3 months I have been getting monthly massages. I will continue this into the new year. My masseuse last session actually said the 'stop living in fear' comment to me. It made me tear up a bit, and I got really uncomfortable and tense.

-Foam roll at least 3 times a week.
This is a must. Physical exercise makes my muscles very, very tight and knots within them get "activated", pulling on scalp, face & neck. I have muscles that feel like fire when you press them. This is all an improvement from how I was before I lost 130lbs. But I'd like to be normal.

-Sauna & consume minerals often.
I went to the beach a few months back. I used their sauna, swam & ate raw oysters liberally. I felt great. None of the underlying tension.This must be how normal people feel! So my goal is find a sauna & go to it. Added to this, is to eat as mineral rich as possible. Broths, seafood, etc.

-Get my cholesterol higher.
I have a theory and it kind of ties all of the above together. I basically have the symptoms of someone who is on a statin. I have had really low cholesterol my whole life. Even when I was close to 350 lbs my docs were always surprised and delighted that it was so low. In the past few years it has increased a small amount. But I am still in the "anxiety" range. The range of muscle pain, increased risk of Alzheimers, stroke, chronic fatigue, social awkwardness, and general lameness. So the only way I know how to do this, is to eat more cholesterol. I vow to eat 3 yolks a day, liver once every 2 weeks, (Preferably once a week). Cook only in animal fat.

I feel like all of the above will help me get to my goal weight. Of course, I will workout with kettlebells, continue yoga, meditate and eat clean.

Merry xmas everyone

jaqi — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 18:52:08 GMT

Here's a little xmas jive from our demo this week down in Torquay .... we're right gadabouts I know!!! :)

Wishing everyone a really great Xmas and New Year try not to eat too much 'cod you know how hard it will be to work it off in January!

hellloooooooooooooooooooo oooois anyone there?

jaqi — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 18:15:23 GMT

Where is everyone??? The place is a little like a ghost town at the mo! :confused: :(

How do I?

jaqi — Wed, 11 May 2011 14:16:08 GMT

How do I change my profile pic????? looked everywhere and can't find how to do it!

How many chances?

LifterBob — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 14:54:30 GMT

Old ones got good advice for newbies . I have many friends in the gym who are old and they got plenty of good advices expecting same from you .

Still alive.

dr.tom declue — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 21:13:30 GMT

Whats up everyone. Just wanted to drop a note to let everyone know I think about you and the site often. My intentions are to keep following the site more again. It was and is a very important part of my life. You guys have helped me in alot of ways.

What have I been up to. Work, work and more work. I have taken on alittle more responsibilities at the home front to help my wife who seem unable to stop getting promoted. I am now 11 weeks out from my next show, which is on May 7th. I am using the same trainer. We started off with a few less carbs a day, and lowered the fats. We also started off with less cardio. The rduction in calories ( avg daily 2800 ) will hopefully allow us to keep the cardio down some. I had alot of stress over the last couple of month in 2010, then fought some illness in january. I kept my diet 70 % , but the 30 % was bad, real bad. Between the last show and starting the end of january for this show I went back to around 225. The good thing with that is some was positive weight. I expect to go into this show bigger than before, stomach is still my weak spot. I have already brought my weight down to 212. My off season training went great, my strength went up, and my knees stayed strong, Still didnt overload squats to much. Got my incline bench to 390, deads to 500, sqts kept down to 485. We have switched some of the workouts and combo of exercises this time around. I like it alot better. I hope to check in atleast a couple days a week, I look forward to touching base with everyone again.

Happy xmas

jaqi — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 15:47:54 GMT

A wish to all the great friends I've made on this site... have a really fab christmas and a very successful new year xxx

smshiai9

King_Marmoset! — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 03:58:37 GMT

And now a haiku...

Spammers, I ban them
Half-clever shit-birds, please no
King Marmoset, aye