Daily News Archives
November 2003
11/30/2003 - Simple plans for my day off.
11/29/2003 - Anti-inflammatory pills; Thanksgiving photos.
11/28/2003 - What I ate for Thanksgiving; Bloat; Another great leg workout.
11/27/2003 - Shoulder update (post-doctor); Thanksgiving feast!
11/26/2003 - Going to doctor this morning; Thanksgiving food plans.
11/25/2003 - Time to get my abs back!
11/24/2003 - Bulking phase over early due to injury; Cutting phase begins.
11/23/2003 - No shoulder pain this morning!
11/22/2003 - Upper body workouts; Email backlog.
11/21/2003 - Shoulder worse, going to the doctor; Great leg workout; Cheat meal day.
11/20/2003 - No time to write this morning.
11/19/2003 - Getting up earlier.
11/18/2003 - Starting rotator exercises today.
11/17/2003 - Shoulder feeling much better; Tough week ahead at work.
11/16/2003 - Nice Sunday.
11/15/2003 - Shoulder update; Nice cool weather today.
11/14/2003 - Great leg workout; Glutes; Cheat meal night!
11/13/2003 - Almost healed; Extending my bulking cycle?; Leg day!
11/12/2003 - More shoulder improvements; "Pumping Iron" finally on DVD!
11/11/2003 - Shoulder feeling a little better!
11/10/2003 - Hectic Monday; Another shoulder update.
11/09/2003 - Frustrated with shoulder injury.
11/08/2003 - Very sore legs; Shoulder a little better; Post-cheat meal bloat.
11/07/2003 - Painful week--lower back strain doing ego-driven squats; Cheat meal!
11/06/2003 - More on my shoulder.
11/05/2003 - Shoulder Injury.
11/04/2003 - Ouch!
11/03/2003 - Feeling good and ready to workout; No size loss during MAX-OT week off.
11/02/2003 - Relaxing and getting ready for the final leg of my bulking cycle.
11/01/2003 - Up to 10% body fat; Well-rested and ready to start working out again.
November 30, 2003
Today is my day off, and I'm just going to relax, decorate the Christmas tree and watch movies with Lisa. Hope you have a great day, see you Monday!
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November 29, 2003
I'm kicking myself this morning. I should have gone to the doctor as soon as I injured my shoulder. These anti-inflammatory pills I've been taking the last couple of days are amazing. I'm taking 500 MG of Naproxen two times a day, and now I can hardly even tell that my shoulder is injured. I'll bet it will heal a lot faster because it is no longer inflamed all the time. I may be able to start my upper body workouts as soon as next weekend! I can't wait...
I have some boring Thanksgiving photos posted if anyone wants to see them. There are pictures of my wife Lisa, Lisa's parents, me and our dogs. We're not doing much of anything, just goofing around, cooking and having fun...
I'm off to do my cardio now, see you tomorrow!
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November 28, 2003
I ate so much food yesterday: turkey, wine, biscuits, stuffing, gravy, cranberries, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, apple pie, pumpkin pie and whipped cream. It's been so long since I've had any of that stuff. My body must have been like "WTF!!" Of course this morning I'm looking and feeling bloated as hell--I'm holding about 5 pounds of water this morning. It was fun "cheat" meal, but now it's time to get back to my cutting diet!
Yesterday's leg workout was my best yet, adding another 5 pounds to my max squat and all my working sets. My legs are killing me this morning!
I need to go get started on my cardio, I have to work today and there is much to do. See you tomorrow!
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November 27, 2003
Good news from the doctor: nothing really major is wrong with my shoulder. She said there's probably no way I could have gone 5 weeks without seeing her about it if it was a bad injury, and she also said that I wouldn't have had any improvement. She told me that even the most mundane shoulder injuries usually take 6-8 weeks to heal, so I'm probably looking at another 2-3 weeks before I can lift again. I was prescribed an anti-inflammatory, which should help it heal a little faster. If it's not healed in another 3 weeks, I go back for an x-ray and an MRI. I don't think any of that will be necessary, as it's been feeling pretty good the last few days.
On a side note, the doctor was looking at my records from my last visit, which was almost a year ago (right before I started my fitness program). She was amazed at my weight loss and my blood pressure change. She asked me all kinds of questions about how I did it, what I ate and how I worked out. She didn't even give me any grief over the amount of protein I consume, which surprised me because many doctors don't understand the protein requirements of weight lifters. Anyway, I still have to go to a separate lab to have my bloodwork done. I can't wait to see my cholesterol levels!
Okay, today is Thanksgiving in the USA. If you are celebrating Thanksgiving, I suggest you relax, enjoy yourself and eat whatever the heck you want without giving it a second thought--I know I will! Consider it a reward for all the days your stuck to your fitness plan and diet, even when you didn't want to.
Just because it's Thanksgiving doesn't mean I won't be working out. Today is leg day and I'm going to really hit them hard. Once I'm done with that, I have to get busy cooking. I'm going all out and cooking a traditional Thanksgiving feast for me, Lisa and her parents. Have a great day, see you tomorrow!
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November 26, 2003
My meals are going to be thrown off today because I have to see the doctor about my shoulder this morning. I'm going to
go in a fasted state because I want to have my blood work done as well. I'll more than make up for the caloric
deficit tomorrow, believe me! 
As I mentioned last week,
I'm not even going to bother trying to log my Thanksgiving meal tomorrow because I will be consuming a ridiculous amount of
food. My pictures on Friday should be, um, interesting....
See you tomorrow!
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November 25, 2003
Even though I've ended my bulking phase early, I'm not upset by the unexpected turn of events. Sometimes things
happen beyond our control and all we can do is make the best of what we have to work with. Yeah, I would have liked to bulk a little
longer, but I'm not going to dwell on it. I did make some good gains, and I've got plenty of time to put on more muscle after my shoulder is healed.
Frankly I'm a little relieved to be cutting; the fat I put on while bulking went right to my mid-section, and my hard-earned
abs just don't look very good right now. In about 2 months they'll be back better than ever.
I don't care about being huge--I've found that I'm happiest when I'm lean. Once I get back to 8% body fat, I am going to do a slow
bulk like I did this past summer; That worked really well for me. I don't think I'll do another all-out bulking phase again, I just
can't stand carrying around extra fat.
My shoulder feels pretty good this morning, I really think it's finally healing up (albeit slowly). It will be interesting to see what the doctor says tomorrow.
Time for me to go workout now. Hope your day is a good one, see you tomorrow...
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November 24, 2003
I've decided to end my bulking phase early and start cutting. It's going to be awhile until I can go heavy for my upper body workouts, so after giving it a lot of thought I've decided that this is the best thing to do right now. I've updated all the appropriate areas of my site to reflect my new goals. Even though I didn't get to bulk as long as I would have liked, I made some good gains and am looking forward to seeing how the new muscle looks after I shed the fat I've gained.
I'll still be aiming for "40/40/20", but I will be cutting my calories to about 1800-1900 per day, and I will be cutting way down on the simple carbs (for example I won't be drinking apple juice anymore, I'll stop eating pretzels with my tuna and almonds in the afternoon, and I'll be cutting my banana consumption from 7 days per week to just 3 days a week). I'll be just as strict as I was when I did my initial fat loss program, however this time around I am going to allow myself one cheat meal per week since I don't have that much weight to lose this time.
Time for me to get my workout in before all hell breaks lose with work. It's going to be a short work week, so I'm expecting the next 3 days to be extra busy. Have a great day, see you tomorrow!
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November 23, 2003
This morning my shoulder feels great, no pain at all. It's so strange because just a few days ago it was worse than it's ever been. Maybe some of the pain was just it healing up? I don't know, which is why I'm still going to go to the doctor this Wednesday. If it feels this good next weekend, I'm going to start lifting again (unless the doctor says I can't).
Today is my day off, and it looks like it's going to be another beautiful day. I hope you all are having a great weekend, too!
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November 22, 2003
I'm worried that if I can't weight train my upper body soon I'm going to lose some of the size I managed to put on the first 2 months of my bulking program. So far I don't seem to have lost much strength in my upper body, and I have not lost any size at all. Not being able to train my upper body this past month has been very frustrating, but staying focused on what I can do and staying positive has helped a lot.
I'm going to go get my cardio in and then clean up around the house. When Lisa gets home from work we'll be watching the epic extended edition of "Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers" on DVD, so that should be fun.
I've received a record amount of email this past week for some reason, and have been so busy with work that I have not had a chance to get to much of it.
I'll be doing my best to answer some of them this weekend, but what I really need is some time away from these damn computers.
Thanks for your patience.
Have a great day, see you tomorrow!
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November 21, 2003
My shoulder hurt yesterday as bad as it ever has, and it hurts pretty bad this morning, too. Talk about frustrating! I thought it was almost better, but I guess not. At this point a trip to the doctor is inevitable, so yesterday I made an appointment with my doctor for next Wednesday. I'll let everyone know how it goes in next Thursday's Thanksgiving update.
On a brighter note, I had a great lower body workout yesterday, adding 5 pounds to my 1-rep max squat and 5 pounds to all my working sets (except lying leg curls, but I went up in reps for those). My leg progress has been better than expected.
Tonight is my weekly cheat meal of pizza and wine. After the week I've had, I can't wait! Next week I'll be having my weekly cheat meal
on Thanksgiving instead of Friday, and I'm not even going to bother trying to chart it on my food logs. This will be my first
Thanksgiving since I started eating meat again (it's been over 10 years), so I'm going to eat an amazing amount of food.
Today is going to be very busy, again, so I better get going. See you tomorrow!
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November 20, 2003
Sorry, no time to write this morning. I've got a tough leg workout to get in, and then a ton of work is waiting for me. Hope your day is a good one, see you tomorrow...
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November 19, 2003
I've been so pushed for time lately that I decided to try something new this week and it's working out very well so far. I've been getting up an hour earlier and going to bed almost an hour earlier. Even though I'm not awake any longer than usual during the day, that extra hour in the morning makes it seem as if I have a lot more time. This shifts all my meals and workouts an hour earlier, which I also like a lot. Astute early-bird readers may have noticed that this page is also being updated earlier--closer to 7:00 AM instead of the normal 8:30-9:00 AM update times. Even though I am only getting up an hour earlier, somehow it feels as if I gain about 2 extra hours. I guess I'm a morning person, but don't try to tell me that when the alarm goes off!
I'm off to do my crunches and cardio. Have a great day, see you tomorrow!
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November 18, 2003
Today I'm going to start doing my rotator cuff strengthening exercises. I'm also going to do some cardio this morning (might as well since I can't do my normal upper body workout). For the most part my shoulder is still feeling pretty good, but it still hurts off and on...
I'm going to get started on my workout now. Like I said yesterday, it's looking like a crazy week at work and, if today is anything like yesterday, I'm going to need all the time I can get. I hope you have a good day, see you tomorrow!
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November 17, 2003
There is very little pain in my shoulder this morning, so I'm going to start gradually introducing it to small amounts of resistance. Yesterday I started doing my normal 50 pushups again and it felt fine (I do 50 pushups first thing every morning to help wake up and get the blood pumping a little). I'm also going to start the rotator cuff exercises tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be able to resume my regular upper body weight training workouts this Saturday!
I'm going to go get my ab workout and my cardio done. This week is going to be a killer at work...
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November 16, 2003
It looks like it's going to be another beautiful day again today. I'm going to get away from this computer for awhile and go do something fun. Have a great day!
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November 15, 2003
My shoulder is feeling much better, but it still hurts every once in awhile for some reason. Those periods of pain are becoming fewer and farther between, so I think it's still slowly healing. It's weird how it goes from feeling almost normal to feeling painful so quickly. My guess is I'm doing something unconsciously that aggravates it. I'm trying to be very cognizant of what I'm doing with it and how I move it, but sometimes I forget when I'm focused on whatever it is I'm doing.
Thanks to my shoulder injury I can't do my normal upper body weight training today and because I'm feeling bloated as hell from last night's cheat meal, I went ahead and did an unscheduled 23 minute HIIT cardio workout on the stair climber this morning. I just can't stand not doing anything!
It's nice and cool here this morning--55 degrees and clear. I'm going to take the dogs outside so we can enjoy the nice weather. Have a good day!
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November 14, 2003
I had a fantastic leg workout yesterday. I bested my 1-rep max squat for the 8th time in 9 weeks, and I also went up 5 pounds on all my working sets. I'm "paying" for it this morning--my legs and butt are killing me, but I love it...
Let's talk glutes for a minute. Are you happy with your ass? I'm asking rhetorically--please don't email me your answer
All my life, even when I was a swimmer, I never had a very firm butt. I guess that always kinda bothered me, but I didn't really
know what to do about it, and just used the old "I've got bad butt genetics" excuse. I'm happy to say that after almost a year of clean eating and about a
gazillion lunges, my butt has really firmed up and now my wife won't stop grabbing it (I'm not complaining). 
Anyway, if you want to firm up your rear, do two things consistently: eat right and do lots of weighted lunges! Weighted lunges really do a great job of hitting the 'ol glutes.
It's that simple and it really works.
My wife took off this morning on a long weekend mini-vacation. Unfortunately I have to work and can't go, but I'm taking two weeks off late December/early January, so it's cool. Because I'll be flying solo for the next few days I'm probably going to watch a bunch of testosterone-fueled movies and do some projects around the house. Tonight I get to have my weekly cheat meal, but instead of pizza and wine I'm going to have pizza and a few beers for a slight change of pace. Can't wait!
Hope your day is a good one, see you tomorrow!
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November 13, 2003
My shoulder is feeling better every day! It no longer hurts unless I put pressure on it by lifting something. I'm hopeful that by this Saturday it will feel normal and, if so, I'm going to give it one extra week from then just to be sure. So, I plan to resume my upper body weight training on November 22.
Due to this injury I will probably extend my bulking cycle an extra month (until February 6, 2004). I'll make a final decision on that by December 6th.
Thankfully my shoulder injury has not kept me from working my lower body or doing my cardio. Today is leg day, and I'm looking forward to a good workout. Last week's workout was really tough, and I was sore for a full 7 days afterwards. Today is the first day that my legs have felt fully recovered from that workout (and just in time to kill them again!)
Have a good day, see ya!
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November 12, 2003
Somehow I accidentally deleted this update. Weird. If you happen to have it, please email it to me.
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November 11, 2003
My shoulder is feeling much, much better this morning. It finally seems to be healing up. I can feel a slight twinge when I move it around, but the extreme pain is gone! I'm going to continue to rest it until I can't feel anything abnormal at all, and even then I may give it another week just to make sure it's completely healed. I would hate to start lifting and re-injure it.
Yesterday the docudrama "Pumping Iron" finally came out on DVD. No weightlifter should be without this DVD! If you watch it and don't feel like hitting the weights, check your pulse.
I'm off to do my cardio now. See you tomorrow...
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November 10, 2003
Today's going to be insane at work, so I've got to get my workout in
right away. I'll be doing cardio and working my abs this morning. At least I
can still do that!
My shoulder is still hurting. If it's not feeling better by next Monday I'm going to go see my doctor about it.
Have a great day, see you tomorrow!
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November 9, 2003
Quick update today--there's not much new to report. My shoulder still hurts, and my legs are still so sore I can barely walk. I'm trying hard to not let the shoulder injury bother me mentally, but have to admit that I'm feeling frustrated about not being able to lift. It's been 2 weeks since I've worked my chest and I can already see a difference, and not a good one. I sure hope it heals up soon....
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November 8, 2003
I think this is the most sore my legs have even been. I'm seriously having trouble walking around this morning, and when I do walk it's more like a hobble than a walk. I feel like an arthritic old man!
My shoulder still hurts, but not as bad as it has over the past few days. I'm trying to use it as little as possible but it's difficult because I'm right-handed.
I wish I could workout this morning because I'm looking and feeling really bloated after last night's cheat meal (I always retain about 3 pounds of water the day or two after my pizza and wine cheat meal). I love the cheat meal, but I hate the resultant bloat!
I think today is going to be a movie day so I can rest my legs and shoulder. See you tomorrow!
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November 7, 2003
I've definitely lost a little strength after my week off, but not too much. Yesterday I tried to best my 1-rep max squat
and failed to do so for the first time in 2 months. I did mange to do 3 sets of 6 squats at the same weight that I used on
my last leg workout, but I strained my back a little because I pushed the last 2 reps out using less than
perfect form. That was a really stupid thing to do. I won't let ego get in the way of safety again; I'm lucky
that I'm only dealing with a sore lower back this morning instead of something more serious. So, between my sore
lower back, my aching shoulder, my sore abs (still sore from Monday!) and my very sore legs, this morning
I feel as if I've been hit by a car...
I'm very disappointed that I won't be able to do my upper body workout tomorrow morning--I was really looking forward to it. I'm going to rest my shoulder at least another week, and when I think it's better I'm going to start back slowly and stop at the first hint of pain. I'm thinking very seriously about extending my bulking cycle an extra month.
Tonight I'll be having my usual weekly cheat meal of pizza and wine. I've think I've really earned it this week!
I'm off to do my cardio now, have a great day and I'll see you this weekend.
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November 6, 2003
I want to thank all of you who emailed me about my shoulder. It's going to take some time to reply to all of them, but I will!
Many of you had some excellent advice, and the words of support made me feel a lot better. After reading the emails from other athletes who have been there/done that, I'm pretty sure my shoulder is just strained and will recover with rest. I suspected that weighted dips might be the problem because I have been going really heavy using my dip belt and have heard that dips can be tough on the shoulders. Even though I can perform the exercise with a lot of added weight, I don't think my shoulders are strong enough to handle it. Numerous people wrote to me yesterday saying pretty much the same thing. I think I'm going to take a week off from upper-body lifting and see how I feel, and when I do start lifting again I'm not going to do dips for a while. Several people also wrote suggesting that I do exercises specifically designed to strengthen the rotator cuff, and I'm going to start doing some of those as well.
I'm off to work my legs now. I hope you have a great day!
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November 5, 2003
Last week I mentioned that my shoulder hurt. At the time I thought it was just because I slept on it wrong, but I think it's more serious than that. Yesterday I had a lot of pain in my right shoulder while doing dumbbell rows and barbell curls. When I went to do hammer curls, the pain was unbearable and I could not lift the weight. It hurts to lift my right arm and I'm pretty worried that something major is wrong, and I'm also really upset because this throws a wrench in my plans. I've always been worried about injury, and despite being very careful by warming up, stretching and practicing good form, here I am...injured. I'm still going to do my leg workout this Thursday and then on Saturday I'll see how I feel. If I'm still hurting Saturday I don't want to risk making it worse, so I'll rest the shoulder for a week. If it's not better after a week then I'm going to go see the doctor. As much as it pains me to say it, if the doctor puts me out of action I'll probably just end my bulking program early and do a little cutting for a while (I don't see any reason that I can't do cardio). If the doctor tells me to lay off the weights (or if *shudder* I need surgery) I'll resume my bulking as soon as I get the all clear. Needless to say I'm pretty bummed out right now. I'll still be working out and updating the page every day, so I'll keep you all posted...
I'm off to do my cardio now and think positive thoughts
November 4, 2003
Yesterday's workout was really tough! My ab workouts always hurt, but yesterday's ab workout was especially painful. Today my
abs are more sore than they've been in a long time. Also, yesterday when doing my HIIT cardio workout my heart rate
was higher than normal and it took longer for it to go down during my recovery intervals. It's amazing that just
one week off has had such a pronounced effect on my performance. I'm sure by the end of the week I'll be back to
where I was, but I have a feeling I'm going to be very sore this week. Today I'll
be working my back and biceps, Thursday is leg day and Saturday I'll hit my delts, pecs and triceps. By
Sunday I won't be able to move too quickly.
I'm going to get started on my workout now, see you tomorrow.....
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November 3, 2003
I hope you all had a good weekend and have managed to steer clear of the nasty flu virus that's been going around. It sure kicked my butt last week, but I'm finally back at 100%.
I measured myself this morning and I didn't loose any size this past week and gained 1 pound, which is surprising since I cycled off the creatine. Today I'm starting back on the creatine and resuming my workouts. Have a great day, see you tomorrow!
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November 2, 2003
Today I'll be relaxing and getting geared up for the last 2 months of my bulking cycle. I can't wait to start working out again tomorrow, I've really missed it this past week.
Have a good day, see you tomorrow!
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November 1, 2003
I sure am glad that my week off is almost over, I've really missed working out and, despite cutting my calories a little this week, I've
even added a little fat (as of this morning I'm at 10% body fat). It will be interesting to see if I'm stronger, weaker or the
same when I start lifting again next week. My body feels well rested and pain-free, except my shoulder hurts because
I slept on it wrong!
I'm off to take care of some projects around the house. Have a good day, see you tomorrow.
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