ACTUALLY BACK AT IT

It's been almost a month since my last post and instead of being a dick, I figured I should actually START working out again before parroting my deeds around.

So I did three gym sessions this week, all of which ended up in pain and suffering. The lack of training is more than apparent: my upper arms were so sore I could barely lift them enough to put on my earphones and the days following the leg workout made me feel weak and helpless. Hopefully the shock has passed and my body will handle next week's workouts much better, provided I actually devote five measly minutes for warming up.

For my cardio workout, I've decided to start the Couch-to-5K running program, which promises to transform me from a useless sedentary piece of shit into a guy who can run 5 kilometers in one go in just 9 weeks. I've went through the first week of running and it's totally manageable, but I suspect it might get pretty rough later on. We'll see. I love how I turn into a sweat-drenched animal after just 25 minutes on the treadmill and the post-running rush feels really good, so I'm pretty excited to get back in there tomorrow and run some more.

My diet still needs plenty of work. Need to cut down on bread and sweets and I'm not sure eating a pot of bouyiourdi for breakfast every day is a sane thing to do. Although, to be fair, it's vegetables, some cheese and a bit of olive oil, all baked in the oven. Sounds pretty healthy and nourishing to me. And it tastes amazing. So... amazing. I've also taken up eating plain yogurt with various fruits added (peaches, bananas, cherries) which is a good way to eat more of these foods, because I never eat yogurt or fruit by themselves, unless the fruit happens to be grapefruit, which I love.

Anyway, tomorrow is a new week and I'm planning to hit the gym as soon as it opens, do some upper body lifting, run, drink plenty of water then head back home to study. BRB.

Listening to:

Woods of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light

Horseback - Half Blood

Mac Lethal - Irish Goodbye

BACK AT IT

I'm not wasting any time crying over what a lazy asshole I've been. Instead, I'm going to do the only thing worth doing: get back to work!

Here's hoping for no more random, out-of-nowhere debilitating injuries and for a whole lot more determination. I'm going to become the master of my domain. I will work out during the morning, study and write stupid shit for university throughout the day and get plenty of sleep during the night. All while tracking my meals, my workouts and my music. The Centurion Method dudes continue to prove an inspiration. Time to shed that flab, bro! 

DAYS TEN AND ELEVEN

Meals so far included a small pot of bouyiourdi, tons of Greek salad and chicken, although I'm still having a hard time ditching sweets. And I'm not even sorry for it, unlike a certain hipster follower of my exploits. I've eaten some small amount of chocolate almost every day since starting this blog. Still, it could be worse, so I'm not beating myself up too hard about it.

DAY NINE

Not a good day.

My back pain came back and I blew off gym again because of it. I ate a feta-salad-tomato sandwich for breakfast, some peas for lunch (followed by a small Bounty, ugh) and a salad for dinner.

I need  to make some more consistent updates.

DAYS SEVEN AND EIGHT

I'm trying hard to hang on to my lighter diet plan, but on Sunday I ate a bunch of Oreos and some chocolate wafer sticks. The bad part is I don't regret it and I didn't even think twice about it: the moment I saw the bag of Oreos, I threw myself at it like a wild animal and ate five or six over the course of an hour. Otherwise, I'm still going strong with plenty of vegetables, peas, beans, eggs and chicken, plus green tea and milk. 

 

My upper back feels much better, so I might hit the gym tomorrow. We'll see. Also, I'm happy to report that it's been two full weeks since I bought my last can of Pringles. I haven't had any junk food since. GJ, bro! 

Listening to:

An Autumn for Crippled Children - Only the Ocean Knows

Sunn O))) - Oracle

DAYS FIVE AND SIX

Ugh. Some inexplicable back ache is preventing me from going to the gym. This and the fact that I just returned home from six hours of boring lectures where I was taught things I already knew. My diet is pretty much the same, but it has definitely taken  a turn to the TOBLERONE area. I regret nothing.

Listening to: 

Ramlord - Crippled Minds, Saundered Wisdom 
NAILS - Abandon All Life
Darkthrone - The Underground Resistance

DAY FOUR

Today was a rest day, so I didn't do jack shit. My legs are sore. Had a salad for breakfast, beans for lunch and some grilled chicken meat for dinner, accompanied by two beers. Boring.

DAY THREE - leg curl machine woes ;(

Okay, I don't understand the leg machine curl at my gym. I have watched a whole bunch of videos about the correct way to do leg curls, I looked at tons of pictures of these machines and I don't get it. I haven't found one single picture of a leg machine curl that looks like the one in my gym. As you can see, the two cushions where you lay down form an outward-facing obtuse angle between them. I get that. It's a comfortable position in which to do leg curls. The machine in my gym, however, looks like this:

I had to draw this crude picture because I couldn't explain it otherwise. The angle between cushions is facing inward, so every time I try to use this machine, my legs feel like they're about to snap right off and I can only manage a few curls before wanting to scream in pain. Who the hell designed this thing? It's impossible to use. God damn it. I'm going to have to replace this exercise with something else. I also didn't feel very well today, so I left the gym after 30 minutes in angered frustration. I managed to do a bunch of squats and some leg extensions, though. My quads always feel like they're burning after completing a set. feelsgoodman.jpg

As for the food:


Breakfast
Two slices of bread, some smoked salmon, some goose foie gras, a banana and a cup of unsweetened black tea.

Snack
One slice of bread, feta cheese, lettuce, green pepper, mustard, one hard-boiled egg plus a small glass of milk.

Lunch
One cup (I think) peas and lean pork meat - same as yesterday.

Dinner
Greek salad with grilled cheese and three whole-wheat crackers, a cup of tea, a chocolate waffer and a beer. I was celebrating.

Listening to:

Lo! - Look and Behold
220 Volt - Mind over Muscle
Perturbator - Terror 404

DAY TWO

Today was a good day. 

Flat barbell press: 4x10 reps

Dumbbell flyes: 4x15 reps

Dumbbell shoulder press: 2x15 reps, 1x10 reps

Dumbbell curls: 2x15 reps, 2x10 reps with increased weight

Triceps extensions: 3x10 reps

Dumbbell wirst curls: 3x20 reps

Lat pulldowns: 1x15 reps (2 plates) 2x10 reps (3 plates)

Still using 4 kilo dumbbells for most of these exercises. I'll be super stoked when I finally graduate to 5 kilos. 

Breakfast

Sandwich with feta cheese, lettuce, green pepper and mustard, all inside a whole wheat bun, plus a cup of vanilla-caramel black tea. 

Snack

Sandwich with feta cheese, lettuce, green pepper and mustard, all inside a whole wheat bun, plus a small glass of milk

Lunch

One cup (I think) peas and lean pork meat

Dinner

One slice of bread and some smoked salmon

Greek salad and whole-wheat crackers

Listening to:

Electric Wizard - Come, My Fanatics

Decomposed - Hope Finally Died

Manilla Road - Crystal Logic

DAY ONE

Gym was closed today, so I just stayed indoors and tried not to eat like a pig. I did pretty good, I think: 

Breakfast

Sandwich with feta cheese, lettuce, green pepper and mustard, all inside a whole wheat bun, plus a cup of vanilla-caramel black tea. 

Lunch

One cup (I think) mashed potatoes with half a lean pork sausage (meh) and lots of lettuce-cucumber-tomato salad

Snack

One slice of bread dipped in olive oil and oregano

Five strawberries

Dinner

One slice of bread and some smoked salmon

All of this adds up to around 1000 calories, according to MakeMyPlate.co. Although I'm pretty sure I'll have a wafer by the end of the evening. I'm going to watch Batman Begins now. Never seen it because all the brown in the poster and promo pics makes me go 'bleah'. 

Listening to: 

The Ocean - Precambrian

Cult of Luna - Vertikal 

Umberto - Confrontations