Posts written by Michael J. Mahony

The stats are in for the week.  Here they are:

I gained 1 pound this week.  I dropped 0.98 pounds of fat and gained 1.98 pounds of lean body mass, so this is a success for me.  This has me considering my goals for Mission 2 carefully.  My body fat % goal for February 3 is 13% and I'm almost there.

Accountability Plan for This Week:

Sunday, 1/13/2008:
    Nutrition:  
        Metabolic Surge, fruit day
        18 glasses of water
    Workout:  
        HIIT Cardio Session for 30 minutes

Monday, 1/14/2008:
    Nutrition:
        Metabolic Surge, 40/40/20
        18 glasses of water
    Workout:  
        Squats and Deadlift Shrugs 3 x 15 (supersetted)
        Bulgarian Split Squats and Step Ups 3 x 15 (supersetted)
        Reverse crunches 3 sets
        Steady Cardio Session for 45 minutes
        Chin up session

Tuesday, 1/15/2008:
    Nutrition:
        Metabolic Surge, 40/40/20
        18 glasses of water
    Workout:
        HIIT Cardio Session for 30 minutes

Wednesday, 1/16/2008:
    Nutrition:
        Metabolic Surge, 40/40/20
        18 glasses of water
    Workout:
        DB Incline Bench Press and Cable Seated Row 5 x 5 (supersetted)
        DB Shoulder Press and Wide grip lat pulldown 5 x 5 (supersetted)
        BB close grip bench press and High pull 5 x 5 (supersetted)
        Swiss ball crunches 3 sets
        HIIT Cardio Session for 30 minutes
        Chin up session

Thursday, 1/17/2008:
    Nutrition:
        Metabolic Surge, 40/40/20
        18 glasses of water
    Workout:
        HIIT Cardio for 45 minutes
        Chin up session

Friday, 1/18/2008:
    Nutrition:
        Metabolic Surge, 40/40/20 with cheat meal
        18 glasses of water
    Workout:
        Squats and Deadlift Shrugs 4 x 10 (supersetted)
        Bulgarian Split Squats and Step Ups 4 x 10 (supersetted)
        Reverse crunches 3 sets
        HIIT Cardio Session for 30 minutes
        Chin up session

Saturday, 1/19/2008:
    Nutrition:
        Metabolic Surge, low carb
        18 glasses of water
    Workout:
        Rest day today

Monday through Friday my nutrition plan starts at 4:30 a.m. while it starts at 6 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.  I am currently experimenting with cardio techniques to maximize the fat loss in the next 4 days.

My pics and the rest of my day will be coming later. 

Until then…

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One of the comments on yesterday's post mentioned being “comfortable” with their body and that brought to mind today's topic appropriately entitled “Comfortable.”

comfortable:  being in a state of physical or mental comfort; contented and undisturbed; (dictionary.com)

To me that's an interesting definition above.  I wonder if I can ever be truly comfortable with my own body.  In a way, that's sad, but it is a true statement.  I will likely never get to the point that I am contented with my body.  I will always have something to improve upon.  As mentioned before, I have aspirations to be a natural bodybuilder.  When I get to that point, I know I will be continually trying to perfect some aspect of my physique.  Being comfortable will literally kill my ability to win any competitions. 

At the same time, being comfortable is a good thing when you've lost alot of weight.  It is a good thing to be contented with where you ended up.  If a person loses 100 pounds but is sitting on 23% body fat and they are content, I say more power to them.  At the same time, many people who lose alot of weight and are sitting on a large percentage of body fat come to a decision that they need to make changes to drop their body fat percentage.  Is either person wrong?  I say no.

Honestly, I would be “contented” with continually trying to perfect some aspect of my pysique.  I have come to believe that being comfortable doesn't mean you need to stop where you are.  Being comfortable simply means that you are happy doing what you are doing.  It means you are willing to continue or not depending upon your goals.

To me, the understanding that I don't have to stop is a comfortable one.

Accountability Log:

Look at my pants!

The pants I'm wearing in the above picture used to be so tight as of October 1, 2007 that they cut into my stomach.  Now look at them!  I love it when you can actually see a difference!

Mission 2 – February 4, 2008

I did some more planning today.  My next mission will be 12 weeks long and will kick off February 4, 2008.  I will be on a bulking mission and have decided to use the Max-OT program for that purpose.  I've been reading the online materials and like the program's approach.  I believe I can put on some massive muscle during this time.  I will now need to develop some goals for myself.  I will post those at the start of Mission 2 on February 4, 2008.

Podcast

In anticipation of my interview in the very near future with a major fitness author, I am conducting an interview in my next podcast.  I am interviewing someone very near and dear to my own heart–ME!  Be sure to tune in for that schizophrenic interview tomorrow right here on this blog!

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING…

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Today I had no less than 3 people proclaim as they saw me “You've lost alot of weight!”  It got me thinking on a line of thought that didn't belong in my head at the time.  I started thinking about the scale.  I started thinking about numbers.  I lost my focus at that very moment.

Focus is the key to what all of us are trying to do.  You put your eyes on the prize and don't take them off.  At times the prize might become hazy, you might not see it as clearly as at other times, but you have to maintain your focus. 

Find a plan that works for you.  Measure your progress.  Make assessments weekly.  Make the changes to your plan to continue pushing yourself towards the prize.  Stop jumping from plan to plan.  Stop changing up your workout plan on a weekly basis.  Every strength training plan needs time to work.  You can't measure your success by what happens in one particular week.  That is a fatal mistake and it amounts to losing focus.

Anything worth doing takes time.  You didn't get out of shape overnight.  It isn't like you sat down and ate a ton of food, went to bed and woke up fat.  You did this to yourself over time.  Why do you expect it to change overnight?

Accountability  Log:

Tomorrow is another day.  There are only a few days left in Group Shred Phase 2.  I plan to make them the best days of the entire shred. 

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING…

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I finally got my workout in that was supposed to happen yesterday.  I made sure the gym clerk knew I was upset about the previous day and got a sincere apology.

My workout really pumped me up as it always does when I lift heavy.  I just love how I feel after a good session of real heavy lifting.  I forget about the stress of life and everything else that goes on around me and just focus on the feel of the iron bar in my hands. 

I found an interesting article that is about protein cycling.  Apparently it is a method for helping the body soak up and use tons of proteiin when you go up to a higher protein intake.  You can read the article by Chris Aceto here.

Accountability Log:

Surprise Guest for Podcast (coming soon):

Can you guess who my podcast guest is going to be?  Sometime after January 21, 2008, I will be interviewing this person for my podcast.  The graphic below is the first hint.

Make your guesses. I am not going to reveal who this person is until the actual podcast itself, but I thought it would be really fun to see if anyone could guess who it is.

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING…

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I got up at 4 a.m. and did my usual thing.  However, since I had a meeting, I decided to hit a new location of 24 Hour Fitness.  I had seen the cars parked as I drove past on the freeway several days in a row and it looked pretty inviting.  Because I had a meeting this morning and this gym is on the way to that meeting, I figured it would be perfect.  What a mistake!

I sat there with 10 other people for 40 minutes.  The gym (which is supposed to be open for 24 hours a day) was closed!  It had a sign saying the person would be back at 4 a.m. and it was not almost 5 a.m.  I finally gave up, figuring I'd hit the gym later in the day.  That never happened.  Thus, the plan is modified and I will lift tomorrow and Saturday instead of today and Friday.  Mark one workout off my accountability log!

Not too much else to share today.  I'm preparing some questions for my mystery guest.  We plan on the podcast lasting about 30 minutes.  If you have any general bodybuilding type questions to ask, please post them in a comment and I'll see what I can do about getting them into the podcast.

Accountability Log:

Christy, thanks for the comment about my progress.  I don't see it as clearly as everyone else, but I really appreciate the encouragement.  Sorry about the crappy photo quality today.

Push up Facts:

World Record for Continuous Pus ups:  10,507 (Minoru Yoshida of Japan in October 1980)
World Record for Push ups in a year:  1,500,230 (Paddy Doyle of Great Britain in October 1988 thru October 1989)
World Record for Push ups in 24 hours:  46,001 (Charles Servizio of United States in April 1993)
World Record for Push ups in  1 hour:  3,877 (Bijender Singh of India on September 20, 1988)

Until tomorrow…

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