Today was an exciting day of sorts.  I had a long drive in the morning and got to do alot of thinking on the way there and the way back.  I then went to the gym for some HIIT cardio.  The scheme I used:

 

3 minute warm up

 

1 minute at 3.5 mph

1 minute at 8.0 mph

 

Repeat the 2 intervals 10 times each for a total of 20 minutes.

 

3 minute cool down

 

Total HIIT cardio today was 26 minutes.  I could probably have run faster than 8.0 mph, but if you recall, I have had calf problems and wanted to see if I could handle the higher intensity running.  It worked out fine.

 

I also spent some time going through my email today and came across a 1-minute email (it is a great list I'm on) that was based off the following quotation:

 

“Living well and beautifully and justly are all one thing” — Socrates

The commentary that went along with it was very interesting.  The author states that finding happiness, enjoying life and helping others aren't just empty words.  These things all go hand in hand with achieving success.  It is a powerful combination.

This got me thinking about success.  I think it is extremely important to determine how you define success.  This very issue is why large goals should always be broken down into smaller goals.  The smaller goals help to define the success of the larger goal.  If you want to lose 100 pounds, would it make sense to just have the one goal?  If you had just the one goal and you weighed in and lost 2 pounds that week, would you feel like a success?  There's no way you could feel like a success because the goal is 100 pounds.  However, if you break down the goal into smaller goals, you might aim for 2 pounds of weightloss each week.  That would then make that 2 pounds you lost last week a success.  You'd feel much better about yourself and you'd be much happier with the results you produce.

One of the Shredder Council, Christy, has stated in a recent blog entry that she doesn't like tying herself to results.  I've reread that post several times because it struck me as odd for some reason.  Then it hit me.  We don't tie ourselves to results.  No, instead, we produce results every single day, every single week, every single month and every single year.  It isn't something we can avoid.  Results just happen.  Lose a pound?  You just produced results.  Gain 3 pounds?  You just produced results.  Stayed the same weight?  You just produced results.  Did absolutely nothing towards fitness today?  You still produced results.

It seems to me that Christy's comment is more aimed at not reviewing the results and that I feel is dangerous.  We need to have a roadmap in order to check our progress.  Sometimes we are going to be off track and other times we will be right on track.  However, if we don't check on our progress we will blindly continue down the wrong path and not even know we are on the wrong path.  Failing to plan is planning to fail.

I tried this daily picture routine once before and I stopped rather quickly for a similar reason to what Christy is saying.  I didn't like feeling like I had to look a certain way in the picture.  This time is different for me.  I know people are reading and they are looking at my pictures differently than I do.  They see things I don't necessarily see.  That's the purpose of the pictures–to be held accountable.  I don't even look that carefully at my pictures.  At the mid point of the group shred I did take a closer look because it was sort of a milestone, but other than that, I haven't even compared them very much.  Every day, in addition to the front pictures that are posted, I take a side picture as well.  I honestly have not even compared the Day One side picture with any of the side pictures from other days.

To me, the results are in how I feel about myself and I feel great about myself at this point.  I am very motivated to continue on the path I'm on.  I know I will hit speed bumps along the way,  but I'm going to remain focused because I know you all are out there looking at my pictures and expecting to see some progress each time.  That's the essence of these pictures–you will hold me accountable.

So, Christy, you shouldn't worry so much about the changes in the pictures because, really, the pictures are not for you, they are for everyone else reading your blog.  Focus on the things that make you happy.  Realize that you are getting results (I personally think you are looking pretty amazing from your starting picture) and just relish that fact.  Anyone else who is feeling like the pictures are tying them to results should consider this as well.

Until tomorrow…

It is finally over! I spent 24 straight hours working with my moving team to get our move completed. Except for some minor issues, it went very well.

I did not get to do my weight workout at all yesterday and that made me sad at first.  However, during the move I had several younger guys comment on how strong I am.  I was just doing what I had to do to get the move done by picking up heavy servers that topped out at 100 pounds each and carrying them up two flights of stairs to the new office.  The young guys who were struggling to carry the servers in teams of two noticed that I was carrying them on my own.  They asked how I was able to get so strong and I commented “One word, guys–deadlifts!”

It was after that incident that it struck me.  We work hard and we push ourselves and when we make it to the gym, we hardly celebrate that success at all.  However, when we miss one single workout we are ready to declare a defeat.  The fact is that we are consistent with our workouts to minimize the effects of missing the occassional workout here or there.  The fact is that the results we've pushed ourselves to achieve are marvelled at more by other people than by ourselves.  Why is that?  We should be celebrating the little successes we have along the way. We should pat ourselves on the back when we make it to the gym for an entire week without missing.  We should reward ourselves for the times that we go two entire weeks without missing a workout.  When we beat our previous workout we should have a mini celebration of some sort.  Regular readers of this blog know that I advocate working hard to beat your previous workout every time you go to the gym.  Those readers might think that if you follow my advice you'll be celebrating an awful lot.  To those people I say “So what?”

Is it wrong to celebrate our successes?  No, of course it isn't!  Just like we should not hesitate to celebrate our successes, we should not accept defeat as something that will lead to our ultimate demise.  Defeats happen regularly and we should use them and build upon them, because defeats are just results that we produce.  Results happen no matter what we do.  Sometimes they make us happy and other times they don't.  When we fall, we pick ourselves right back up and move on.  That's the sign of character.

I have to say that the one thing I've really come to love about the group shred is that everyone is celebrating each other's little successes.  The one thing I'd like to see more of is the members of the Shredder Council celebrating their own victories more often.  Make it a goal today to celebrate a victory.

Did I miss my workout yesterday?  Yes.  Did it matter in the big scheme of what I'm trying to accomplish?  No, not the slightest bit.  I'm exhaused from my move, but I have a smile on my face because I know I'm stronger today than I was yesterday and I'll be even stronger tomorrow than I am today.  It is all in the attitude!

Until next time…

Today is a day for moving on. The move I'm supervising happens today and I'm relieved. It is nice when momentum just takes over and things happen.  At the same time, I am now past the half way point of the group shred.  I am noticing alot of changes in my body and I know that it is time to move on and get more done. 

As I was telling Christy in another comment, I am working on figuring out how to fit my weight workout into this busy day.  I am a chess player and I participate in an online chess league.  Today is my scheduled day for a game and so I have to deal with that and the move today.  I am currently planning on squeezing the weights in between the game and the time I have to be at the move site.

My plan today is to do my Fat Loss III workout that starts with squats.  I will complete that and then I'm going to give Adam's HIIT schedule a try.  I took his kph numbers and turned them into mph numbers and it translates into doing 1 minute at 3.7 mph and 2 minutes at 9.9 mph.  I hope I'm able to run at 9.9 mph for 2 straight minutes.  I am going to give it my absolute best shot.  I will shoot for 5 intervals this time around and then add 1 interval daily.

I am starting to think long and hard about doing two cardio sessions a day during the rest of this 100 day mission.  I've got a new system for tracking my nutrition.  I know alot of people don't pay that much attention to the numbers as they relate to nutrition, but for me, I need to do so.  I have found that when I don't I take in either way too little or way too many calories.  I make it as easy as I can on myself to track this stuff, but it has to be tracked.  I am noticing that this new system (thanks to Chad Tackett at http://www.global-fitness.com) is really working for me.  Tom Venuto talks about this system in his Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle book as “re-feeding.”  

I had mentioned in a previous post that my energy levels were low after a 3 day low carb cycle and promised to post the answer when I got it.  The first thing I can tell you is that I was messing up with how many carbs I should be eating.  What Chad Tackett had me do was put my calories at 2800 on high carb days and 2400 calories on low carb days.  Chad then had me do my macronutrient ratios at 50% carbs, 30% protein and 20% fat on high carb days and 40% carbs, 40% protein and 20% fat on low carb days.  From that I get the grams for each item.

The comparison of my calculations from the old to the new:

Low Carb Days
	Old	New
Carbs	204	240
Protein	340	240
Fat	76	53
Calories	2856	2400

High Carb Days
	Old	New
Carbs	391	350
Protein	340	210
Fat	76	62
Calories	2856	2800

Obviously my original calculations were way off.  Since making the adjustments above, my energy level has been up a bit on the tough workout days.  I've learned that the low energy is just something I have to deal with.

On another note, I've started investigating what it takes to become a CPT.  It is something I'd like to explore moving forward.

Until tomorrow…

We are at the half way point of the group shred and Adam has asked us to comment on four topics.  Before I get to those, I wanted to mention that I did my cardio workout today and it left me feeling incredible.  I could feel the metabolic boost for hours afterwards.

I just got back from the gym and I must say, I left everything there and brought nothing home with me.  I feel awesome but exhausted at the same time!  The stress I was feeling has melted away.  At one point, prior to my fourth deadlift set, I felt defeated, like there was no way I'd get through it.  Prior to grabbing the bar and starting the set I decided to visualize myself completing 10 reps.  I then proceeded to complete the set!

The workout:

Exercise	Results (Weight/Sets/Reps)
Deadlift	185 x 4 x 10 *[PB]
Explosive Pushups	BW x 4 x 11
Bulgarian Split Squats	25 x 4 x 11
2 Point Bent Row	35 x 4 x 11 *[PB]
Deadlift from a box	65 x 2 x 20
Dumbbell Bench Press	35 x 2 x 20
Walking lunges	25 x 2 x 20
Seated Cable Row	75 x 2 x 20
*PB=Personal Best