Day 138 / Week 20 - Locked out with sickness

Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances, there was no way to go to the gym for my cardio today. Not only was I locked out from my own home for a good 2 to 3 hours, but I was also sick. So today was quite the write off, but still was able able to keep healthy with my meals.

Tomorrow I'm scheduled to start a new workout routine, so instead of making up for today, I'll just start off fresh with the new workout plan as it also incorporates cardio. I have nothing scheduled for tomorrow but will plan to get this workout done in the am (before breakfast) to ensure that I get back on track.


Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

Day 137 / Week 20 - A night out

So no workout for today or to worry about my calorie intake as today was my rest day and reward day. As for a reward meal, I had a few beers and shots with a few buds after work and ate a few wings. Nothing crazy. Tomorrow is cardio and abs. 

Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

Day 136 / Week 20 - Damn Errands are Keeping Me Back

Unfortunately, today didn't exactly go exactly as planned. I ran into errands in the evening and by the time I got home, it was late, I was exhausted and extremely hungry. I did however complete my ab workout which only took 15 minutes.

Tomorrow, I will be going out with a few buds from work for drinks, so tomorrow will be my rest day instead of Saturday. I have nothing planned on Saturday, so I'll make up the 20 min of cardio along with my scheduled workout right after work.


Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

Day 135 / Week 19 in Review

Another challenging week complete and must say, it's has been quite tiring. In review of this week's stats, I have definitely improved my strength by at least 5-10%, gained 2 pounds of muscle, decreased fat by 1 pound, decreased the waistline by .2 and have decreased my fat percentage by .71% fat. Not bad, I have improved from last week and can tell that the my fat around my lower abs are slowly but surely starting to disappear.

In review of this week's workout/nutrition plan :

• I missed a workout, but made it up the next day.
• I continued to make wiser and healthier food choices.
• I ate a 'free' hotdog/sausage for lunch one day, but made it up with extra time on the treadmill
• For my reward meal, I chowed down on KFC( Yeehhaa!)

 Overall this week was good and have definitely progressed. But one thing I'll tell ya, this ain't easy. It's not like when I 1st started where I would lose 3 to 5 pounds and can clearly see differences in my physique. Nowadays, I'm noticing the difficulty of losing that last piece of fat that covers my lower abs. I however strongly believe that this will disappear by November 26th (my goal date and my birthday) and just need to be patient. So in perspective, I pretty much have 4 weeks left to bust my a$$ and show a full 6 pack....Wish me luck. =)

Week 19 Pic

Week 19 Results

Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

Day 134 / Week 19 - Paranormal Activity. Is it Worth the Hype?

Well with Halloween just around the corner and all the hype surrounding the movie Paranormal Activity, I finally had the opportunity to check it out. Was it worth the hype? Not really, but I could understand the reason for all the hype. Very much like the movie The Blair Witch Project, this movie is presented in a documentary style where in this plot, the boyfriend(Micah) and girlfriend(Katie) are haunted by a supernatural presence in their home.To prove the existence of the demon/spirit, they setup cameras in the home to capture the strange things that lurk in the night. Since the movie was created in a documentary style, I believe this is what created the hype, just like Blair Witch(which sucked IMO). So was it scary? I'll be honest (and I've seen a lot of horror movies) it was pretty spooky. As a scare factor rating out of 10 -  I would rate this an 8. Yes it was scary, but a little disappointed with the amount of sightings of paranormal activity. I was yearning for more and by the time I knew it, the movie was over. Speaking of which, I was very impressed with the ending. I don't want to ruin it for you, so I won't say anything.  As a true believer in spirits/ghosts (I have had my own personal paranormal experience which I rather not discuss), this definitely got me spooked and I won't lie - last night I was hearing noises within the condo that I don't usually pay attention to. My ears were wide open, but did eventually fall asleep. =) So with this movie at an 8, one would probably think what would be a perfect 10? The only movie that I thought was a perfect 10 was a documentary created by the Discovery Channel, The Haunting in Connecticut which can be viewed for free on Youtube here. This spooked the sh*t out of me, but still have to wonder of how stupid the parents were for not listening to their children about the demons in the house, when the parents themselves were experiencing similar occurrences. Since this documentary is based on true events narrated by the same people who actually experienced the events, truly made the documentary believable and very scary. If you wanna be really spooked out, check it out. =)


Paranormal Activity Review : 8 out of 10 - Quite Spooky, great ending. Not enough paranormal activity.

Discovery Channel Documentary : The Haunting in Connecticut  Review : 10 out of 10. Very Scary! Spooked the crap out of me!!!! See it here on Youtube

As for commitments for today, I wolfed down an Italian sausage during lunch, since my work had a Halloween bbq and couldn't pass up on the free food. I however did make it up in the gym by extending the workout an extra 15 min on the elliptical. Tomorrow is weight training where I'l be working on legs and shoulders. Last week I killed my back, so I think I'll take it easy this time.


Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

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Day 133 / Week 19 - Playing Catch Up.

Since I don't work on Monday's, I was able to complete my HIIT cardio and abs in the morning and in the evening I completed my scheduled weight training with the wifey.  Total time in the gym for today was approx. 1 hour and 20 min. Very good productive day. Kept in spec with eating and meals and sleep was on par. Tomorrow is 45 min cardio, so back to the treadmill for me. I'm getting tired just thinking about it, but with my eye on the prize(6 pack abs) I know that my hard work will pay off in the end.

Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

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Day 132 / Week 19 - Damn!...I missed my workout

Agghhh...Not a good day...Since I had to work overtime today and woke up late, I unfortunately missed my scheduled morning workout. I tried to plan it in the late evening when I got home, but by the time I got back home, I was way too exhausted. The scheduled workout was for 20 min HIIT cardio and abs. As you can probably tell, I hate to miss my workouts, so I'll see about completing it tomorrow in addition to my weight training. 

Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

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Day 131 / Week 19 - Finger Lick'n Good

So as promised to myself, my reward meal for this evening was a 3 piece combo meal from KFC. Damn that was good!! After a whole week of eating healthy, workin' hard with the weights and the hours of cardio, this was well deserved. =) Since today is also my day off,  no workout for today. My sleep last night was limited since I was partying it up the night before with my buds. Tomorrow is cardio and abs and looking forward to my next episode of Entourage on the itouch. 

Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

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Day 130 / Week 19 - Another day in strength improvement

Completed all commitments today and increased my weights again by another 5% from last weeks stats. So, as an example bench press with the dumbbells was increased from 80lbs to 85 lbs. Curls have also been increased from 75lbs to 85 lbs. This proves again that my strength training has improved due the weight increase, but awaiting for my body itself to show it's improvement.  Next week pic results, maybe? I dunno, but we'll see. =) ...Also kept on par with eating and await for tomorrow's rest day and reward day.


Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

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Day 129 / Week 19 - Nutritional Lifestyle Changes

Today was cardio and abs which was split up during the day and the evening. Weather wasn't too bad and walked around the city for about an hour and met up with a freind for sushi at lunch time. Instead of my usual appetizer of tempura shrimp and a nice cold Sapporo beer, I opted for sashimi, side salad, California rolls(w/ brown rice) and a glass of water. Changes/sacrifices like this have become a lot easier these days as it's now becoming a habit. This is what I mean when I talk about changing your nutritional lifestyle. It's about moderating your calorie intake during the week(Sunday to Friday), then  indulge in something that you've been craving all week- which is usually on the weekend (for me it's Saturdays)...Like the KFC and stuffing that I mentioned the other day, I'll be having it on Saturday - unless there's something else that is either equal or better. If however I had a party to go to on the Thursday or Friday and had no choice but to eat/drink that was considered high calorie, then I would reserve that day as my reward meal and then Saturday will eat healthy. It's all about balance and most importantly keeping your eye on the main prize - in my case 6 pack abs.

Anyhow, in the evening, I put in 30 min on the elliptical instead of 40 (since I walked around the city for about an hour today) and completed my ab workout. Tomorrow is weight training - only 40 min. My back is still in pain from my previous weight training and will keep it easy tomorrow.


Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

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Day 128 / Week 18 Review - Four pack, but not yet a six pack...

So another week has passed by...Still no six-pack, but by looking at my progress for the week, it's starting to take shape. I kinda see a "4 pack" (or is that a "3 pack"?), but it's that lower tummy that has become a challenge. Looking back at the week, I worked pretty hard, kept within my guidelines and chose healthier foods that what was offered to me. An example would be choosing brown rice instead of white rice and sushi instead of fried chicken. Both times these foods were literally right in front me, but since my lifestyle has changed for the better (and the fact that I want a six pack), these fatty foods will keep me back and therefore will not be able to progress like I have thus far. Looking at the numbers, I have lost 1 pound, which therefore slightly increased my fat% and slightly decreased my lean muscle . I'm still in the 9% fat range which is good though. Going forward into the next week, I believe I just have to keep on eating healthy, continue to stay away from alcohol(well maybe not the weekend =) ) and stick with the workout plan.

Btw, the wifey has been doing the program with me for the passed 2 weeks and has lost 2 pounds since last week, even with the fatty foods that she periodically ate. Again, her metabolism is different than mine(much higher) and she's naturally skinny, but she feels fat I guess(whatever- I'm still trying to figure out women). Her initial goal was to only lose 10 pounds where she has lost a total of 4 pounds in 2 weeks thus far. She has 6 pounds to go and can see her losing this in no time, but if she were to eat much healthier, she would lose a lot more in less time. I could only teach and show her the way, but it's up to her to take that nutritional step. I guess she figures she can have her cake and eat it too - literally. And from the looks of her results thus far, she may be right - so who am I to judge?. Knowing her metabolism and the amount of sleep she gets, I can see her reaching her goal in 2 to 3 weeks by just sticking with the workout plan. Anyhow, we'll see how it goes.

Tomorrow is cardio - 40 min of it and abs. My back is killing me, but hopefully will be good for tomorrow.


Week 18 Pic

Week 18 Results

Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

Day 127 / Week 18 - Thanksgiving 2.0 ?

Completed 20 min HIIT Cardio and ab exercises to complete today's commitments. Since time was tight and extremely hungry, I spared no extra time in the gym. Was tempted a few times in regards to my last meal though. Wifey who just finished her 20 min cardio as well, chowed down on chicken legs, stuffing, white rice and cranberry sauce. If you saw her huge plate of food, it was like Thanksgiving 2.0. As with every other day that goes by, I've gotten quite used to the wifey eating what she wants (due to her strong metabolism which I envy) even though I may b*tch and complain about it every once in awhile. I however kept it clean this evening by having chicken and a side salad. I must confess though, I did sneak in a spoonful of stuffing. Do I feel bad about it, yeah a bit.....But it was a very small portion(more like a taste) and yes it was too damn good to pass up!! Plus I was the one cooking dinner, so I just had to make sure there was no poison in it...Just Kidding.. :-) . For my reward meal this weekend, I think I'm gonna have KFC and a full plate of stuffing...For the sacrifice of this evening alone, I think it's well deserved   =)


Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

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Day 126 / Week 18 - Test Driving the 2009 Acura CSX

Completed my upper body weight training in the early morning as I knew that the painters will be coming in the gym to paint (hopefully the colour is good) and just got out in time before they started asking people to leave the gym. Wheew!...I was so glad to get that out of the way, because I know how the gym's gonna be like in the evening - like a zoo! Anyhow, I again have increased the weight by another 5 pounds for each exercise in conjunction with keeping within the repetition guidelines. As with my meal intake, my meals were all over the place as I had a few errands and couldn't get a meal in, but still kept it healthy. One of the errands, which unexpectedly worked out better than I thought, I had to go to the Acura dealership. I dropped off my car to get my automatic door opener fixed and requested for a loaner car. They gave me a 2009 Acura CSX. As a previous proud owner of a 93 Honda Civic Si that I had for 13 years(sold it with 458K for $2000 a year ago), I found this car to be "OK", but not great. I'm a huge Honda/Acura fan, but there is really nothing spectacular about it, but did enjoy the paddle shifting and bucket seats. The interior is simple, very functional and featured with blue lighting (opposed to the orange lighting in the German cars which I detest), but not a huge fan of the digital dash. I personally prefer the traditional analog dials.  The exterior IMO is garbage. I hate it and think it's ugly. What Acura has done with the grill and lights are hideous and should change it. I know that Honda/Acura fans probably would agree with me here in regards to the grill. As for the ride quality and power, it has the power to get you passing other cars on the road, especially with the paddle shifting and the handling is pretty good(like the rest of the Acura's lineup). In perspective, I would purchase the 2009 Civic over this any day, mostly because I prefer the lights on the Civic than I do with the CSX. The CSX is quite functional, probably great on gas and very reliable like any other Honda/Acura. But it's just ugly as sin. Take a look for yourself below and feel free to comment of what you think.

Anyhow, I got my car back with the door mechanism fixed (all under my extended warranty, so no charge- yaa!), they cleaned the exterior of my car including my rims (yaa!) and to have the loaner for the day that only cost me $10 bux and didn't have to refill it with gas(yaa!)...Overall great experience. It's just too bad that they gave me the CSX, I would have much preferred the 2009 TSX or TL (even with the ugly grill and all)... =)

Acura CSX Review : Interior is great (minus the digital dash)
Exterior is ugly(IMO), Acceleration is good(for what it is) and great handling.
Overall Verdict : 7 out of 10 stars

 CSX Interior Dash - Very functional, easy to use and visually looks great, but only if they can get rid of that digital dash.

Automatic gear shift - no tiptronic, but has paddle shifting on the steering wheel

Side Controls - again....simple like any other Honda/Acura

Tomorrow is 20 minutes of cardio and abs....Looking forward to my next episode of Entourage (will Eric dump that crazy byatch Ashley and get back with Sloan? Dump that b*tch guy! ) =).




Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

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Day 125 / Week 18 - Reward Meal : Oxtail & Rice

For reward meal today I had my ultimate favorite meal : Oxtail and Rice with a side salad(shown below). It was homemade &  absolutely delicious. If you haven't tried oxtail before, you have to. Only on reward meal days as this dish is an artery clogger! You can trim off some fat, but it's the fat that makes it tastes sooo good. =)  Takes at least 4.5 hours to make or until you notice that the meat is falling off the bone. If you are looking for convenience, you can also get this at any Jamaican or West Indian restaurant such as Pat's Homestyle in Toronto.

In regards to today's commitments, I completed an extra 10 min. of HIIT Cardio and kept my meals pretty healthy till my last meal(dinner time). Since I knew that I had the oxtail waiting for me after the workout, I burned an extra 100 calories on the elliptical. Tomorrow is upper body weight training and will have to complete the workout in the morning as my condo will be closing the gym during business hours as they will be painting the gym. My condo fees in action...cool..

Oxtail & Rice with Side Salad

Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

 Click here for last week results - Weekly Pic & Stats

Day 124 / Week 18 - Rest Day

Rest day today. It's a good thing today was not a workout day as my day was all tied up with errands and it would have been quite difficult to squeeze it in. I otherwise did well with all areas except for my last meal where I had white rice with sushi. I didn't over do it, but would have preferred brown rice. Tomorrow is HIIT cardio. Looking forward to the next episode of Entourage.



Click here for last week results - Weekly Pic & Stats

Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

Day 123 / Week 18 - Poker & Pizza

Completed my weight training today and have again increased the weights from the week before by 10 pounds for each exercise. So that being said, my strength is definitely increasing and improving. My calorie intake however sucked in the late evening by ordering a pizza with a few of my buds while playing poker, but fortunately was able to convince my buds to order a 2nd pizza that was a vegetarian with multi-grain, thin crust. So, it wasn't too bad - I only had 2 slices, but unfortunately ate it at 10pm.....Oh well, sh*t happens...Tomorrow is rest day and my reward meal. I may look at the pizza as the reward meal, but I'll see how things go tomorrow (especially after seeing the wifey eat fried chicken yesterday, I'm craving something greasy). =)


Click here for last week results - Weekly Pic & Stats

Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

Day 122 / Week 18 - Fried chicken after cardio?...WTF?!

Completed 40 min cardio watching an episode and a half of Entourage. Also completed ab training, which again made me clench for each set completed. Right after the workout, the wifey decided to eat fried chicken and potato wedges. Unbelievable eh? As she's eating it, I'm thinking, "WTF?"! I had to take a pic of it (shown below) just to prove my point. I understand that she's already skinny, but if you are gonna do 40 min toiling on the treadmill, why would you want to waste your workout on greasy food after?? I just don't understand the logic...but hey, she's naturally fit and I guess I'll just have to suffer watching her eat these things right in front of me. (yes, as you can tell, I'm a little bitter and jealous). So what did I have? I had sushi (wrapped in brown rice) and a salad.  Tasted alright, but it aint no fried chicken. It's alright, I felt good eating something healthy anyways as I'm continuously keeping my eye on the prize : 6 pack abs....eye on the prize, eye on the prize, eye on the prize..... =)

Looking forward, tomorrow I have weight training and Saturday is my day to have my reward meal. After seeing fried chicken today, I may up the ante and get KFC. We'll see.... =)



Wifey's greasy fried chicken from Loblaws.

Click here for Week 17 results - Weekly Pic & Stats

Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

Day 121 / Week 17 in Review - My Secret Weapon... : A Simple Workout Plan

Well, by looking at the results this week, I finally hit 9% fat. Woohhoo! I however still cannot see my abs. Booo!!...They are peeking out, but still a little bit shy. My lean muscle has increased by 3 pounds from last week, and 3 pounds of fat has decreased. On paper, that looks all nice and dandy, but I wanna see results! I want my six pack dammit!!! And I will have it...soon... ;-)

Looking back at the week, I worked very hard, overall ate pretty healthy, learned a few lessons about unreliable workout buddies and to be cautious again in the gym. I believe I'm progressing though. For one, the pants that I purchased for the pic below(purchased 5 weeks ago) are now too big and need to get new ones. Yes, it's a good thing I have a belt on. It's also a good thing that I still have the receipt and that Old Navy has a 90 day exchange policy too. =) I know...I know, kinda ghetto, but heck I'm broke....so gimme a break


Week 17 Pic

Anyhow, looking at my efforts for today, I kept on par with my commitments and completed 45 min for my weight training. Felt pretty pumped when I went in and fully pumped when I left...Felt pretty damn good...Especially when I notice every couple of weeks that the weight's I'm lifting are consistently increasing and therefore get a great feeling of progression.

Four to five months ago(before all this Little Riddick stuff), I had no plan when I went in the gym, no idea what I was doing and no idea if I was progressing. Why do you think I hardly went to the gym? Obviously because I was not seeing any results, I had no plan, I wasn't keeping track of my progression and to which all this led to no motivation. Now when I step into the gym, I know for sure that the 45 min that I am in there will be worth something and this drives my motivation.

My point here is that I'm very thankful each day for choosing to get a workout plan that I know will work and won't be wasting my time in the gym. Too many days, weeks and months that I see go by and there are people in the gym that I know for sure that have not changed a bit in their appearance.

As an example, last week I gave a link to a guy in my gym of this program. I see this guy almost everyday in the gym working hard for at least 1.5 hours, mostly with cardio, hardly any weight training and have not seen a change in this guy's appearance since I started. Is it the foods that he's eating (nutrition plan)? I dunno, I just know it's not working for him and kinda felt sorry for the guy. But from the sounds of his answer, I doubt he'll change his "routine" or check it out. Anyhow, to each his own....I can't force anyone to do anything. They need to realize for themselves that the status quo ain't working and it's time to change.

And for what I have experienced and is working for me thus far is a workout/nutrition plan that has successfully overhauled my eating/exercise lifestyle and I'm loving it! =)  So speaking of exercise, tomorrow is cardio...40 min of it...Not exactly looking forward to it, but will prep the itouch to ensure I'll be preoccupied (or enjoying myself) while doing it.

Week 17 Results

Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

Day 120/ Week 17 - Can't let a good thing go to waste.

Stayed on par with the cardio & abs in the evening but with leftovers still left from Thanksgiving, I had a limited amount of white rice and stuffing - thus increasing my calorie intake. Can't let good food go to waste right? Anyhow, it seems that each day that goes by trying to get the little bit of fat off me is soooo hard....Looking back, it was so much easier to lose weight when you have lot's of weight to get rid of. Now that I'm at approx 10% fat, it's now harder than ever. Tomorrow is my photo-op for my results and don't think I have changed much. But who knows,  maybe I'll have a miracle over night -  we'll see....



Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

Day 119 / Week 17 - A Cautious Reminder to Be Careful in the Gym

Completed legs and shoulders today, surprising myself once again with the weight increase. For shoulder press, I used to pump 45 lbs a side, now it's 60lbs a side (10x). Leg presses I could have still put on more, but ran out of weights after I hit 300 lbs. I did however run into an accident that could have been damaging though. My wifey was right beside me and asked her to get out of the way just in-case I dropped the weight while doing my shoulder presses with the dumbbells. Right after she moved, my bench declined down on it's own, where I immediately dropped the weights to avoid injury. If she was still in the same spot, her leg would have been crushed by a 60 lb dumbbell. Not fun and a true reminder again of how careful I have to be with weight training. You can't take it for granted and always have to be cautious.


Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

Day 118 / Week 17 - Giving Thanks to My Belly

For us Canadians, we have Thanksgiving this weekend. The official day here is October 12th, but I believe in the U.S (where I used to live) is November 26th which is also the date when I plan to complete my 2nd journey/mission. So today, we had the traditional turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, candy yams, macaroni pie, pasta salad, pumpkin and last and definitely not least - Snow Crab. :-) For dessert, I polished it off with ice cream and home made cheese cake. As for drinks, I watered it all down with margarita's, polishing off 1/4 bottle of Tequila. Looking back now, I now know the real reason why I was feeling sleepy by 11pm. The itis was kicking in and the booze was catching up. Anyhow,  overall great evening with great drinks, great food, great company(family) and great laughs. Again, g-times. =) 

Thanksgiving Dinner 2009

 So despite the high calorie dinner as my reward meal for the week, I completed my cardio and abs in the morning to ensure I get it out of the way. Tomorrow is weight training - I believe I'll be working with legs and shoulders.Looking forward to it.

Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

Day 117 / Week 17 - A Great Increase in Strength.

Today went well with everything on schedule. I even had a few unexpected errands, but still was able to make my weight training in the evening. I went solo and completed an upper body workout and it felt great! From the last time I completed this workout (3 months ago) I have increased the weights by approx. 15-20%. A good example is the dumbbell bench press. I used to push 55 a side. Now I'm pushing 75 lbs a side (10x). =)

So, tomorrow is 20 min HIIT cardio and abs. I have a full scheduled day with Thanksgiving to deal with in the evening, so workout will have to be completed in the am. Looking forward to hitting the cardio and eating like a king in the evening.

Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

Day 116 / Week 17 - No more Workout Buddies, Period!

Well, I did make an attempt to go to the gym today, but unfortunately the wifey again threw me a curve ball. She stated that she wanted to go with me, then changed her mind after scheduling a couple of errands in the evening. I did have the opportunity to go earlier in the day, but since she said she wanted to go, I waited. Then of course after, there is a change in plan and didn't end up going. So today is now labelled as a "rest day", instead of tomorrow.

I have come to one solution that has worked before and definitely will work again (not 100%, but at least it will be best effort). I need to go by myself. In my first 3 months, I always went to the gym alone and was very successful with not missing a day. As soon as I offered other people to come with me, I changed my schedule to suit theirs and then I'm noticing that they are bailing out- making it difficult for me to schedule it in with the time left. Going forward, I will no longer 'wait' for someone else. If they want to join me in the gym, then they will have to schedule around my schedule - not the other way around. No more mr. nice guy... Looking back 6 months ago, I was in the same state. I would go with wifey or with a friend and as soon as they bail on me, my whole schedule gets screwed and I don't end up going. That sux. No more missing workouts...no more workout buddies - period.



Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

Day 115 / Week 17 - Clenching in pain.

Completed cardio and abs for today. With the 40 min I spent on the elliptical, I watched an episode of Entourage and a half episode of Family Guy - all on the itouch. I believe my body could have gone longer than the 40 min.required, but since the time was getting close to 8pm for my last meal, I just wanted to get the ab workout out of the way so I can eat. Once finished my full workout, my abs were just killing me. It was so intense, I believe I clenched a few times doing the reverse crunches.
Anyhow, tomorrow is weight training. Since I learned from my mistake last week(which resulted in missing a workout day), I won't be taking tomorrow off as a rest day as I don't know what my Saturday is going to be like. I have also planned to have Sunday as my reward meal day as we will be having Thanksgiving at the parents house. So, everything is planned for the weekend - now I just hope there won't be any obstacles to get in my way.


Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

Day 114 / 4th Month in Review - Time to Reorganize and Reset Goal

So it's been a month since I celebrated my 3 month milestone of completing the RTP system. Today was to show some abs and reach 9% fat, but unfortunately could not reach my goal. I was off by 2% fat and clearly my abs look like they want to come out, but still a little bit shy. As I stated in my last post, I missed out on 2 workout days due to an unforeseen change in schedule and the other was for medical reasons. Also the author of this workout plan reached ab status after 136 days - so I believe my goal may have not been realistic to begin with and by looking at what has to be done (lose all my fat around the abdominal area) is not easy and considered the hardest area to target. I guess I like to think big....

Even though, I may have lost 5 pounds of fat, decreased my fat percentage by 3% and increased my lean body mass by 3 pounds, I believe I could have done a lot better this passed month. In perspective, I did indeed indulge on the weekends, my meals overall were all over the place and my last week was a disaster by missing 2 scheduled workouts. I believe this last month, I kinda sucked and will learn from it going into my next month...

Anyhow,  looking over what I have accomplished thus far along with the challenges I faced in the passed 4 months, I believe I can show some abs by day 164. That's in 50 days. Why day 164? Well, it's my birthday and I wouldn't want anything less than a new set of abs.. =) So I believe this is a realistic date to work with and look forward to my birthday gift. =) 

Week 16 Pic

Week 16 Results

Monthly Results (since ground 0)

Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

Day 113/ Week 16 (Mission 2) : Another missed workout (unfortunately)

Not a good day today. I had a doctors appointment today where I could not eat or drink until 3:00pm. I'm overall healthy, but since the test they performed involved me being a sleep, I was recommended not to drive and to stay in bed for the rest of the day. Got lot's of sleep though. ;-) The 2 missed days this week will effect my results for tomorrow and have decided to extend the 2nd journey(mission 2) to one more month. In perspective, not even the author of the RTP System was able to reach ab status until 136 days. So, if I did accomplish this in 114 days, it would have been very impressive. I'll just stick with my game plan and post a weekly pic tomorrow to give status. I don't expect too much change from last week, but do hope for a slight improvement from the week before.

Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

Day 112/ Week 16 (Mission 2) - Change in Routine : Strength Training

Since this week starts with a new plan, my weight training has changed to lower reps to concentrate on strength training. There is a change in the ab workouts as well and was not scheduled for today, but decided to add them in today by doing crunches, hip-ups and side crunches. Overall good day with lots of sleep and looking forward to cardio tomorrow (just put on season 6 for Entourage for the itouch).


Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

Day 111/ Week 16 (Mission 2) - Laptop Crash x 2 (My Hard Drive : R.I.P)

Completed 30 min HIIT cardio. Even though I missed yesterday's workout, I would have done the extra 10 min anyways as I got caught up in a couple of video's on the itouch. I also had some troubles updating this blog today as coincidentally both of my laptops crashed on me, where one of them I had to replace the hard drive. Not Fun - especially when you lose everything (note to self - do frequent backups). Quite time consuming, but fortunately only cost me $60.00 for a 160Gig Drive instead of paying $1300.00 for 2 laptops(a new laptop would be nice though).  =) So I am still kinda struggling with dealing with drivers and etc. but at least I got my internet going..... ;-)


Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

Day 110/ Week 16 (Mission 2) - Aggghh!! I missed my 1st Workout in 109 days!

Oh boy, this is not good. With work during the day and totally booked up in the evening with various activities, I unfortunately had to miss my workout. This will mark the 1st workout missed and don't exactly feel too good about it - especially when I have less than a week to finish my 2nd mission. It had to happen one day, so today it happened. But as long as I don't miss more days (in a row especially), I'll be ok. I have already decided not to make up the day, but to skip it and go on to the next scheduled workout.  Tomorrow is HIIT cardio for 20 min. I'll do a little bit extra to make up for today.

Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

Day 109/ Week 16 (Mission 2) - Rest / Reward Meal Day

Since time was short for a workout this evening and had the opportunity in having free pizza for lunch from work, I decided to have my rest / reward meal day for today instead of Saturday.
Tomorrow I shall continue with my weight training.

Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results

Day 108/ Week 16 (Mission 2) - My License is SUSPENDED?? WTF!?!?!?!?

Wow, what a waste of a day...Yesterday I found out that my drivers license was suspended and decided to confront the matter today. After going on a wild goose chase(that's our government for ya), I finally got the suspension and penalty(of $150) removed all due to a clerical error on their side. As usual I kept my cool, which consequently did result with the suspension being removed within 24 hours(instead of 4 to 5 business days), unbelievably I received a call from the clerk confirming that the suspension has been processed and removed(2 hours after I left the government office) and believe it or not - an apology (yes an apology!). This has to be the 1st time in my Canadian life, that I had a government official apologize to me. I guess patience and keeping my cool paid off - too bad it took 5 hours of wasted time and time away from work!

Oh well...As soon as I got home, there was no way I was going to the gym as I was really exhausted. So I took a nap for an hour and headed to the gym to complete 45 min of weight training. My legs are still a little sore, giving me a little trouble walking - but overall feel pretty pumped. =) Looking forward to tomorrow's weight training.


Mission 2 Challenge - Daily Results