Day 60 / Week 9 - Volleyball Celebration with a Steam Whistle

Another battle of the bulge has been won today. Since time was limited and only had an hour to workout, I completed my cardio for the day on the elliptical. Eventhough the sun was blazing today, no time for a blade, but at least I had my iTouch to keep my mind on something else and not how my legs are killing me or how tired I am. :-) The evening ended with another win in volleyball and we are now in 1st place. Wohooo!

We all celebrated with 2 pitchers of Toronto's finest local beer : Steam Whistle (btw - if anyone is in downtown Toronto, go to the Steam Whistle brewery near the Rogers Dome and you can drink for free and/or get an $8 tour of the brewery - highly recommended). I however only celebrated with 1 small cup, which I sipped the whole time while chillin' with the team on the patio. I however was tempted to "putting it down the hatch" and then get another fillup (like I usually did in the past before I started this thing). But understanding that I just put my body through 50 min of solid cardio for the day, I continue to challenge myself and ask, "is it worth it?" That's when reality kicks in and being responsible trumps temptation. As a harsh reality of what I'm drinking here, the calories in steam whistle are shown below.



Steam Whistle Verdict - Excellent "Toronto" Beer


RTP Challenge Status for the Day

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Day 53 / Week 8 - Date Night checking out Milestones & Jersey Boys Broadway Musical

Came very close in missing my workout for today as my schedule in the evening was extremely busy. Since I have started this program, I have always made my workouts a top priority (just ask my wifey) and today was proof again of my determination to ensure I don't miss a day.

Today's workout was cardio and abs and instead of 40 min of cardio, I did 20 min which I will definitely make up the following day. The reason for cutting short my cardio was that I had to leave to go out for dinner with the wifey and then go see the Broadway hit "Jersey Boys" with the parents. During dinner, I could not help but to have a Stella as it's always been customary to have a beer at my favorite restaurant, "Milestones". Dinner was great as usual, where I ordered a New York Striploin Steak, mashed potatoes and veggies. As an appetizer, wifey and I split an order of fried calamari. Absolutely delicious!

I also recommend the Spinach dip(which I usually get) which comes with pita and tortilla chips. Ahh..so good.. Service was very quick(as usual) and the waiter who took care of us was excellent. There was however a little disappointment with their margaritas. It tasted like seltzer water and lemon and requested for a new drink with no hassles at all.

As a quick review of "Jersey Boys" - it was absolutely excellent! 5 stars out of 5 stars and I am not usually a fan of theater....I came in with very low expectations as I did not know who the Four Seasons were nor who Franky Valli was. It all came clear to me when they started singing their songs and then remembered my mother listening to these songs on the radio back in the day. The stage changing was done very smoothly as it changed from scene to scene and the story line was very exciting. Either, if you were a huge Four Season's fan or never knew or heard of the band, you will enjoy the story behind it along with the overall performance. Even though the tickets were complimentary for us, it would have been worth every penny. My recommendation : Go see it...

Milestones Verdict: Excellent Food & Service



Jersey Boys Verdict - Very Entertaining - 5 out of 5 stars


RTP Challenge Status for the Day


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Day 28 /Week 4 - Fun with the blades

Today is a Sunday and got some good sleep. I also had the time today to go for a good blade sprinting at different times. Today was only suppose to be a 15 minute workout but instead utilized over an hour since I was having so much fun. I'm finally realizing that if I get away from the boring treadmill or elliptical, I can enjoy my days doing cardio and really look forward to it. Same goes for the volleyball I joined on Thursdays with wifey. Not much cardio in volleyball, but it at least keeps you active. :-)

RTP Challenge Status for the Day


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Day 21/Week 3 - A trip to HTO Park (at Toronto's Harbourfront)

Since yesterday was my rest day, today was my day of cardio. Since it was a beautiful day, the wifey and I took advantage of the outdoors. She took a jog, while I strapped on the rollerblades and went for a good 'blade' shredding up the asphalt taking brief sprints back and forth - so she can 'catch up'. It was quite fun. See below for a mobile picture I took near the Toronto Harbourfront.

Toronto Harbourfront : hTo Park





Looking at my stats today, my eating today was all over the place as I woke up late and missed 2 meals. I got enough sleep though! :-)

RTP Challenge Status for the Day



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Day 14/ Week 2 - HIIT Training

So today was HIIT training day. I completed it on the elliptical and was dead tired after I was done. I couldn't wait till it was over. Good thing it was only 15 min - any more time and I would have collapsed! :-)

RTP Challenge Status for the Day



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Day 10/Week 2 - How to cure those boring cardio workouts.

Phhhhew....I'm so happy that I got my cardio out of the way. I came so close to giving up as I am watching each and every second go by, but I prevailed and succeeded!! I understand that the only way to lose weight is to getting your heart pumping - but I wish there was an easier way...Well, if it was all that easy, I don't think I would be sitting here writing a blog and you reading it. And I guess everyone would be slim and lean - no obesity problems and I can eat bacon every day....Ok, ok, ok back to reality.... I think the best way to deal with my cardio is not to think about it, nor look at the time frequently. I have been eying a rip-off version of the itouch for cheap. (btw - I'm not a big fan of apple products and itunes - plus I'm broke) Since my condo does not have fancy LCD screens in every corner, I'm looking to get the below video player and put aside my tiny mp3 player for my cardio days. It's a touch screen and takes all video formats - yes that's right no itunes - just drag and drop! :-) Since I'm broke, I'll have to wait till next week to get this - eventhough it's only $70 bux .....Tough economic times, tough economic times....

Chinese Version of iTouch

RTP Challenge Status for the Day

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Day 7/Week 1 - Happy Father's Day!

Happy Fathers Day to all you fathers out there. Today, I met with the fam' and had a huge meal. Today I do get rewarded a cheat meal - and boy did I cheat. :-) Steak and Crab was on the menu, along with macaroni pie and roasted peppers. Very delicious. In the a.m. I did complete with my cardio and have to say it is quite intense. Since, this is the 1st time me trying HIIT training - it was quite a challenge. I did complete it successfully, however I believe that next week's HIIT will go a lot easier(since I'll know what to expect).

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Day 5/ Week 1 - My Personal Kryptonite....Beer

Good news and bad news today...Good news is no more soreness! yaay! Bad news is, I got tempted with my ultimate weakness - BEER. Knowing that it was a beautiful Friday evening, my friend and I went to the bar and had a couple of beers on the patio. G-times on the patio, but not exactly good for my gut....I did however worked out before the patio and will make up the beer mishap tomorrow evening when I go do my cardio. I think an extra 15 minutes on the treadmill will be enough punishment for my bad deed.



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Day 3/Week 1 - Still in Pain....

Today was kind of a write off....Yesterday's workout killed me. I cannot remember the last time I worked out my legs, so since this morning they have been killin' me! Something as simple as going up and down the stairs was a challenge, so I skipped out on my cardio, seeing that it's physically impossible for me to get on a treadmill or elliptical . Looking back at yesterday, I did however rollerblade both Monday and Tuesday to go to Starbucks, so I think missing today's session is not too bad. So I'll get some rest tonight, so I'll be ready for tomorrow. I'll squeeze in a little cardio tomorrow as well to make up anything that is lost(just incase). As for eating, so far so good, I pre-packaged all my foods this evening and have all meals ready for consumption tomorrow. Getting hungry just thinking about it... :-)

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Day 2/Week 1 - No Pain, No Gain - But boy does it hurt!

 So the 2nd workout was a success but now feeling even more sore. I can just imagine how it's gonna feel when I get out of bed tomorrow....I understand this is normal - since I haven't picked up a barbell/weights in quite sometime - so this was kinda expected. As the ol' saying goes, "no pain no gain", right?

Also, instead of driving to the Starbucks this morning, I used my rollerblades. 15 minutes there and 15 minutes back. Today did not call for any cardio, but wouldn't mind changing my ol' habits of either walking or rollerblading to places that are quite close. I therefore knock 2 birds with one stone - save the environment and get more cardio.(I never thought i would see myself saying that)

Minus the pain, today was a good day.

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