Nutrition Challenge : Day 36 - Wow ... Time flies.

Today is the first day of the 6th week. 5 complete weeks down, only 7 more to go. I have CF'd 14 out of the last 16 days but last nights workout nearly killed me. It was a Hero WOD called Helton. I am stoked that I actually completed it ... PJ wanted me to scale, but I really wanted to finish it. Here was the workout:

3 Rounds for time ...
- 800m Row
- 30 Squat Cleans w/ 25lb kettlebells
- 30 Burpees

I thought I was gonna die after this workout. It was horrible!

Also ... guess what. I AM UNDER 290lbs! I am 289.2lbs! That's the lowest I've been by 3lbs during this process ... so I've recovered my gains from the beginning part of the year and then some. Also, if you factor in the nearly 5lbs I put on from the Creatine I would be at about 285lbs! w00t!

Also, yesterday I was able to 1, yes only 1, blue band pullup! I am sooo close to doing a normal pullup I can taste it!

Nutrition Challenge : Day 30 - Whoa nelly ...

Well ... all I have to say is "Whoa nelly". I am a HUGE believer of proper supplements now. I'm on my 3rd full week of supplementing with; 5g Creatine, 2g MicroLactin and 3g Beta-Alanine. My recovery time is ridiculous. I basically am fine the next day now. Also, I can really push out 1 or 2 more reps more after feeling "fatigued" during a workout ... so my intensity is really increasing.

I'm down about 20lbs now and my body composition is really changing. I'm down about 2.5 belt loops and clothes fit me again.

This week hasn't been my best diet wise. I've taken a few liberties that I normally wouldn't but hopefully I'll make up for it at the gym. It's gonna be an awesome workout tonight! w00t!

Nutrition Challenge : Day 23 - On a roll and terrible news.

Last night during our WOD one of the CFO family wasn't feeling well ... and left before the WOD started. He collapsed outside from a spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage. About a 1/2 hour later Marcy found him by his car and we called an ambulance. It was horrific ... he's had surgery and is stable now but we'll know more in about 48 hours in terms of his overall recovery.

This event really opened my eyes to how short life is and how we need to enjoy every minute we have.

We are collecting gift cards for his family that's taking care of him to help ease the pain a bit.

I've Crossfit'd for 4 straight days and I feel great. Normally I am completely broken after 3 days ... I think I'm gonna go for 6 straight this week.

O feel this has a lot to do with my supplements as this is my second week on Creatine, MicroLactin and Beta-Alanine.

Last nights workout was a total break-through for me ... I was able to push myself harder then I ever have. I can't wait to see what the next 3 weeks brings.

Nutrition Challenge : Day 21 - 3 weeks down, 9 to go.

The first 3 weeks hasn't been nearly as hard as I thought it would ... I truly feel soooo much better!

I'm into the 2nd week of my new supplements and I really do feel a difference. On Thursday we did 4 minutes of tabata squats (20/10secs) and I was able to push myself much harder then I would normally. So much though that my lets HURT SOOO MUCH 2 days later that I thought I had broken them. LOL. That'll happen when you do 125 squats in 160 seconds. Ugh! I fully recovered in 3 days from that ... but normally it would have been much longer.

Also, I've had some weight gain due to the Creatine Monohydrate ... but I'm now seeing the scale go down again which is nice.

Doing 3-3-3-3-3 backsquats tonight ... I'm pumped and ready to set a PR.

Nutrition Challenge : Day 16 - Pullups ... nice!

So for yesterday's warmup we did pullups ... and I am now on a green band! I started with a black and green band ... then 2 green bands, then 1 black band and now a green band ... and it was THAT difficult. The 15lbs of weight loss certainly helped. I'm stoked!

I'm really in the groove now with my food too ... and the supplements already seem to be having effects. I was able to do all the burpees during the warmup without stopping and normally I get tired after 2 or 3. All systems go!

Supplements ... what I am taking.

So, here is a list of what I'm taking for supplements.

I purchase all my supplements from vitacost.com. They have great prices and their stuff seems to be great quality.

- NSI ToCoQ10 - 200mg
- NSI Synergy Once Daily Multi-Vitamin (Version 3)
- NSI Mega EFA Omega-3 EPA & DHA - 2126mg
- Glucosamine HCI - 1500 mg / Chondroitin Sulfate - 1200 mg
- NSI Creatine Powder CreaPure - 5000mg
- NSI MicroLactin - 1000mg
- Jarrow Formula Beta-Alanine - 3000mg

I just started the Creatine, MicroLactin and Beta-Alanine so the jury is out on those ... but MicroLactin is known to promote good sleep and HOLY CRAP I didn't move for 8.5hours last night. It was AWESOME!

Nutrition Challenge : Day 15 - Results ...

So it's been another week ... here are some more milestones.

- Lost 15lbs!
- Gone 2 weeks without dairy ... and I think I'm gonna keep going.
- Gone 2 weeks without grain ... and I think I'm gonna keep going.
- I think the Beta-Alanine / MicroLactin is already working. I had VERY little soreness from Monday's workout and normally I would have a lot of soreness from the type of workout it was.
- Started Creatine also this week ... and promptly lost it all in the toliet. LOL. Not going to do the loading phase and just start out at 5g per day.
- Realized that "Cheat" days don't have the same effect on me ... Not sure they are as necessary any longer now that I'm developing self-control. Even when we have cheated the quantities are much less and higher quality.

I'm excited to keep going!

The Creatine has escaped my body ... explosively!

I was hoping for explosive results from Creatine ... but not like this.

About 2 hours after taking it I was on the toilet and it wanted OUT! I should have read my notes better ... I didn't need to load up for the first 5 days. I'm going to start in at the 5g maintenance mode right off the bat and hopefully that will ease up the side-effects.

Nutrition Challenge : Day 13 - All systems go!

I'm really in a stride now when it comes to the Nutrition Challenge. It feels good to eat properly and my body isn't getting the same cravings it was before.

So here's my accomplishments since the last update ...
- 12 pounds lost total
- Down a belt loop
- PR'd in overhead squat (??? > 155#)
- Journaled my food intake for 13 continuous days.
- Did 320 reps in 32 round tabata workout (20secs on / 10secs off), up from about 240.

So I'm going to be adding some supplements to my regiment ... here' what I'm doing.

- Creatine | 20g load phase daily for the first 5 days and 10g daily for maintenance.
-- I'm starting this to assist with my lean muscle development to hopefully take my body fat percentage down.
- MicroLactin | 2g load phase daily for the first 5 days and 1g daily for maintenance.
-- Quicker recovery and anti-inflammatory action.
- Beta-Alanine | 4g daily
-- Helps with; total work capacity, power output at lactate threshold, delayed onset of muscular fatigue during high-intensity exercise and improved sub-maximal endurance performance.

We'll see what happens!