Cohort 21 day! I made it here in excellent time this morning and am pretty impressed with this place. I wonder where Scully worked. Good to change up the routine a bit and having a change of pace can be beneficial. I’m really starting to reap the benefits of not drinking during the week. My sleep has vastly improved. Part of me is disappointed that alcohol is responsible for this mess. Oh well, it’s health in the long run. If I can try and drop the Thursday drinking, it could work miracles. I could even see if it’s possible to drop a weekend night booze fest to improve sleep. I think at the end of the day, balance is key. The real challenge is for me to find enjoyment in the context of healthy life.

We’ll see how today goes and hopefully this afternoon works out well enough for me to get away without a parking issue. 

I’m really interested in finding those blue blocker glasses for help with sleep too.

Anyway, rambling this morning. 

Workout:

Much needed day off.

Boy I feel good this morning. I had a great night’s sleep and decent workout. Makes all the difference in the world! Spent a lot of time yesterday reading up on diets and insulin especially. I’m honestly more confused than before. Went way to far down the rabbit hole. The big concern was the insulin spike with BCAAs. From what I’ve uncovered, it seems like BCAAs do spike insulin but by how much is still unknown. The goal with fasting is to keep the insulin levels baseline so any spike could be detrimental. Or is it really important? The only real way to tell is to experiment and see how I manage without BCAAs. The few times it’s happened was at the cottage after a run and honestly I didn’t notice much of a difference. According to Fung, it seems like muscle wasting won’t occur during an intermittent fasting state. It takes several days (or weeks) before muscle begins to disappear. I’m also receiving some help on that front. According to Pilon (Eat, stop, eat) fasting and steroids are a potent combination. I sure would like to know more about it!

For now the plan is to keep on the BCAAs and monitor my weight and composition. I don’t feel hungry after a workout - likely because i’m adapted - so having a shake would only be to support muscle growth. This is where the confusion lies. I’ll continue to research!

Workout:

22 min run

3 x 500 row

3 x 11 cleans

3 x 12 romanian bag clean and jerk

3 x one arm row

Well, back at it! I fell off the wagon yesterday having a few beers during the day. Honestly the guilt is overwhelming now. Normally I wouldn’t have cared and got on with it. That’s the positive that I can take away. No beers tonight or tomorrow and we’ll see about Friday/Saturday. Getting back on the horse after falling off is essential. At this point there’s not much benefit to drinking, especially noticing how good I feel when I don’t.

I thought that I made it through the day yesterday without hernia issues, but they’re back this morning. I’m worried about my back. Not sure how to handle it either. Do I keep blazing onwards or do I shut it down for a bit? I’ll continue to keep an eye on it today.

I’ve been reading this book about Fasting by Jason Fung and I understand his thesis, but can’t really connect with it. He believes that it’s all about hormones, which I can agree to an extent. I just don’t see how fixing your hormones is going to automatically fix your weight. I guess he’s trying to get to the point about fasting and it’s importance in your diet. While I agree that you can’t out run a fork, if you’re smart on how you approach your lifestyle then really calorie counting doesn’t matter. Obviously avoiding sugar like the plague is essential. However, if you’re smart, workout hard I feel like you maintain your weight. I’ve done it since 2006 with decent success and various hormonal protocols. 

Workout:

22 min run

3 x 2 min bike 

3 x 11 back squat (light)

3 x 7 DB complex 

3 10 bar jumps

3 x 10 back rows

School closed today?! It is icy out, but heck I’ll take it. Now it plays out to be just a 3 day week! Cohort 21 is Friday and getting down there will be a pain in the ass, but it should be fairly relaxing. I also can’t believe the switch over for grade 6 is coming so fast. Seems strange, but I guess it has to do with that late Xmas break. Oh well, it is what it is!

My groin has been bugging me lately. I’m hoping that it’s termperary because the last thing I want is for it to require an operation. It’s more the connection between the groin and the back that’s got me worried. And, it’s definitely correlated to the amount of weight I’m lifting these days. Something to keep an eye on!

Today the plan is to finish up the Cohort 21 stuff and forecast for the end of the term with the grade 5s.

Workout:

22 min run 

3 x 500 row

3 x 10 120 lb clean and press

3 x 25 Kb swings (one arm deal too)

3 x 30s hard on the bike

3 x 10 one arm row

Wow, we’re more than halfway through the month. Crazy stuff! It’s going quick, which is nice and this warmer weather helps a lot. Now that the UCC tournament is over, I really only need to worry about 1 more late game to ease out of the season. Of course there’s still the one more Saturday tournament but usually it goes very quickly and isn’t as intense as the Invitational. Almost there, keep trucking.

I’m experiencing some back/side/groin ache. I’m hoping it’s not serious, but just in case I’m going to lighten up my lifts this week to see how it responds. No point pushing through it, especially knowing that I have known groin issue.

Workout:

Deadlifts

Tri pull downs

Leg press

Pull-ups

Thrusters

Friday the 13th! Seems to me that the phenomenon is wearing off in modern times. Maybe the basketball gods will help us jinx the favourites tonight. Can’t wait to get this tournament started and over with, especially tomorrow. I know at the end of the day the kids will improve with more games, but it is a pain in the butt. The best way to mange it is to think about what I’d be doing otherwise. You know, just sitting at home waiting for the kids to go to bed. This tournament is also helping with the no-alcohol thing.

Last night was the first Thursday in a while that I haven’t drank and it felt pretty good. I actually slept well and even woke up before my alarm. It’s sad and unfortunate that beer is the cost of this, but in the end I cannot argue against the fact that I’m feeling way better. Really at the end of the day it comes down to a bit of discipline and overcoming fatigue. Oh and having an alternative to beer helps too. Just need to figure out what that might be.

Workout:

No workout Friday although I feel like I could do it!

A late entry this morning because I stopped to get a blood test. Surprisingly it wasn’t that busy. I wonder if blood tests are scheduled around different seasons? Or perhaps more people are scheduling it. Who knows. Anyway it’s done. I can offically take my testosterone too. Weird that I actually haven’t been feeling that bad. I’m sure a lot has to do with the 2.5 week rest I just had, but surprising none the less. Also suspicious given the T that I’m taking. Perhaps it’s been low for a while? We’ll soon find out!

Even though I caved yesterday with the chocolate and pizza, I’m proud of myself for stopping eating at 7. I think the late night snacking definitely plays a role in my weight management. Although I’m not blowing up, I think that if I can drop a few pounds then perhaps start the post workout shake after my workout.

Workout:

20 min row

3 x 2 mins bike

3 x 10 light clean and press

3 x 25 KB swings

3 x 5 one arm KB swing (each arm)

3 x 12 medicine ball clean and press

3 x 40 double unders

Well back at school today for a fast but long 3 day week. I lost my wallet yesterday and spent most of the afternoon looking for it. Turns out it was on top of the punching bag downstairs because I had taken it out of my pocket to fix my bike. As soon as I saw it, I remember putting it there. Good thing too not only for the cards, but for my sanity!

Still not sure about staying in a hotel on Thursday night. The pros are that I won’t need to commute, but the con is that it’s expensive and I’m probably not going to sleep that well. I figure that I could probably get up really early on Friday and head down there. I can always kill time if I need to.

This no alcohol no sugar cleanse isn’t that bad. I’ve cheated with the sugar using fake stuff, but other than that I’ve been able to keep my calories down and obviously keep alcohol out of my system. Given the strange week, I think I should be able to make it to Saturday. Even if Scully bails, I’ll still be able to get it done.

Now that my wallet is found, I don’t really have anything pressing. I should be able to push forward with my website and blog. 

Workout:

22 min run

3 x 2 min bike

3 x 10 cleans

3 x 7 DB row

3 x 10 bar jumps

3 x 14 light back rows

First, well second day back and it’s a….SNOW DAY! Hilarious because it’s already a late start so having this extra time off will make the  - January cold longest month ever - go faster.  Break was nice, I drank too much and basically felt guilty the whole week for blowing my diet and was disappointed with my ability to maintain discipline. I definitely drink to relax and mellow out. This is why I’m going to look into CBD oil. If I can reduce my drinking by one or even two nights per week, It would be beneficial. I certainly need to try it!

The basketball tournament is weighing on my mind because I feel like it’s going to be long and stressful. Once I get through it, the rest of the month should be easy. I’m also starting to think about this diet thing. It would be nice to have some clients that I can train over the weekends, week nights and summer. That would supplement our income and its something that I could pursue that’s hobby related.

Action item: start by updating the fitness section of the blog with a diet tab. Put recipes and diet styles up. Focus on an evidence based approach.

Finish this entrepreneur book on education. Have Melissa edit it and get it out to the world.

Investigate a podcast and speak with Steph and Helen about potentially having one with teachers. 

Workout:

22 min run

3 x 500 row

3 x 30s bike

3 x 15 KB swings

3 x 12 double KB deadlift

3 x 10 Romanian sandbag squats

3 x 10 one arm rows