Day 148.

Day 148 photo

Consumed 1900 calories. Rest day.

Trying to consume 1800/day, but I keep going over. It seems that now that I've gotten used to eating 2100+/day, I can't make myself eat less. Rather, I don't WANT to eat less. Come on, shoulder, heal faster so I can go back to exercising!

Day 147. Just a sprain + week 21 stats

Day 147 photo

Consumed 1900 calories. Rest day.

Consulted my flatmate who is a surgeon about my shoulder (couldn't do this sooner since he was away on vacation). Seems I've sprained my AC joint, but no fractures so that's good. More movement = faster recovery. Yes sir, mr. doctor, sir!

Week 21 stats (in bold):

Stomach: 30.0 in -> 30.0

Chest: 30.0 in -> 30.0

Biceps: 10.0 in -> 10.0

Hips: 35.5 in -> 35.5

Thigh: 18.25 in -> 18.25

Calf: 13.25 in -> 13.25

Waist: 26.5 in -> 26.5

Weight: 127.0 lbs -> 127.8

Day 146. Still in pain

Day 146 photo

Consumed 2200 calories. Rest day.

I do not approve of this pain in my shoulder. It's totally messing up my routine. Please stop hurting now? Kthxbai

Day 145.

Day 145 photo

Consumed 2500 calories. No exercise.

My right arm is for all intents and purposes non-functional. Poop.

Day 144. Biel throw

Day 144 photo

Consumed 2050 calories. Pole fitness, cycled.

Attempted to learn a new move on the pole. Ended up performing a Biel throw on myself instead. Landed on my right shoulder blade, and now any kind of shoulder contraction hurts. Fail.

Day 143.

Day 143 photo

Consumed 2100 calories. Lifted weights, cycled.

Day 142. Shoulder mount

Day 142 photo

Consumed 2100 calories. Pole fitness, cycled.

This is a shoulder mount:

I've been trying to accomplish this move for MONTHS. Folks, tonight I did it. I don't have photographic proof [yet] but just take my word for now. Also take my word that I was screaming like a pre-teen girl who just met Justin Bieber when I finally managed to do a shoulder mount.

Day 141.

Day 141 photo

Consumed 2500 calories. Lifted weights, cycled.

This carb cycling thing and I are getting along just fine.

Day 140. Apple tart + Week 20 stats

Day 140 photo

Consumed 1900 calories. Rest day.

It occurred to me last night that I hadn't yet celebrated finishing my second round of insanity. So today I made an apple tart with peanut butter caramel. It was yummy, but I ate so much of it that I can't look at the rest now without wanting to throw up. Funny how I ate less than my target calorie goal on my reward day. I just wasn't hungry all day since it happened to be a rest day. Things worked out quite well. So from now on I will have reward meals/days on my rest days so I don't overeat or want to overeat.

Week 20 stats (in bold):

Stomach: 30.0 in -> 30.0

Chest: 30.0 in -> 30.0

Biceps: 9.75 in -> 10.0

Hips: 35.5 in -> 35.5

Thigh: 18.25 in -> 18.25

Calf: 13.25 in -> 13.25

Waist: 26.5 in -> 26.5

Weight: 127.6 lbs -> 127.0

Day 139. Reality check

Day 139 photo

Consumed 2100 calories. Pole danced.

Yesterday I got sad because I found out I'd have to watch my diet for the rest of my life if I want to stay at a low body fat percentage. I complained to a friend about this, and his response was, "First world problems." Here I am complaining about having to count calories while millions are suffering far worse fates. I should stop complaining and just be happy that I have food to eat.

Day 138. A documentary on fat + skinfold test #4

Day 138 photo

Consumed 2150 calories. Lifted weights.


I just watched a BBC documentary called "Why are thin people not fat?" According to this documentary, people have a genetic predisposition to be at a certain weight or body fat percentage. Thanks to this genetic predisposition, our bodies have varying degrees of internal mechanisms for making us eat more or less depending on what our bodies think our ideal weight should be.

My own experience has been that for as long as I can remember, I've always had extra abdominal fat. When I first started measuring my body fat percentage about 4 years ago, it was ~24%. Between 2009 and last December, I've spent maybe 2-3 months actually watching my diet and exercising. The rest of the time was spent eating whatever I wanted, however much I wanted, and doing pretty much no exercise whatsoever aside from incidental exercise. My body fat percentage in December was ~24%.

A logical conclusion I can make from this documentary and from personal experience is that unless I consciously work at it--i.e. count calories and exercise religiously--my body will try to attain ~24% body fat again. I've worked so hard to get to where I am now, are my genetics really going to ruin all my work if I decide to stop counting calories when I reach my goal? And while I'm at it, if I want to safeguard against regaining my lost fat, does this mean I have to count calories for the rest of my life? I really hope my conclusion is wrong because it's making me really depressed. And on that note, I'm going to bed.


Oh before I go to bed, I want to mention that I got my body composition tested this morning and I'm now at 17.3% body fat.

Day 137. Fail

Day 137 photo

Consumed 2550 calories. Did the "core cardio and balance" workout.

Today was supposed to be a rest day, but I caved and exercised. My excuse is that I was feeling some muscle soreness and needed a stretch, but no, the reality is that I wanted an exercise fix. I didn't think I was getting that bad, but I probably am developing exercise bulimia.

Anyway, today was also supposed to be a maintenance day where I eat 2450 calories. As you can see above, I ate 100 calories too many. Not such a big deal, except those calories were pure sugar and fat from FUDGE. I couldn't resist buying some at the mall today. Sigh. But it wasn't just 100 calories of fudge I ate. It was at least 300, probably closer to 400. Sigh again.

Today was all kinds of fail. But tomorrow! Tomorrow will be either awesome or epic fail. I have a body composition test in the morning followed by a session with my personal trainer. He's going to be watching me set a new 5 rep max for all of my weight lifting exercises.

Day 136. New (additional) goal

Day 136 photo

Consumed 2200 calories. Lifted weights, cycled, pole danced.

I came across this pole fitness video today. Throughout the whole thing my jaw was on the floor. My new goal is to be able to do (in a controlled and graceful manner) at least 50% of the moves shown in that video. While doing my pole thing today, I tried several of the moves, and to my great surprise, I was able to do them. I didn't do them well, mind you, but I managed. From now on, I'll definitely be pumping iron with the aim of being able to do more pole fitness!

Day 135.

Day 135 photo

Consumed 2100 calories. Rest day.

Day 134.

Day 134 photo

Consumed 2100 calories. Lifted weights, cycled.

Day 133. Last day of Insanity (round 2), carb cycling, and week 19 stats

Day 133 photo

Consumed 2200 calories. Did the "fit test" workout and pole danced.

I am now an Insanity graduate x2! I've gotten awesome results from this program and I highly recommend it to anyone who desires better cardiovascular health. And now on to something completely different.

About carb cycling. I used to think "carb cycling" referred to days of no/very little carbs followed by days of lots of carbs. My preconception of the term was totally wrong (and was founded entirely on what I thought it would be based on the term itself), and I've only just now discovered that what I've been doing with my diet has essentially been carb cycling, but the floating high carb day variation.

A little explanation: carb cycling is 3-4 days of caloric deficit followed by 1-2 days of caloric surplus or maintenance with all of the extra calories coming from carbs. The amount of protein and fats do not change at all. The floating high carb day variation is where you have the surplus/maintenance day whenever your strength training occurs. Obviously if you do a high volume of weight lifting then you'd want to save your surplus/maintenance days for only the really heavy training sessions.

I may attempt to introduce some more structure into my diet just to experiment. I like the floating high carb day because it gives me more flexibility with my calories, but there is something to be said for routine and simplicity as well. I may use this week to come up with some fancy schmancy diet plan. Or not. We'll see.

Week 19 stats (in bold):

Stomach: 29.75 in -> 30.0

Chest: 30.0 in -> 30.0

Biceps: 10.0 in -> 9.75

Hips: 35.25 in -> 35.5

Thigh: 18.25 in -> 18.25

Calf: 13.25 in -> 13.25

Waist: 26.75 in -> 26.5

Weight: 126.2 lbs -> 127.6

Day 132.

Day 132 photo

Consumed 2300 calories. Did the "max cardio conditioning" and "insane abs" workouts.

One more day of Insanity left...

Day 131.

Day 131 photo

Consumed 2450 calories. Did the "max interval plyo" workout, lifted weights, and cycled.

Day 130.

Day 130 photo

Consumed 2200 calories. Did the "max interval sports training" workout and pole danced.

I need to update with pictures...

Day 129.

Day 129 photo

Consumed 2650 calories. Did a ton of exercise: "max interval circuit," lifted weights, pole danced, cycled.

Ate a Mars bar today. Worth it? Not really. Guilt-ridden? Not at all.

Day 128.

Day 128 photo

Consumed 2200 calories. Did the "max cardio conditioning" and "insane abs" workouts.

Day 127.

Day 127 photo

Consumed 2650 calories. Did the "max interval plyo" workout, cycled, lifted weights.

Day 126. Week 18 stats

Day 126 photo

Consumed 1600 calories. Rest day.

Week 18 stats (in bold):

Stomach: 29.75 in -> 29.75

Chest: 30.25 in -> 30.0

Biceps: 10.0 in -> 10.0

Hips: 35.5 in -> 35.25

Thigh: 18.0 in -> 18.25

Calf: 13.25 in -> 13.25

Waist: 26.75 in -> 26.75

Weight: 125.4 lbs -> 126.2

Day 125.

Day 125 photo

Consumed 2700 calories. Did the "max interval sports training" workout, cycled, and lifted weights.

Day 124.

Day 124 photo

Consumed 2200 calories. Did the "max interval circuit" workout and pole danced.

Day 123.

Day 123 photo

Consumed 2300 calories. Did the "max recovery" workout and cycled.

Day 122.

Day 122 photo

Consumed 2600 calories. Did the "max cardio conditioning" and "insane abs" workouts, lifted weights, cycled.

Day 121. Stilettos = better workout

Day 121 photo

Consumed 2200 calories. Did the "max interval plyo" workout and pole danced.

I discovered today that I burn more calories pole dancing in stilettos than I do when barefoot. Man, I can't believe I've been missing out on this extra excuse to wear stilettos!

Day 120. Counter-productive

Day 120 photo

Consumed 2700 calories. Did way too many workouts today- "fit test," "max interval circuit," weight lifting, and cycling.

I'm definitely doing too much cardio. I actually feel like it is somewhat counter-productive, but I really want to finish this second round of Insanity on schedule. Two more weeks... When I finish Insanity, I'll do Insanity Asylum every other day, rather than everyday. I'll do weight lifting and pole dancing on the days I'm not doing Insanity Asylum. That seems a much saner routine.

Day 119. Week 17 stats

Day 119 photo

Consumed 2100 calories. Rest day.

Week 17 stats (in bold):

Stomach: 30.0 in -> 29.75

Chest: 30.25 in -> 30.25

Biceps: 9.5 in -> 10.0

Hips: 35.5 in -> 35.5

Thigh: 18.25 in -> 18.0

Calf: 13.25 in -> 13.25

Waist: 26.5 in -> 26.75

Weight: 123.6 lbs -> 125.4